INCLUDES

Pendant and necklace chain in a black velvet jewelry bag. You can also choose just the pendant alone to use on your own cord or chain.

CHARM DETAILS

The pendant is 3D (three dimensional, double-sided and reversible.

MEASUREMENTS

The pendant is about 1-3/4" tall x 3/4" wide x 1/2" thick (44.8mm x 19.6mm x 12.4mm)

The necklace chain is offered in your choice of length from 16" to 50" (40cm to 127cm)

MATERIALS

All components are made of pure 304 Stainless Steel, non-tarnishing and hypo allergenic. You can sleep, swim or shower with it.

ABOUT

Mjölnir (Mjolnir, pronounced “MIOL-neer” ) is the hammer of Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Mjölnir is depicted in Norse mythology as one of the most fearsome and powerful weapons in existence. Of all of the symbols in Norse mythology, Thor’s Hammer is one of the most historically important, and is probably the best known today.

Old Norse Mjollnir is normally written miollnir in Old Icelandic early manuscripts from the 13th and 14th centuries. The modern Icelandic form is Mjölnir, Faroese Mjølnir, Norwegian Mjølne, Danish Mjølner, Swedish Mjölner.

The name is derived from a Proto-Germanic form *meldunjaz, from the Germanic root of *malanan "to grind" (*melwan, Old Icelandic meldr, mjoll, mjol "meal, flour"), yielding an interpretation of "the grinder; the crusher".

Additionally, there is a suggestion that the mythological "thunder weapon" being named after the word for "grindstone" is of considerable, Proto-Indo-European (if not Indo-Hittite) age; according to this suggestion, the divine thunder weapon (identified with lightning) of the storm god was imagined as a grindstone (Russian molot and possibly Hittite malatt- "sledgehammer, bludgeon"), reflected in Russian (molniya) and Welsh mellt "lightning" (possibly cognate with Old Norse mjuln "fire").

In the Old Norse texts, Mjölnir is identified as hamarr "a hammer", a word that in Old Norse and some modern Norwegian dialects can mean "hammer" as well as "stone, rock, cliff", ultimately derived from an Indo-European word for "stone, stone tool", h2é?mo; as such it is cognate with Sanskrit asman, meaning "stone, rock, stone tool; hammer" as well as "thunderbolt".

Though most famous for its use as a weapon, Mjolnir played a vital role in Norse religious practices and rituals. Its use in formal ceremonies to bless marriages, births, and funerals is described in several episodes within the Prose Edda.

Historian Gabriel Turville-Petre also suggests that Mjolnir's blessing was a possible means of imparting fertility to a couple. This is based on Thor's association with both agriculture and the fertilization of fields.

Modern Pagans have emphasized the role of Mjolnir in their religious rituals and doctrine, though its primary function is to publicly signify faith (similarly to the way Christians wear or hang crucifixes). While Norse in origin, Mjolnir's modern usage is not limited to Nordic pagans and has been utilized in Dutch pagan marriages, American pagan rituals, as well as the symbolic representation for all of Germanic heathenry.

'Thor's hammer' pendants

As of 1997, about seventy-five early medieval Scandinavian pendants in the form of hammers had been found, and more have since come to light. Archaeologists have long inferred that these pendants are images of Thor's hammer. Supporting evidence for this emerged for the first time in 2014, when the Købelev Runic-Thor's Hammer was found on the Danish island of Lolland. This is so far the only pendant bearing an inscription, which reads "hamr × is": here the mark × is a word-divider, making clear that the inscription means "[this] is [a] hammer".

Christianization of Thor's hammer pendants

A fairly large number of pendants in the 'Thor's hammer' style show a convergence with Christian crucifixes and therefore stand as evidence for the adaptation of traditional 'Thor's hammer' pendants to Christian culture as medieval Scandinavia converted to Christianity. Hilda Ellis Davidson interpreted such images as signs of defiance, as unwilling Scandinavian converts to Christianity maintained their traditional symbols.

Origins

A precedent for Viking Age Mjolnir amulets have been documented in the migration period Alemanni, who took to wearing Roman "Hercules' Clubs" as symbols of Donar. A possible remnant of these Donar amulets was recorded in 1897, as it was a custom of the Unterinn (South Tyrolian Alps) to incise a T-shape above front doors for protection against evil (especially storms).

Similar hammers, such as Ukonvasara, were a common symbol of the god of thunder in other North European mythologies.

Modern use

Most practitioners of Odinsim and Germanic Heathenry have adopted the symbol of Mjölnir as a symbol of faith, most commonly represented as pendants or other small jewelry. Renditions of Mjölnir are designed, crafted and sold by Odinists and Germanic Heathen groups and individuals for public consumption as well as religious practice.

In May 2013 the "Hammer of Thor" was added to the list of United States Department of Veterans Affairs emblems for headstones and markers.