A man exploring a Viking Age farmstead in the Icelandic highlands has found a unique, never-before-seen amulet representing Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. No other similar artifact has ever been discovered anywhere else in the world.
Ancient Icelandic sources claim that Mjolnir is one of the most feared weapons in Norse mythology.
In ancient accounts, it is said that it was used to defeat all those who challenge the supremacy of the Æsir (the gods that inhabit Asgard).
One of the most popular myths about Mjolnir’s origin is related in the Skáldskaparmál, where it is mentioned that the dwarves Sindri and Brok forged it and gave it to Thor as part of a bet.
Mjolnir means “demolisher” and refers to the hammers ability to pulverize anything it makes contact with.
Now, a necklace featuring the legendary weapon of Thor, most likely used as a protection amulet has been found in Iceland for the first time.
Mjolnir was described as having many magical characteristics and had the power to destroy mountains.
It was also said that thunder and lightning were the results of the blow of the hammer and that the hammer had the ability to shrink enough to be stored in a robe and then enlarged for use in combat.
Certain Nordic myths refer to Mjolnir’s powers to strengthen male virility and female fertility.
Only one other such hammer has been found in Iceland.
As explained by Iceland Review, the discovery took place last week in the south of the island, in the Þjórsárdalur valley, an area that was once a territory for Viking farms.
Local resident Bergur Þór Björnsso was the one who had the luck to run into the Mjolnir Amulet made of sandstone.
Björnsso followed the tradition set forth by his grandfather, who discovered about 20 farms of the Viking era in the 1920s.
“I just thought it was quite far between the ruins here and started to search just for fun,” he said about the discovery.
Since then, archaeologists who came to the site have also discovered an iron peak, a sharpening stone, a buckle, and charred human remains.
The last unearthed were forge debris, which indicates that metal works were carried out on this particular farm.
The artifacts have not yet been dated, but experts estimate that they can be traced back to the first Viking settlements in Iceland and could be about 900 years old.
To be sure, they have been transferred to Reykjavík where they will be analyzed in greater detail.
As explained by IcelandReview, no other stone like Thor’s hammer has been found anywhere else in the world.