Thor's Hammer Vaalse, White Gold 585

Small Thorhammer Vaalse, white gold 585

Replica of a small Thorhammer amulet after a find from Vaalse, Denmark. The small Thorhammer is handcrafted from solid white gold and comes with a leather thong and certificate in a case. Size 17 x 30 mm. The eyelet has an inner diameter of about 5 x 3 mm. The weight of the hammer varies between 3.0 and 3.5 grams due to the handwork.

Due to the more expensive alloy containing palladium and being a commissioned casting, the price in white gold is higher than an equivalent piece of jewellery in yellow gold. The delivery time is also somewhat longer.

Thorshammer amulets

Amulets were worn to secure protection and assistance from the gods and to participate in their power. The belief in the healing power of amulets stems from magical thinking and is by no means extinct even in high religions.
Miniature hammers, the sign of the god Thor, have been unearthed in many specimens in settlements and graves of the northern Germanic tribes. While the Christians used the cross as their symbol, the pagans wore the Thor hammer as jewellery and amulet.
Most remarkable is a casting mould from the Viking settlement of Haithabyr (Haithabu) near Schleswig that can be used on both sides, allowing a Thor's hammer to be cast from one side and a cross from the other.

The amulet with a horse's head from Iceland is also interpreted as a mixture between a cross and a Thorhammer.
The Edda from the 13th century portrays the god Thor as blustering and hot-tempered, but also good-natured, humorous and easily reconciled. He was a strong and great protector to the warriors; cunning and cunning were not his forte.
The rumbling of his goat-drawn sky chariot produces thunder and his hammer Mjöllnir (the "Malmer") hurls lightning. It is a magical weapon that returns to its master after being thrown and teaches enemies to fear it.

Thor's hammers - women's jewellery?

From an archaeological point of view, Thors hammers are actually found almost exclusively in women's graves. Possibly this is connected with a legend from the older Edda (Song Edda), which tells of the theft of the mythical hammer by the giant Thrym. Hidden deep underground, the giant only wanted to return the magical artefact when he had the beautiful goddess Freya as his wife. 
Thor and Loki used a ruse and entered the giant's realm dressed as women. Thrym, who did not recognise this ruse, arranged a great wedding banquet, at which Thor attracted attention by his hunger and thirst. But in the end, the ruler of the giants placed the hammer in his lap as a bridal gift, thus sealing his own death and the downfall of his entire clan.
Possibly with this background, the Thor's hammer amulet became a lucky charm for the wedding night and marriage in general.

Today, however, the Thoshammer has also established itself as men's jewellery and symbolises not only the connection to the world of the Vikings, but also to Germanic mythology and the legendary realms of their gods.