Thor’s hammer amulet discovered in Sweden
Archaeologists have was unearthed The Torshammara amulet, which they call “one of its kind” in Ysby in southwestern Halland.
The hammer was discovered near a future housing development site. Previous excavations at the site revealed Neolithic and Iron Age artefacts, but this is the first Viking Age artefact to be discovered there. It is also the first Thor’s hammer amulet discovered in Halland.
In Norse mythology, the hammer that forms the basis of the amulet is called “Mjölnir”. Thor used the weapon to protect his home, Asgard, from giants.
Dating from the late 9th century, the amulet is 3 centimeters (1.18 in) long and cast in lead in the stylized shape representing Thor’s dwarf hammer Mjölnir. It has a hole in the shaft through which a string or tie of some kind was threaded so that it could be worn as a pendant. An interlocking pattern is engraved on one side of the hammer’s head.
This suggests to the archaeologists that the hammer was worn around the neck as a protective amulet. Mjölnir was associated with protective powers during the Viking Age due to its status as the weapon of one of the most powerful Norse gods.
These were popular accessories of the Viking Age, worn as apotropaic amulets, calling upon Thor’s protective power to ward off evil. The Halland region began to convert to Christianity at the time this was carried. A pendant like this had a religious significance beyond its purported guardianship as it was an unmistakable symbol of adherence to the Form Sidr (meaning “the old way”, i.e. the traditional Norse gods) rather than the new way of Christianity.
Museologists are currently preserving the rare Viking Age artifact, according to Per Wranning from Kulturmiljö Halland. Scientists will begin examining the object’s metallic composition after these initial restoration techniques are completed. Similar artifacts were often silvered or gilded, but researchers will not know whether this particular artifact was plated or not until the restoration is complete.