Sterling Silver Traditional Viking Romsdal Thor's Hammer

This is a copy of the Thor's Hammer which was recovered from a viking ship in a find. The find dated about 900 AD. It was found as part of a hoard near Romesdal, Bornholm Island, Denmark and is on display along with other items in the hoard at the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark. This piece is approximately 1 1/4" high and 1 1/2" wide. The Thor's Hammer is a power symbol which actually predates the Vikings being Christianized. Before Christianity the symbol was not widely used. After the 900's vikings began to come into contact with Christians. At this point Thor's Hammer became a religious symbol. The majority of Thor's Hammers have been found in areas where Christianity had the strongest influence. The full story of how Thor got his hammer can be found in second part of the Prose Edda known as Skaacute;ldskaparmaacute;l. The short version is: Loki was upset with Thor and cut off his wife Sif's hair. In order to save his life Loki promises Thor a gift while he gets Sif a golden wig. Loki gets several gifts, but did not get Thor's gift. He attempts to manipulate several dwarfs to make two other gifts. Loki bet his head. He began to get nervous about losing the bet, turned into a gadfly, and bit the blacksmith in the eye. This caused the handle to be short. Loki lost the bet. Thor chose Mjouml;lnir, which is known as Thor's Hammer. The other gifts where Freyr's ship Skiacute;eth;blaeth;nir and Odin's spear Gungnir.