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Mjolnir (IPA pronunciation:) is a fictional weapon. Mjolnir resembles a large hammer, and is the favoured weapon of Thor, a character existing in the

. Mjolnir translates into English as "That Which Smashes." It's composed primarily of the fictional metal Uru. The handle is wrapped in leather and terminates in a thong. Upon one of its sides is the inscription "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of... Thor"

This page refers to the hammer used by the Thor created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Ultimate Thor uses a different hammer with currently unknown properties.

History

There are several stories about the forging of Mjolnir. Two versions of the stories are as follows. Considering the different histories often given by the Norse gods and the cycle of Ragnarok it is unknown which parts of this story are true.

In pre-recorded Asgardian history, Odin ordered the dwarven blacksmiths Eitri, Brok, and Buri to forge Mjolnir. They used the core of a star and a forge enchanted by Odin to craft the weapon. The forging process was so intense, it destroyed the star and nearly Earth itself (subsequently implying that this event triggered the extinction of Earth's dinosaurs, but several events have been stated to be the cause of this).

Afterwards, Odin imbued Mjolnir with several self-sustaining enchantments (as detailed below). For a brief time, Odin used Mjolnir. One such instance was in a lethal fight with Laufey, a frost giant. After Laufey's death, Odin decided to adopt his orphaned son, Loki.

Eventually, Odin laid Mjolnir to rest until its rightful owner, Thor, proved himself worthy of carrying it. Towards that end, Odin subjected Thor to numerous trials and tribulations, in an effort for Thor to develop into a person noble enough to wield Mjolnir. Thor used to measure his progress by seeing how high he can lift the mallet. This is the only occurrence of anyone partially wielding Mjolnir.

Mjolnir's forge was lost for a period of time. Loki found it and used it to construct Uru weapons to challenge Thor's rule of Asgard, subsequently triggering the events leading to Ragnarok.

The other version known follows the traditional story.

According to Norse myth, Loki the trickster cut off the hair of Sif as part of a cruel jest. Threatened with grave physical harm by Thor, Loki escaped his fate by promising to fetch replacement hair from the dwarf smiths. Loki commissioned the hair from the sons of Ivaldi and the obliging dwarves also made a magic ship and spear as gifts for the gods. Loki was convinced that no one could match their workmanship, so challenged a dwarf named Eitri to make finer treasures. Eitri first made a golden ring; then a golden boar and began work on a hammer. Loki began to panic at the sight of the treatures, and fearful that he would lose the wager, transformed himself into a mayfly and stung Eitri's assistant on the brow as he was working the bellows for the forge. The assistant stopped for a moment to wipe away the blood, and the bellows fell flat - the end result being that the hammer was shorter in the handle than Eitri intended.

Despite this, the Norse gods considered Eitri to have forged the greater treasures and in retaliation he sewed Loki's lips shut. Odin went on to use Mjolnir, and eventually pass it to his son Thor, who first had to prove that he was worthy to wield the weapon.

During the Celestial Saga story it , there existed a Mjolnir that survived a previous incarnation of Asgard's Ragnarok. It was thrown to Midgard (Earth) by Thor's sons, Modi and Magni, landed in the Rhine river and was transformed into the magical Rhinegold. As this tale has been hinted to be a lie, it's unknown how much of this tale is factual, although no subsequent writings have refuted it.

Mjolnir's Enchantments

1. No living being can lift the hammer from the ground unless he or she is worthy.
2. Mjolnir returns to the exact spot from which it is thrown after striking its target, otherwise it returns to Thor when summoned.
3. It enables its wielder to summon the elements of storm (wind, rain, thunder, and lightning) by stamping its handle twice on the ground. This enchantment manipulates other magical energy. Energy directed at Mjolnir can be absorbed and redirected at Thor's choice of direction. Also, Mjolnir can sense the use of Asgardian magic.
4. Enables the hammer to open interdimensional portals by spinning the hammer, allowing its wielder to travel to other dimensions, such as from Earth to Asgard. Similarly, he can use this ability to transverse vast distances in the Earth dimension. While no upper limit has been determined, it does exist (as Thor was unable to return home when transported to the Beyonder's Battleworld though this may have been the Beyonder not letting Thor leave since at the time the Beyonder was the most powerful being in the Marvel Universe). Thor can also send Mjolnir itself into another dimension and return at a predetermined time.
5. It enables Thor to transform into the guise of a mortal, physician Donald Blake, by stamping the hammer's head to the ground once. Sometimes three times was required. A provision of this enchantment requires that the hammer can not be out of Thor' s hand for more than 60 seconds without his spontaneous reversion to his mortal self. When Thor transforms to Blake, his hammer takes the appearance of a wooden walking stick. When Thor transformed into Jake Olson the stick was removed and Thor just had to stamp his fist onto the ground. When disguised, the hammer's enchantments limiting those who could lift it are not in effect. Most of this enchantment was transferred into Beta Ray Bill's hammer, Stormbreaker. The remaining enchantment is limited to a change of clothes.
6. The hammer had one enchantment that has been rescinded. Mjolnir could be swung in such a way as to generate chronal displacement inertia enabling its wielder to travel through time. This property, separate from the hammer's dimension-spanning ability, was removed by Immortus, whose mastery over time exceeds that of the Asgardians. Subsequently, Thor can no longer travel through time.

These enchantments are reliant on the will of Odin. When Odin "died" during a confrontation with the Celestials, Mjolnir's ability to return was suspended. There have been numerous example of Odin stopping Mjolnir's flight with a wave of his hand.

Worthy people who have wielded Mjolnir

Several beings other than Thor have been able to lift Mjolnir on occasion. Successfully lifting Mjolnir usually transforms the mortal wielder into a quasi-Asgardian, often with an increase in strength, durability, and a wardrobe change that's more consistent with the Asgardian paradigm.

Mainstream (Earth 616)

• Odin
• Captain America
• Beta Ray Bill
• Buri (alias Tiwaz, Thor's paternal great-grandfather)
• Red Norvell (with the aid of gauntlets)
• Eric Masterson (both before and after merging with Thor)
• Superman, but a few pages later he cannot lift it. Explanation was given by Thor that someone might wield Mjolnir shortly if the situation calls for it to happen.

Alternate Realities

• Magni (son of Thor in "Thor, Lord of Earth" future)
• Woden (son of Thor in the Guardians of the Galaxy future)
• Dargo Ktor ("Once and Future Thor" future)

Non-canon

• Wonder Woman (During the DC vs. Marvel crossover event)

Uses

Mjolnir can be used both offensively and defensively. Thor often uses the hammer as a physical weapon, with almost nothing being capable of withstanding a hammer blow or throw. A rare exception is primary adamantium. Exceptionally invulnerable opponents such as the Silver Surfer or Drax the Destroyer can also recover from a hammer blow fairly quickly.

Other offensive capabilities include creating vortexes; emitting mystical blasts of energy; controlling electro-magnetism; molecular manipulation and generating the awesome Geo-Blast; Anti-Force and God Blast.

Defensively Mjolnir can also be used to block attacks, absorb and redirect energy and by being spun in an arc repel all attacks, be they physical or energy-based.

Thor also uses Mjolnir as a means of transportation by hurling the hammer and gripping the thong on the shaft, being pulled along by the force created. Once airborne, Thor can change direction, speed, and altitude.

There are also several rarely used abilities:

Mjolnir can detect illusions, and once struck the true Mephisto, who was hiding amongst illusions of himself.

A former religious relic, Mjolnir is lethal to undead. Thor once threw Mjolnir at a vampire, with contact causing the vampire to burst into flame and then crumble to dust.

Mjolnir can apparently project images, as Thor once showed a glimpse of Asgard to a curious Iron Man.

Limitations

Although an incredibly powerful weapon, Mjolnir is not invulnerable. It has been damaged several times over the years. A force beam from the Destroyer sliced it in two. Thor shattered Mjolnir after channelling an incredible amount of energy at the Celestial Exitar.. Perrikus also cut the hammer in half with a magical scythe During Ragnarok, it was broken when it collided with other uru weapons made with the same forge. It could be controlled by Magneto.

Imitations

Several imitations of Mjolnir have existed. The most well-known are the two created by Odin himself: Stormbreaker for Beta Ray Bill, and the mace Thunderstrike for Eric Masterson. Loki has been responsible for the creation of several imitations - he provided Deadpool with a copy of Mjolnir, and later allowed Surtur to use the forge Mjolnir was created from to craft copies during Ragnarok. Tony Stark and Reed Richards also created an imitation Mjolnir for use by the clone Thor during Civil War.

References

1. Oeming, Michael (w), Di Vito, Andrea (a). "Ragnarok part 1 of 6" Thor, vol. 2, no. 80 (August 2004). Marvel Comics.
2. Zelenetz, Alan (w), Hall, Bob (p), Colletta, Vince (i). "The Saga of Thor" Thor Annual, no. 11 (1983). Marvel Comics.
3. Roy Thomas, Ralph Macchio, Mark Gruenwald (w), Keith Pollard, Arvell Jones (p), Chic Stone, Gene Day (i). "Celestial Saga" Thor, vol. 1, no. 287-300 (September 1979 - October 1980). Marvel Comics.
4. Gruenwald, Mark, Macchio, Ralph (w), Pollard, Keith (p), Day, Gene (i). "Twilight of the Gods" Thor, vol. 1, no. 300 (October 1980). Marvel Comics.
5. Busiek, Kurt (w), Pérez, George (p), Smith, Tom (i). Avengers/JLA, no. 4 (2003). DC Comics.
6. Moench, Doug (w), Pollard, Keith (p), Day, Gene (i). "The Maelstrom to Mephisto" Thor, vol. 1, no. 310 (August 1981). Marvel Comics.
7. Zelenetz, Alan (w), Perlin, Don (p), Colletta, Vince (i). "Blood of a Goddess" Thor, vol. 1, no. 332 (June 1983). Marvel Comics.
8. The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2005). Marvel Comics.
9. Lee, Stan (w), Kirby, Jack (p), Colletta, Vince (i). "The Day of the Destroyer" Journey Into Mystery, vol. 1, no. 119 (August 1965). Marvel Comics.
10. DeFalco, Tom (w), Frenz, Ron (p), Breeding, Brett (i). "Alone Against the Celestials" Thor, vol. 1, no. 388 (February 1988). Marvel Comics.
11. Jurgens, Dan (w), Romita Jr, John (p), Janson, Klaus (i). "Dark Wars part 2 of 3" Thor, vol. 2, no. 11 (May 1999). Marvel Comics.
12. Simonson, Walt (w, a). "Something Old, Something New" Thor, vol. 1, no. 339 (January 1984). Marvel Comics.
13. Deadpool, vol. 1, no. 37 (February 2000). Marvel Comics.
14. Oeming, Michael (w), Di Vito, Andrea (a). "Ragnarok part 1 of 6" Thor, vol. 2, no. 80 (August 2004). Marvel Comics.

• Mythology in comics
• Marvel Comics objects
• Fictional weapons