Norse pagan charms were an integral part of defensive practices in ancient Norse culture. These charms were believed to possess protective qualities that could ward off evil spirits, bring good fortune, and keep the wearer safe from harm. One popular Norse pagan charm is the Vegvisir, also known as the "Viking compass." This symbol was believed to guide travelers through rough weather and unknown territories, protecting them from getting lost or encountering danger. It was often worn as an amulet or inscribed on protective objects such as shields or boats. Another commonly used charm was the Thor's hammer, Mjölnir.
Another commonly used charm was the Thor's hammer, Mjölnir. This symbol was associated with the Norse god of thunder, Thor, and was believed to have the power to protect the wearer from evil and bring strength and luck. Mjölnir was often worn as a pendant or as an engraved symbol on weapons or personal belongings.
Thor’s Hammer
Of all of the symbols in Norse mythology, Thor’s Hammer (Old Norse Mjöllnir, pronounced roughly “MIOL-neer”) is one of the most historically important, and is probably the best known today.
Thor was the indefatigable god who guarded Asgard, the celestial stronghold of the Aesir, the main tribe of gods and goddesses in Norse mythology. The giants, the forces of chaos, were often trying to destroy Asgard and kill the Aesir, and it was Thor’s task to prevent them from doing so.
The hammer was his primary weapon. It was no ordinary hammer; whenever Thor cast it at an enemy, it returned to his hands like a boomerang. [1]
Thor (whose name goes back to a Proto-Germanic root that means “Thunder” [2] ) was the god of the storm, and thunder was perceived as being the sound of his hammer crashing down on his foes. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the Old Norse name for his hammer, Mjöllnir, probably meant “Lightning.”
While the etymology of Mjöllnir is uncertain, most scholars trace the name back to an Indo-European root that is attested in the Old Slavic word mlunuji, Russian molnija, and Welsh mellt, all of which mean “lightning.” It may also be related to the Icelandic words mjöll, “new snow,” and mjalli, “white,” the color of lightning and a potential symbol of purity. [3][4] The significance of that symbolism will become clear shortly.
Thor’s Hammer as an Instrument of Blessing, Consecration, and Protection
Thor’s hammer was certainly a weapon – the best weapon the Aesir had, in fact – but it was more than just a weapon. It also occupied a central role in rituals of consecration and hallowing.
The hammer was used in formal ceremonies to bless marriages, births, and probably funerals as well. [5] In one episode from medieval Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda, Thor once killed and ate his goats, then brought them back to life by hallowing their bones with his hammer. [6] (Talk about having your cake and eating it, too!) The medieval Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus records that huge hammers were kept in one of Thor’s temples in Sweden, and that periodically the people would hold a ritual there that involved beating the hammers against some kind of drum that would resound like thunder. [7] This could have been a ceremony to bless and protect the community and ward off hostile spirits.
Historian Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson provides an excellent summary of the uses of the hammer:
It would seem indeed as though the power of the thunder god, symbolized by his hammer, extended over all that had to do with the well-being of the community. It covered birth, marriage, and death, burial, and cremation ceremonies, weapons and feasting, travelling, land-taking, and the making of oaths between men. The famous weapon of Thor was not only the symbol of the destructive power of the storm, and of fire from heaven, but also a protection against the forces of evil and violence. Without it Asgard could no longer be guarded against the giants, and men relied on it also to give security and to support the rule of law. [8]
Of all of these consecration ceremonies, the use of the hammer to bless a marriage is especially well-established. The existence of this rite is assumed in the tale of Thor as a Transvestite, where the giants stole Thor’s hammer and he went to retrieve it by dressing as a bride to be married to one of the giants, knowing that the hammer would be presented during the ceremony. When it was presented, he seized it and promptly smashed the skulls of all of the giants in attendance. A Bronze Age rock carving from Scandinavia apparently depicts a couple being blessed by a larger figure holding a hammer, which indicates the considerable antiquity of this notion. [9] Historian E.O.G. Turville-Petre suggests that part of this blessing consisted of imparting fertility to the couple, which would make sense in light of Thor’s connections with agriculture and the fertilization of the fields. [10]
These roles of the hammer were inseparable from its use as a weapon to defend Asgard from the giants. As the famed historian of religion Mircea Eliade discusses in The Sacred and the Profane, one of the universal patterns in human consciousness is the concept of the cosmos, a realm defined by sacred time and space, and chaos, a realm defined by profane (ordinary) time and space. The cosmos is typically envisioned as a circle, an island in a sea of chaos. [11]
In Norse mythology, cosmos and chaos were called, respectively, innangard and utangard. Asgard, the homeworld of the gods, and Midgard, the homeworld of humanity, both have the element -gard in the modern English versions of their names. This suffix (garðr in Old Norse) denoted a fortress or an enclosure, something which was circumscribed by a wall, a fence, or some other kind of boundary to separate it from the areas outside of it. It was a cosmos that was protected against the utangard chaos that surrounded it. The world of the giants was called either Jotunheim or Utgard. Jotunheim simply means “the home of the giants,” while Utgard means “outside of the gard,” just like the more general term utangard. The Aesir, humanity, and their worlds were seen as being innangard, a cosmos, while the giants and their world were seen as being utangard, chaos.
When something or someone was consecrated with Thor’s hammer, it (or he or she) was taken from the realm of chaos and absorbed into the cosmos. It was protected from the ill effects of chaos and its denizens, and sanctified and sanctioned by the social order and its divine models. The profane was banished and the sacred was established.
This pattern is borne out both in the use of the hammer as a weapon and in its use as an instrument of blessing, consecration, protection, and healing. When Thor smote giants with the hammer, he was defending the cosmos and banishing the forces of chaos. When he blessed a marriage, a birth, a field, or a dead person with it, his act had the same religious/psychological significance.
How Thor’s Hammer Was Made
The story of how Mjöllnir came into existence is told in the tale of The Creation of Thor’s Hammer. To briefly summarize:
One day, the trickster Loki was feeling especially “tricksy,” and cut off the long, golden hair of Thor’s wife, Sif. Enraged, Thor was about to kill Loki when the latter swore to go down to Svartalfheim, the land of the dwarves, who were renowned as the greatest smiths in all of the Nine Worlds. There he would obtain a head of hair for Sif that was even more marvelous than the one he had lopped off. Thor consented to this plea bargain.
While in the cavernous smithies of the dwarves, Loki was able to acquire his prize, and, by cunningly challenging several dwarves to prove who was the best smith, he acquired several more treasures for the gods as well. Among these was Thor’s hammer, which was short in the handle because Loki, in the form of a fly, bit the eyelid of the dwarf who was forging it.
When Thor saw the hammer, the finest weapon in the universe despite its flaw, he agreed to let Loki live.
Thor’s Hammer as a Symbol in the Viking Age
A Viking Age mold discovered in Denmark that could forge both cross and hammer pendants
In the Viking Age, people sometimes wore hammer amulets on necklaces to display their faith in Thor, a counterpart to those who wore cross amulets to signify their faith in Christ. Such amulets may or may not have been worn prior to the Viking Age – we don’t have enough evidence to say one way or another – but they seem to have become common around the same time that cross amulets were becoming common in Scandinavia. The hammer’s usage as jewelry during that period was probably an imitation of – and/or a reaction against – the Christian practice. [12]
It seems reasonable to suppose that the people who wore hammer amulets would have believed that they provided the same benefits as Thor’s hammer in the mythology: protection, consecration, and general blessing.
Intriguingly, Viking Age soapstone molds have been discovered in Denmark and Sweden that have molds for casting both cross and hammer pendants. [13] What was the thinking behind this? Was this the work of a shrewd, entrepreneurial blacksmith, or of someone who devotedly followed both Thor and Christ, or of someone with some other set of motivations? Such questions are, of course, unanswerable due to the ambiguity and scarcity of the evidence. [14] One way or another, however, the molds are a clear indication of the parallel usage and symbolism of the hammer and the cross, [15] as are pagan memorial stones that depict Thor’s head next to the hammer in imitation of the common Christian practice of depicting Jesus’s head next to the cross. [16]
These amulets and memorial stones also exemplify the coexistence of Christianity and paganism in Scandinavia during the Viking Age, however tense or amicable it may have been in different places and at different times. [17] As I point out in The Vikings’ Conversion to Christianity, “paganism” and “Christianity” were highly fluid categories during the Viking Age. Many, perhaps even most, people had elements of both religions in their beliefs and practices. Thus, the cross and the hammer could be used simultaneously without apparently causing much of a stir or creating cognitive dissonance. Consider, for example, the grave of a woman buried near the trade town of Hedeby. Her body was adorned with a cross necklace, yet her coffin was decorated with hammers. Likewise, some of the inhabitants of the village of Pollista in central Sweden were buried with both cross and hammer necklaces. [18]
The fact that the Norse pagans chose Thor’s hammer to symbolize their adherence to their ancestral gods rather than the spear of Odin, the ship of Freyr, the necklace of Freya, the horn of Heimdall, or any of the other available options, is a testament to how preeminent the veneration of Thor was among the common people at the time.
Looking for more great information on Norse mythology and religion? While this site provides the ultimate online introduction to the topic, my book The Viking Spirit provides the ultimate introduction to Norse mythology and religion period. I’ve also written a popular list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books, which you’ll probably find helpful in your pursuit.
References:
[1] Simek, Rudolf. 1993. A Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Trans. Angela Hall. p. 219.
[2] Orel, Vladimir. 2003. A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. p. 429.
[3] Simek, Rudolf. 1993. A Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Trans. Angela Hall. p. 219-220.
[4] Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. p. 81.
[5] Ellis-Davidson, Hilda Roderick. 1964. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. p. 80.
[6] Snorri Sturluson. The Prose Edda. Gylfaginning 44.
[7] Ellis-Davidson, Hilda Roderick. 1964. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. p. 81-82.
[10] Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. p. 81.
[11] Eliade, Mircea. 1957. The Sacred and The Profane: The Nature of Religion. Translated by Willard R. Trask.
[12] Dubois, Thomas A. 1999. Nordic Religions in the Viking Age. p. 159.
[13] Fletcher, Richard. 1999. The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity. p. 373.
[15] Dubois, Thomas A. 1999. Nordic Religions in the Viking Age. p. 159.
[17] Winroth, Anders. 2014. The Age of the Vikings. p. 199.
[18] Fletcher, Richard. 1999. The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity. p. 373-374.
Suggestions for Further Reading for Interested Readers
Additionally, the Aegishjalmur, also known as the "Helm of Awe," was used as a powerful protective charm. Its intricate design resembled a helm or a spider's web and was believed to instill fear and protect the wearer in battle. Warriors would often paint this charm on their foreheads or wear it as a pendant to bring them strength and courage. The importance of these charms in Norse culture extended beyond their physical form. It was believed that their power was enhanced through recitation of specific spells or incantations. These rituals and invocations were thought to invoke the spirits and gods associated with the charm, strengthening their protective properties. In conclusion, Norse pagan charms played a significant role in defensive practices in ancient Norse culture. The Vegvisir, Thor's hammer, and Aegishjalmur were popular charms that were believed to possess protective qualities. Their power was further reinforced through rituals and invocations. These charms served as tangible representations of the belief in the ability to ward off evil and bring safety and good fortune to the wearer..
Reviews for "The Symbolic Meaning of Norse Pagan Protective Talismans"
1. Sarah - ★★☆☆☆
I was really excited to try out these Norse pagan charms for defensive purposes, but I have to say I was disappointed. The instructions were not clear and the materials provided were of low quality. The charms themselves did not have any noticeable effect on improving my protection or defense. I found it to be a waste of money and would not recommend it to others.
2. Michael - ★☆☆☆☆
I had high hopes for these Norse pagan charms, but unfortunately, they did not live up to my expectations. The whole experience felt like a scam from the start. The charms arrived late and were poorly packaged. They were also smaller and flimsier than I anticipated. I tried using them for defense, but they had no effect whatsoever. It's clear that these charms are nothing more than a gimmick, and I regret spending my money on them.
3. Emma - ★★☆☆☆
I have always been interested in Norse mythology and thought these pagan charms would be a great addition to my collection. However, I was disappointed with the quality and overall effectiveness of these charms for defensive purposes. The materials used felt cheap and the craftsmanship was questionable. I tried using them for protection, but I didn't notice any significant difference. I would advise others to explore alternative options rather than wasting their money on these charms.
4. John - ★☆☆☆☆
I purchased these Norse pagan charms with hopes of enhancing my personal defense, but I must say they were a complete letdown. The charms lacked any mystical or protective properties as advertised. They were nothing more than cheap trinkets that did not provide any noticeable benefits. I would strongly advise against investing in these charms for defensive purposes, as they are simply not worth your time or money.