70 modgud
The gods considered Mjollnir to be their greatest treasure, for it alone could be used to defend Asgard against the giants. When Thor hurled it, it always struck its mark and returned instantly into his hand, like a boomerang. Although mighty in size, it could be magically shrunk to fit inside Thor’ s shirt.
The hammer was a symbol of fertility. In“ The Theft of Thor’ s Hammer,” Thor dressed himself as a bride when he went to visit the giant Thrym, who had stolen the hammer. Thor knew that at some point in the wedding ceremony a hammer was always placed in the lap of the bride, for such was the custom of the Norse. When Thrym placed Mjollnir in Thor’ s lap, Thor retrieved his hammer.
Mjollnir was also a symbol of resurrection. In“ Thor’ s Journey to Utgard,” when Thor waves Mjollnir over the skin and bones of his dead goats, the goats spring back to life.
Mjollnir was used at funerals as well. When Balder lay on his funeral pyre, Thor consecrated the funeral with his hammer.
With Mjollnir, Thor killed the giant Hrungnir and also the Giant Master Builder, who built Asgard’ s wall.
The only time that the hammer seemed to be ineffectual was when Thor struck the giant Skrymir with it. Skrymir said that he thought he was being assaulted by delicate leaves and twigs. However, it turned out that the hammer had made huge dents in a hillside instead of in Skrymir’ s head, thanks to the giant’ s clever magic.
After Ragnarok, the end of the world, Thor’ s sons, Magni and Modi, inherited Mjollnir.
Modgud The maiden who guards Giallarbru, the bridge that crosses the river Gjoll( 2). When Hermod journeyed to Hel( 2) to bargain for the return of the slain god Balder, Modgud stopped him and challenged him, as she did everyone who wanted to cross the bridge. She described Hermod’ s approach as louder than the thunder made by more than five companies of dead men who had passed the bridge to Hel the day before. She confirmed that Balder, too, had crossed her bridge. After Hermod explained his mission, Modgud allowed him to pass, telling him that Hel was farther down the road and to the north.
Modgud is only mentioned in Gylfaginning by Snorri Sturluson, and some scholars suggest that she serves as a typical challenger of the gods.
Modi( Modi; Courage) The lesser known of the two sons of the god Thor and the giantess Jarnsaxa. Along with his brother, Magni, Modi was one of the seven Aesir gods to survive Ragnarok. According to the poem Vafthrudnismal, Modi and Magni inherited Thor’ s hammer, Mjollnir.
Mokkurkalfi( Mist Calf) The clay monster made by the Jotun as a second, or substitute, for Hrungnir in his duel with the god Thor. Mokkurkalfi was nine leagues tall, or about nine miles. The Jotun equipped Mokkurkalfi with the heart of a mare. Thor’ s servant, Thjalfi, hacked the clay figure to pieces. The story is in Snorri Sturluson’ s
Skaldskapargmal.
Moon See creation; Sun and Moon.
A decorative reproduction of Thor’ s hammer, Mjollnir( Photo by Uwe H. Friese / Used under a Creative Commons license)
Motsognir The first of two dwarfs created by the Aesir from the maggots that oozed from the body of the first giant, Ymir, at the time of creation. The gods were in the process of creating all of the objects and creatures of their realms, after they had created their worlds from the proto-giant’ s body. After sitting and thinking for a short time, they decided dwarfs