During excavations in the town of Ysby in the Halland province of south-west Sweden, a team of archaeologists unearthed a unique amulet in the shape of Thor’s hammer, which they described as “one of a kind”. In Norse mythology, Thor’s hammer, known as Mjönir (which could be translated as “crushing”), was the weapon used by this terrible god of war to protect Asgard, the abode of the gods.
The late 10th-century amulet is three centimeters long and cast in lead. During previous excavations conducted at the same site, archaeologists have uncovered several Neolithic and Iron Age tools, although this amulet is the first discovered by researchers in the province of Halland.
During the Viking Age, the Mjönir was used as an apotropaic amulet, that is, a magical or supernatural defense mechanism that invoked the divine and protective power of Thor to ward off evil from the wearer.
When this type of amulet came into use, the Halland area was already beginning to convert to Christianity, and beyond the pendant’s protective powers, it was a symbol of loyalty to the Forn Siðr (whose meaning is “the old way”). , in other words, the way of the population was to continue the old traditions instead of embracing the new religion.