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August 26, 2004
Some character connections between John, his Mjolnir armour, and... you know, Thor, Norse mythology... that kind of thing.
Joe Dumais (duneraider77@hotmail.com) writes: Hey there! I havent heard anything at all regarding the chief's armor being called "MJOLNIR", which is the same name as the norese god Thor's Thunderhammer. I think its a fairly interesting connection worth looking into. Ive already found some stuff which Ive listed below:
This came from a short definition site that is no longer online:
"MJOLNIR Definition: The legendary weapon of the Norse God Thor. "Mjolnir" means "lightning crusher." Made by the Dwarves Brok and Eitri, it possessed magical qualities. It would magically return when thrown, and was used for healing and even resurrection. The hammer was feared by the enemies of the Aesir, and stolen by the frost Giant Thrym, who demanded the goddess Freyja in exchange for its return. Instead, Thor disguised himself as the goddess, siezed control of the hammer, and slew all of the giants in the hall."
And this came from a site on Norse gods here.
Thor's red beard and halo (HALO AGAIN!)of fire were also allusions to lightning. His throwing hammer Mjolnir ('the crusher') was an emblem for his thunderbolts. While no Giant stood a chance against the business end of Mjolnir, so too could the stone hammer restore life when turned around.* Also characteristic of the pan-IE thunder god was Thor's chariot, drawn by the goats Tanngniotr ('tooth grinder') and tanngrisnr ('tooth gnasher'), and the Oak (Pillar of autumn, anyone?) was his sacred tree. The Norse elaborated the trappings of their thunder god with a steel-plated leather glove with which he wielded Mjolnir and his belt that, when tightened, doubled his strength (Doubled strength sure sounds like Mjolnir armor to me!)
Along with these accouterments and imagery, Thor was the quintessential thunder god in that he was a fervid enemy of the Frost Giants (Elites and hunters perhaps?) -especially of the monstrous world serpent, Jormungandr. Thor repeatedly sought out this monstrous beast. Twice it got away, but Thor finally killed it at Ragnarok, though dying in its venom. Despite the fearsome reputation Thor had with the Giants, he occasionally enjoyed their company. His is usually accompanied on these wanderings by Loki, who was originally a Giant though adopted into the Aesir. This is part of the reason modern mythographers suspect Loki personified fire, as lightning strikes could ignite fires. In some stories Thor could be characterized as a brutish buffoon (Cortana: Its not a cudgel you Barbarian!). This is exemplified even at the sad occasion of Balder's funeral, where he booted a dwarf (appropriately name "Lit") onto the pyre.
I'm glad we had this talk ;)
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-Finn
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