Mjollnir
;)
was the magic hammer of the Germanic thunder god Thor. Made by the dwarfs Brokk and Eitri, it was an instrument of destruction, fertility and resurrection. In Thor's hands Mjollnir was the gods certain protection against their enemies, the frost giants. That is why the gods were so worried when the frost giant Thrym stole it. The price for its return was the hand of Freyja, the fertility goddess. Dressed in Freyja's clothes and accompanied by the trickster god Loki, Thor went to Thrym's hall. Since it was customary to ask a blessing on any marriage by placing the hammer on the knees of the bride, Thrym ordered it to be brought out. But no sooner had Thor got hold of Mjollnir than he jumped up and crushed the frost giant's skull with a mighty blow.
Mjollnir's powers as a restorer of life were revealed on a journey made by Thor to the frost giants stronghold of Utgard, when he used it to reconstitute from skin and bones two goats which had been eaten the night before. The magic hammer was also used at funerals. When the fire was lit round the pyre of Balder and Nanna, Thor raised his hammer and chanted certain magic wards to consecrate the ceremony.
After Ragnarok, the day of doom and the end of the world, ownership of Mjollnir passed to Thor's sons Magni and Modi.