Thor's Mighty Hammer Found in Sweden

The popularity of the ancient Norse god, who has gained a new following thanks to Chris Hemsworth's depiction of the Viking god of thunder and lightning in the Marvel movies, is demonstrated by a 1,000-year-old amulet of Thor's Hammer discovered in Sweden.

Discovering Thor's Hammer

According to Carolyne Larrington, a professor of medieval European literature at the University of Oxford, Thor had always been a well-liked character, maybe because he cared about people.

In the upcoming book "The Norse Myths that Shape the Way, We Think" (Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2023), author Larrington, who wasn't involved in the current finding, noted that of all the Norse gods, Thor is the one most concerned with the fate of humanity.

His primary duty was to patrol the east and use his hammer to keep the giants (the Jötnar) out of the regions of humans and gods.

Per Wranning, the director of archaeology at the Cultural History Museum in Halland County, told Live Science via email that archaeologists discovered the amulet during the summer during digs close to the southwest town of Ysby.

The area confronts Denmark across the strait, known for centuries as the Kattegat (Latin for "cat's passage") because of its treacherously shallow waters, which connects the North Sea and the Baltic.

He said that several firepits, post holes, and ceramic and metal artifacts that may date to before the end of the late Viking Age in the middle of the eleventh century A.D. have also been found during the archaeological explorations of the site, which has been designated for new homes.

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Excavation Finds

According to Wranning, who oversaw the excavation, other Thor's hammer amulets of a similar nature have been discovered across Scandinavia, but this is the first one discovered in Halland.

It is made of metal and has elaborate embossed motifs on its upper face.

He added that the archaeologists wouldn't know if it was gilded (decorated with gold) or silvered until it had been cleaned and stored correctly.

The underside of the "handle" of the hammer has a hole that shows the amulet was strung on a ring or thong and worn around the neck.

However, he acknowledged that it may have constituted different types of jewelry.

The discovery looks to be made of lead and dates to the 900s or 1000s, the late Viking Age, according to Wranning in a blog post that was translated.

Such amulets may have been worn as a sign of clinging to the ancient Norse gods rather than the "new" religion of Christianity during the region's religious transition at the end of the Viking Age.

One hypothesis is that as Christianity started to spread in Scandinavia, these enormous, ornate Thor's hammers were a visible sign for people who continued to worship the [Norse] gods.

The newest discoveries at Ysby are tentatively dated to be from the Viking Age, which traditionally began in 793 with the first Viking raid in England on a monastery on the holy island of Lindisfarne off the coast of Northumberland and ended in September 1066 with an English army led by King Harold Godwinson defeating an invading Norwegian army close to York at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

Mjölnir's Significance

The battle hammer Mjölnir, which according to tradition, was made by dwarves for the gods of Valhalla in a competition to create the most magnificent prize, is the heavenly hammer symbolized by the amulet, according to Larrington.

Walls from a Christian church constructed in the 1100s or 1200s, as well as the ruins of two "longhouses" from the late Iron Age, have been discovered at Ysby, according to Wranning's blog post.