Genetic Evidence of Aryan Invasion into Indian Subcontinent

[Taken from IndiaDivine.org]

Latest genetic research supports the anthropological and historical theory
that the Hindu caste system and the link between the Europeans invasion from
west. Those born into higher castes in India may be more related to Europeans,
while lower castes may be more similar to Asians, the research finds.

The original Hindu caste system is said to have started when Indo-European
nomadic groups called Aryans invaded India about 5000 years ago. They set
themselves as priests and then divided the society they encountered into a
four-part caste system -- Brahmans (priests and teachers), Kshatriyas (rulers
and warriors), Vaisyas (merchants and traders) and Sudras (workers and peasants)
who were born to serve the other three. There also are castes within castes; in
all, there are more than 1,000.

Lowest in the social order are the Harijans or Untouchables. They did all
the dirty work.

Researchers from the United States, the United Kingdom, and India studied
the linkage between the Europeans and high caste in India by DNA. "We've been
working in India, asking questions about the origins of the caste system and
tribal populations," says Dr. Michael Bamshad, an assistant professor at the
University of Utah's Eccles Institute of Human Genetics in Salt Lake City. "We
were also interested in the effects of social forces on biological variations."

Bamshad and his colleagues conducted their research by drawing blood from
eight different populations in the lower, middle and upper castes. They compared
five different types of genetic data, Bamshad says. "Two of those types are
inherited only from your mother -- called mitochondrial data -- and two of those
types are from the Y chromosome, so they come only from the father."

The researchers compared the data to about "750 Africans, Asians and
Europeans and then compared the affinities of the castes of different ranks with
those continental groups," Bamshad says.

The genetic data from the mother shows "some evidence of European
markers," Bamshad reports. The higher the caste, the "higher the frequency of
those European markers," he says.
But genes passed on from the father show a more striking pattern. "When we
looked at father markers, we see that the castes are more similar to Europeans
than Asians, again with the upper classes being closer to Europeans than the
lower classes," Bamshad says.

Though discrimination against the ancient caste system was declared
illegal by bothe Nepalese and Indian government, it still continues as part of
day to day life in both countries.

The findings, which appear in the May issue of Genome Research, support
the historical data showing that India was in part populated by people from
Turkey, the Middle East, the Caucasus or Eastern Europe, Bamshad says.

"And it also suggests that those who migrated from Europe often left their
descendents in the higher castes rather than the lower castes," Bamshad says.
"The evidence from the Y chromosomes shows that it was the men who married into
the upper castes, and it appears that more men than women moved into India, and
that certainly is consistent with the concept of a marauding army."

Bamshad's research falls under the rubric of molecular anthropology, says
Peter Underhill, senior research scientist in genetics at Stanford University.
"The main thrust of this research project is to better understand the Indian
population, where it came from, how it developed."

"This research, which attempts to correlate genetics with the historical
record, provides good genetic evidence, and such correlations are reassuring,"
Underhill says. "What's particularly nice about this paper is that it doesn't
emphasize one slice of the genome. It weaves in genetics from both men and
women."

While Bamshad's research has no direct relevance, "it would be of some
interest to medical genetic studies. It's another piece of the puzzle that might
help scientists understand certain traits within the Indian population,"
Underhill says.

The main feature of Indian society, seen at its strongest in the rural areas, is
caste. A caste is a collection of people who share similar cultural and
religious values and practices. Members within a caste generally marry among
themselves; intercaste marriages are a cultural taboo. These social regulations
governing the institution of marriage have resulted in a substructuring of the
Indian gene pool. There are also elaborate social regulations of avoidance of
marriages within castes, and thus there is genomic substructuring even within a
caste.

The origins of the castes in India remain an enigma. Many castes are known to
have tribal origins, as evidenced from various totemic features that manifest
themselves in these caste groups (Kosambi 1964). The caste system in northern
India may have developed as a class structure from within tribes: As agriculture
spread from the Indus River valley to the Gangetic basin, knowledge and
ownership of the means of food production may have created hierarchical
divisions within tribal societies (Kosambi 1964). Karve (1961) has also argued
that "something very like castes were in India" even before Aryan speakers
entered India.

The Aryan world comprised three classes (varnas): priests, nobles, and
commoners. Aryans as the conquering people possibly placed their three classes
on the indigenous Indian society. The varna organization is hierarchical.
Initially, the system had names for two ranks, Brahma (Brahmin) and Kshatra
(Kshatriya), Brahmin being of a socially higher rank than Kshatriya. The third
rank was made up of Vis, that is, all the subjects. To this society, a fourth
rank was added: Shudra, who had no rights to Aryan ritual. In southern India,
the menial workers, the so-called "untouchables", were placed in a new varna,
Panchama (meaning fifth). It is conceivable that the Aryan speakers had greater
contact, including genetic admixture, with the Brahmins, who were professionally
the torchbearers and promoters of Aryan rituals. The Aryan contact should have
been progressively less as one descended the varna ladder. The genetic
expectation, therefore, is that the proportions of those genes (or genomic
features, such as haplotypes or haplogroups) that "characterized" the Aryan
speakers should progressively decline from the highest varna to the lowest and a
reverse trend should be observed with respect to those genes that
"characterized" the indigenous Indians.

Although some previous studies have sought to test this expectation, the
observed trends were equivocal. The primary reason was the lack of data on a
large uniform set of markers from populations of India and central/west Asia
(the region from which the Aryans speakers who entered India originated). The
study by Bamshad et al. (2001), who have also sought to test the above
expectation, is clearly a landmark. Using a very large battery of genomic
markers and DNA sequences, spanning autosomal, mitochondrial, and Y-chromosomal
genomic regions, they have shown that the observed trend of genetic admixture
estimated from castes belonging to different varnas is congruent with
expectations. This trend was observed in each of the three data subsets. The
only exception was in respect of mtDNA restriction site haplotypes, which was
also noted in a recent study conducted by us (Roychoudhury et al. 2000).
However, after combining these haplotype data with DNA sequence data, Bamshad
and colleagues were able to capture the expected trend. Thus, this study not
only provides a wonderful genomic view of the castes and of their origins, but
also underscores the need for careful statistical analysis of genomic data for
drawing appropriate inferences.

The use of "upper", "middle", and "lower" to designate caste hierarchy is much
more recent than the use of varna. Whereas varnas are traditionally defined,
different anthropologists have used different definitions of upper, middle, and
lower castes, in terms of the castes that they included in each of these
clusters. Sometimes these differences in definitions have stemmed from
socio-cultural similarities or differences as noted or perceived by different
anthropologists, and sometimes ranked caste-cluster compositions were altered
for convenience, such as pooling to adjust for small sample sizes. As noted
earlier, in studies such as Bamshad et al.'s, the most appropriate
classification is by varna. As the reader will note, the authors have analyzed
their data using different compositions of hierarchical caste-clusters and have
obtained homologous results. However, it needs to be emphasized that traditional
varna system is the only unequivocally accepted hierarchical system. In studies
pertaining to the origins of castes, one is liable to draw incorrect inferences
by including castes belonging to different varnas in the same ranked cluster.

Bamshad et al. have chosen to study caste populations drawn from a restricted
geographical region of India. They have rightly emphasized the need to replicate
their findings. This is absolutely essential because, as Karve (1961) has noted,
"it is not generally realized that the caste society in a sense was a very
elastic society." Indeed, a caste bearing the same name may have very different
origins in different geographical regions. There are examples in which a tribe
dispersed over a large geographical region, took up different occupations in
different sub-regions, and "fitted" itself into the caste hierarchy on different
rungs. Karve's work has also indicated that each of the different Brahmin castes
(Chitpavan, Sarasvat, etc.) in Maharashtra probably has a different origin.
Thus, the origin of caste populations may not be uniform over the entire India
geographical space, and it is crucial to undertake studies to replicate Bamshad
et al.'s findings. Finally, I would also like to suggest that in future studies
bearing on the origins of the Indian castes, it would be a good idea to include
tribal populations inhabiting the same region along with the caste populations.

REFERENCES


a.. Bamshad, M., Kivisild, T., Watkins, W.S., Dixon, M.E., Ricker, C.E., Rao,
B.B., Naidu, J.M., Prasad, B.V.R., Reddy, P.G., Rasanayagam, A. 2001. Genome
Res. 11: 994-1004[Abstract/Free Full Text].
b.. Karve, I. 1961. Hindu Society - An Interpretation. Deshmukh Prakashan,
Poona.
c.. Kosambi, D.D. 1964. The Culture and Civilisation of Ancient India in
Historical Outline, 1991 Reprint. Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
d.. Roychoudhury, S., Roy, S., Dey, B., Chakraborty, M., Roy, M., Roy, B.,
Ramesh, A., Prabhakaran, N., Usha Rani, M.V., Vishwanathan, H. 2000. Curr. Sci.
79: 1182-1192.

Wotan-The Archetype of the Awakened Aryan Man

Wotan/Woden/Odin represents the archetype of the questing and awakened Aryan man, in particular the questing and awakened Germanic man.
Whilst it is clear from our studies of Germanic mythology that Wotan was not the original primary God of the Germanic pantheon-that honour rests with Tiw/Tyr/Ziu nevertheless Wotan represents that questing and awakened part of the Aryo-Germanic soul more than any other deity.
In this article I wish to focus in particular on Wotan`s sacrifice of his eye and the way in which he has been presented as a wandering and questing God, especially in the Wagner`s music dramas contained within Wagner`s magnum opus, Der Ring des Nibelungen. Wotan appears in only the first three of these music dramas:-Das Rheingold, Die Walkuere and Siegfried. He is conspicuous by his absence from Goetterdaemmerung. In Das Rheingold and Die Walkuere he is known by His primary name of Wotan but in Siegfried, where the emphasis switches to the God-man Siegfried and the world of Middle Earth He appears in His guise as Der Wanderer-the Wanderer.
It is in this human guise that he interacts with the world of men. Der Wanderer makes his appearance in Act One Scene One and is described by Wagner as follows: "The Wanderer[Wotan]enters from the forest through the door at the back of the cave. He is wearing a long, dark-blue cloak; he carries a spear as a staff. On his head he wears a hat with a broad, round brim, which hangs down over his face."
Clearly Wagner is drawing an association with Wotan as the Wild Huntsman who emerges from the forest. It is in the forest that we as His followers may more effectively communicate with Him. He is known in other forms and in particular in England as Herne the Hunter.
His purpose as the Wanderer is two-fold: to obtain wisdom and to impart it.

"Much I`ve fathomed,
much made out:
matters of moment
I`ve made known to many
and many I`ve saved
from whatever irked them,
cares that gnawed at their hearts."
[Stewart Spencer translation].

It is surely no coincidence that all the great advances in technology and learning throughout history have been made by Aryan man and in particular by Germanic man. Within the psyche of Aryo-Germanic man there is a thirst for learning and the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom, not for the sake of acquisition but in order that we may advance to the next stage of our development-the God-man. Aryo-Germanic man is the Sun Initiate who having come from the stars seeks to return there.
It is no coincidence that the modern space age is the direct result of the achievements of German scientists, many of whom were used by both the USA and the USSR after WWII to further their quests for the exploration of outer space.
During the Third Reich Germany experienced an explosion of knowledge and technological development which coincided with the Wotan archetype being unleashed in the collective mind of the German people through His avatar Adolf Hitler.
Germanic man is by his very nature an explorer, an explorer of new worlds, whether on this planet or in outer space, even the world of the human psyche and I think in particular of the Swiss-German founder of Analytical Psychology, Carl Gustav Jung who has done more than anyone else to reveal once again the great Aryan soul-lore of our pre-christian ancestors, knowledge that was suppressed by the alien creed of Christianity.
Wotan represents for us the supreme Aryo-Germanic man[or woman]. He encapsulates everything that we are-or should be. Jessie L. Weston in her Legends of the Wagner Drama defines Wotan as "the embodiment of the spirit of the Germanic peoples."
In order to obtain wisdom Wotan sacrificed his eye for a drink from Mimir`s well, which is where He resorted to to gain wisdom and knowledge. His eye now dwells in the depths of the well. The Eddas do not reveal which eye He sacrificed. By sacrificing His eye He gained wisdom and in many ways this should like his hanging on the world tree be viewed as an initiation. His sacrificed eye is associated with wisdom which cannot be acquired through personal experience but that which is granted to the individual, that which in a sense is inherited just as we inherit wisdom and knowledge via the Collective Unconscious from our ancestors. This type of wisdom is deep as represented by the depths of Mimir`s well and must be associated with the right side of the brain which is the storehouse of images and symbols-the means by which the Collective Unconscious communicates with us whilst the left side of the brain is more analytical and concerned with the human Ego.
Christianity and its associated secular creeds have temporarily detached the Germanic peoples from the Wotan archetype. It is only by responding to His call, the Call of the Blood that we can realise both individually and collectively our supreme destiny.

432,000 Einheriar, the Ragnarok and Kali Yuga

"Five hundred doors, and forty eke, I think, are in Valhall, Eight hundred Einheriar will at once from each door go when they issue with the wolf to fight."
[The Lay of Grimnir,Younger Edda, Benjamin Thorpe translation].

At the time of the final battle Ragnarok 432,000 faithful warriors[540 x 800], dedicated to Woden, bearing the sign of the knot of the slain/chosen which mark them as belonging to Him will march forth to do battle against the forces of the evil desert idol jehovah and his fundamentalist muslim, christian and judaic hordes. This is reflected in the name Ragnarok itself which reading from right to left[the custom of non-Aryan languages] spells korangar-meaning the spear[gar is Germanic for spear] of the Koran.

The forces of jehovah are currently divided along the following lines:

.The `western`, `democratic`, christian/post-christian/humanist, zionist, capitalist world.

. The eastern, non-democratic, muslim world.

The latter has for the last 20 years been stirred up by the zionist-western world with the deliberate intention of moving towards an `Armageddon` or what we would term the Ragnarok, the destined end of the Gods, although we know from the Eddas that the Gods will not ultimatley die but will be replaced by a new generation of Gods, which I have thus far found 8 in number-Baldr, Hodr, Hoenir, Magni, Modi, Vidar, Vali and Njord. No Godesses are mentioned. I do not know if this was deliberate or merely an oversight.

Interestingly the number 432,000 is the number of years that the Kali Yuga will last according to Hindu mythology. Also the figure of 540 is repeated in The Lay of Grimnir at verse 24:

"Five hundred floors, and forty eke, I think, has Bilskirnir with its windings. Of all the roofed houses that I know, is my son`s the greatest."

The etymology of Bilskirnir is "the one striking lightning with rays of light".
Skaldskaparmal 4 says that Bilskirnir belongs to Thunor.

"It certainly hints vigorously at some common source from which these widely seperated traditions have descended and at some hidden meaning which makes this figure recur in them."[Page 80, The Masks of Odin Wisdom of the Ancient Norse by Elsa-Brita Titchenell.]

Clearly the composer of the Lay of Grimnir intended to draw a direct link between the 432,000 warriors and the event known as Ragnarok and this in turn is directly linked to the end of the Kali Yuga in the Hindu scriptures. As Elsa-Brita Titchenell rightly concludes they must have a common and thus an Aryan source which has been preserved in these two traditions.

Yet Rudolf Simek in his Dictionary of Northern Mythology under the entry for Valhall conjectures that the number may be "traced back to Hellenic influence" without offering a scintilla of evidence and then laughably goes on to say it "is not a number of any particular significance". Mr Simek, I beg to differ!

Wotans Krieger Recommends: `Woden` Edited By Troy Southgate

`Woden` is volume four of an exciting new series of books edited by Troy Southgate-`Thoughts & Perspectives`.
It consists of 11 powerful essays by 9 contributors including Wulf Ingessunu[also recently published in `Northern Traditions`], Offa Whitesun and Troy Southgate of Woden`s Folk. Other contributors are Dr KR Bolton, Mark Mirabello[author of The Odin Brotherhood],Eowyn[Odinic Rite], Mariella Shearer, Osred[author of Odinism, present, past and future]and Bjorn Grimgal.
This is one of the most powerful books on the subject of the Germanic God Woden/Wotan/Odin that I have read in a long time and managed to finish reading the entire book in just a few days. For me one of the most exciting essays[they are all powerful and inspiring] was Dr Bolton`s `Woden As Archetype The Carl Jung Essay` which draws together all the threads which connect Dr Jung`s work on Wotan, his correspondence with Miguel Serrano and the mystical Wotanist experiences of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. This essay must be read and reread!
It is also good to see Wulf Ingessunu`s work beginning to reach a far wider audience and I thank Mr Southgate for that.
Please Mr Southgate I would like to see further published work on the subject of the Germanic people`s primary deity!

A Personal Mystical Vision of the Runes

Last Friday I had an unusual experience when the vision in my left eye was affected. At the time I thought that I might be going blind but a subsequent medical examination revealed it to be an ocular or retinal migraine.
When I closed my left eye I could see a bright fiery ring, a semi-circle in fact and within the rim of this semi-circle I could clearly perceive a sequence of runes.
I blinked and closed my eyes and the same thing happened again.
After several days of reflecting on this stange episode I was reminded that the great Rune Lord Himself, Woden, our All-Father sacrificed an eye in order to gain the wisdom of the runes. We should remember that Woden did not `invent` the runes: they did not originate with Him for they are in a sense timeless. They revealed themselves to Him whilst He hung suspended on the world tree in an apparent shamanic trance state.

"I know that I hung, on a wind-rocked tree, nine whole nights, with a spear wounded, and to Odin offered, myself to myself; on that tree, of which no one knows from what root it springs.
Bread no one gave me, nor a horn of drink, downward I peered, to runes applied myself, wailing learnt them, then fell down thence."
[Poetic Edda, Havamal 140-141]

It is more than possible that whilst in this state Woden was deprived of some if not all of his normal 5 senses and he may have perceived the runes in His `mind`s eye`.

Woden sacrificed an eye to the well of Mimir in exchange for wisdom:

"The owner of this well is called Mimir. He is full of wisdom, because he drinks the waters of the well from the horn Gjoll every morning. One day All-Father came and begged a draught of this water, which he obtained, but was obliged to leave one of his eyes as a pledge for it."
[Prose Edda]

The runes are inextricably linked with the acquisition of wisdom and they have an existence which is independant of the Gods.

The great Rune Master Guido von List received the revelation of his Armanen Futhork whilst in a state of blindness which lasted 11 months following a cataract operation in 1902. Interestingly his 18 rune Futhork is compatable with the 18 rune stanza poem in Havamal, known as the Runatal.

There are two forms of initiation: that outward form which takes the format of induction or reception into a cult such as the varying degrees of profession and oaths within Odinism/Wodenism and the more personal and occult experience which comes from within, apparently initiated by a God. I believe this episode to be a form of esoteric initiation into the secrets of the runes.

The Germanic Thunderweapon

The Saga Book of the Viking Society, Vol. 24, 1997

An excerpt from:

THE GERMANIC THUNDERWEAPON
by LOTTE MOTZ

THE NORTH-GERMANIC PEOPLE looked to Þórr more than to any other divinity to keep them safe from danger and destruction. Striding through the landscape, fording rivers and traversing forests, he was always watchful for any threat to gods and men. And the enemies of cosmic order were well acquainted with his doughty weapon, for many a giant’s skull was smashed by his hammer, and many a giantess lay dead after an encounter with the deity. The weapon carried by the god must therefore be considered the most vital of all instruments in the battle for survival.
The weapon is invariably designated by the noun hamarr, English ‘hammer’, in the Old Norse texts, and consequently we visualise it in the form of this tool. A close look at the texts reveals, however, some ambiguity in the nature of the implement. Sometimes it is hurled like a missile and sometimes it is brandished like a battleaxe. We may also wonder why a being who is not a craftsman is so consistently pictured with a craftsman’s tool. Let us now consider the texts for a clearer image of the instrument.

Þórr’s weapon in the Old Icelandic texts

Þórr’s weapon was forged for him in the smithy of some dwarfs to serve as a missile and as a weapon of close attack (Skáldskaparmál ch. 35). It would never fail, no matter how hard the blow, and it would return to the owner of its own accord when it was cast. Þórr indeed threw the hammer in his duel with the giant Hrungnir, and he broke the giant’s head into small bits: hann . . . reiddi hamarinn ok kastaði um langa leið at Hrungni (he . . . swung his hammer and threw it from a great distance at Hrungnir; Skáldskaparmál ch. 17). He flung his weapon also at the Midgard snake, as he was fishing in the ocean, and it is said that the monster’s head was struck from the body: Þórr kastaði hamrinum eptir honum, ok segja menn at hann lysti af honum höfuðit vid grunninum (Þórr threw his hammer after it, and they say that he struck off its head by the sea-bed; Gylfaginning ch. 48). In the Eddic poem which relates the same event, the head was merely battered by the tool before the fishing line was cut (Hymisqviða st. 23; Edda 1983, 92):


Hamri kníði háfiall carar,
ofliótt, ofan úlfs hnitbróður.

With his hammer he struck down upon the most ugly head (hair’s high mountain)
of the wolf’s inseparable (or battle-) brother.

A skaldic poem, Úlfr Uggason’s Húsdrápa, also tells the story; here the head, hewn from the body, was sent into the sea:

Víðgymnir laust Vimrar
vaðs af fránum naðri
hlusta grunn við hrönnum.

Víðgymnir of Vimur’s ford struck the head (ear-bed) from the shining
snake by the waves (Skáldskaparmál ch. 4).

And with his hammer Þórr smote and shattered the skull of the giant mason: ok laust þat hit fyrsta högg er haussinn brotnaði í smán mola (and struck the first blow so that his skull was shattered into fragments; Gylfaginning ch. 42).
In his journey to Útgarða-Loki Þórr struck a sleeping giant with such force that the edge of the tool, the hamarsmuðr, sank deeply into the giant’s skull: hann . . . reiðir hamarinn títt ok hart ok lýstr ofan . . . hann kennir, at hamars muðrinn søkkr djúpt í höfuðit (he swings the hammer quickly and hard and strikes down . . . he feels that the edge of the hammer sinks deep into the head; Gylfaginning ch. 45). Three blows were dealt by Þórr, who held the handle with both hands, and he created three large valleys through his deed (Gylfaginning chs 45, 47).
In a verbal battle with the crafty Loki Þórr threatened to sever Loki’s head from the neck with his hammer: herða klett drep ec þér hálsi af (I shall strike the head (rock of shoulders) off your neck; Locasenna st. 57, Edda 1983, 108). A skaldic poet (Bragi gamli) calls Þórr Þrívalda . . . sundrkljúfr níu höfða (cleaver apart of Þrívaldi’s nine heads; Skáldskaparmál ch. 4). If we consider the verbs describing the action of the hamarr we find that kljúfa has an unequivocal sense of ‘to cleave’; we also find drepa af, knýja ofan, ljósta af, ljósta ofan; the words af and ofan add to the basic sense of ‘strike’ a sense of removal, of putting into another place; drepa höfuð af is the term for ‘beheading’ in Gulaþingslög no. 259 (NGL I 84–85; cf. no. 241, NGL I 80). We thus find the sense of ‘severing’, an action accomplished by an axe. The phrase högg hamars is also found (Þrymsqviða st. 32; Edda 1983, 115); the noun högg often denotes an act of hewing; axes and swords are denoted as höggvápn by Snorri (Skáldskaparmál ch. 49).
The instances in which a head is severed from the shoulders, or severing is threatened (Húsdrápa, Locasenna st. 57, Gylfaginning ch. 48), indicate the performance of an axe. The ‘cleaving’ of the heads of Þrívaldi, in its turn, points to the employment of an axe. The noun muðr designates in Old Icelandic the steel edge of an axe (RGA 1973– I, 536); it is the muðr of Þórr’s weapon which penetrates deeply into a giant’s skull (Gylfaginning ch. 45). This muðr creates the indentations of three valleys; again the employment of an axe is suggested by this action.1 The shattering of the head of the giant mason (Gylfaginning ch. 42), conversely, suggests the action of a hammer. Þórr’s tool does not produce the sounds which are linked with iron hammers.
The ambiguous use of Þórr’s instrument, as hammer, missile or axe, has not been given much attention in Germanic scholarship. Sometimes the weapons are equated. The archaeologist Peter Paulsen includes, without explanation, a chapter on ‘Þórr’s hammer’ in his book on axes (Paulsen 1956, 205–21). Þórr’s hammer is related to or equated with cultic axes of prehistoric times, such as those in rock drawings from the Bronze Age.2 Jan de Vries declares that axes and hammers represent the same instrument (de Vries 1956–57, II 125).
Others, however, have taken account of the discrepancy. In the earlier edition of his book, de Vries (1935–37, II 213) assumes that Þórr’s hammer had originated in an axe of stone. Hilda Ellis Davidson suggests that the hammer was substituted for an earlier axe when men became impressed by the fires of the blacksmith’s forge (Gelling and Davidson 1969, 145–46). Oscar Montelius believes that a hammer replaced the earlier tool when the original meaning of the word hamarr had been forgotten (Montelius 1910, 69; cf. Simpson 1979).
Through my own examination I have reached the conclusion that Þórr’s weapon was originally a stone or a tool of stone and that it was later visualised in many forms: as a wedge, chisel, bolt, or spear, as a stone or club, as a hammer or an axe. The image of an axe was prominent because of its high social and religious significance. Let us now consider the various aspects of Þórr’s implement.

1 The valleys are ‘four-sided’; yet the edge of the tool, the hamars muðr (i. e. peen), could not have created a square indentation. Since we are told that the instrument sank in ‘up to the handle’ we may assume that it was the square back of the tool which left the imprint.
2 Marold 1974, 209–11, seems to equate the axes on rock drawings with hammers. She declares, 218–19: ‘Axt und Hammer sind nichts Neues in Skandinavien, seit der Steinzeit finden wir dort Kultäxte und Amulettäxte . . . Dennoch erlebt der Hammer, resp. die Axt im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert eine Art Renaissance.’


The significance of hammers

In our time the instrument denoted as a hammer consists of a shaft of wood and a head of iron. The head ends in one or two flat surfaces, set parallel to the direction of the shaft. The iron part may also end in one sharpened edge set at right angles to this direction. The tool is employed for crushing or for driving. Hammers are not easily discovered in the finds of prehistoric times. It appears that in archaic times the act of hammering was performed with a stone, a club, or the blunt end of an axe. The specialised tool, designed for beating or driving, belongs to the iron worker’s craft. Iron hammers did not appear in the Germanic area until the beginning of the Christian era (RGA 1911–19, II 372–73 under Hammer). The hammer of the Germanic blacksmith was made in various forms. A square head might have its shaft-hole placed in the centre or close to the butt. The head might end in a rounded surface and also possess a sharpened edge, set at right angles to the direction of the shaft (fig. l, p. 349 below).
Frequently the tools have been discovered in the graves of artisans (Müller-Wille 1977, 149–51). Sometimes an artisan’s utensils were also found in combination with grave gifts of a different sort. A burial place in Vestly, Rogaland (sixth century) contains a sword, arrowheads, knives, jewels, and a hammer as well as other smith’s tools (Müller- Wille 1977, 166–67). We may deduce that some men, engaged in various pursuits, might also practice the blacksmith’s craft. The richest find of ironworkers’ utensils was discovered in Mästermyr on Gotland in a wooden box which might have been lost by accident (Müller-Wille 1977, 190–92).
In the Eddas, hammers are presented (except for Þórr’s hammer) in relation to the smithy and the blacksmith’s work. In the dawn of time the gods created hammer and tongs and anvil, and thereafter all other tools (Gylfaginning ch. 14). The master smith Völundr crafted with his hammer precious objects for his royal captor (Völundarqviða st. 20; Edda 1983, 120). His tale of insult and revenge found pictorial expression: the craftsman and his tools, anvil, tongs and hammers are shown on the well-known Franks Casket (about AD 700); the picture stone of Ardre VIII of Gotland (ninth century) displays the smith’s tongs and hammers and the victims of his vengeance (Müller-Wille 1977, 132, fig. 1). Reginn, who forged a precious sword for his fosterling Sigurðr, is another famous smith of Germanic literature. The adventures of Sigurðr were frequently depicted in the Middle Ages, engraved on memorial stones, stone crosses, baptismal fonts, or even the portal of a church (Müller-Wille 1977, 130–31, 134). In one of the scenes the smith Reginn, slain by Sigurðr for his treachery, lies amidst his tools, his hammers, tongs, anvil and bellows (rock drawing in Södermanland in Sweden). In another the living craftsman creates the weapon with his utensils: hammer, tongs and anvil (church portal in Hylestad, Setesdal; Müller-Wille 1977, 133, fig. 2). The images of tongs and hammers are also carved on the burial stones of human artisans (in Denmark).
The assembled evidence shows clearly that the hammer was one of the most important of the blacksmith’s implements, present in pictorial and textual references to his calling, and in the assemblages of his tools, laid beside the craftsman in his burial place, symbolising his life’s work on his stone.
No evidence, however, indicates that the employment or the symbolism of the hammer transcended the narrow boundary of the blacksmith’s craft. Neither archaeology nor texts point to the use of hammers in warfare or to any status in the ritual of religious or public life. Serving exclusively as craftsmen’s tools, they are not listed by Snorri Sturluson among the arms of combat, such as axes, lances, swords, or arrows (Edda Snorra Sturlusonar 1848–87, I 563–71). They are not listed by archaeologists among the ordinary tools of a farmer’s household but only, with other instruments, among the implements of skilled artisans. Hammers were not crafted for a symbolic purpose, nor employed in ceremonial, nor enriched with decorations or shaped into elaborate forms. Though in the course of the centuries beliefs and superstitions might become attached to the blacksmith and his hammer, the tool was in Germanic times symbolic only of the iron worker’s trade. (Certain amulets will be discussed later.)

Þórr and his implement

Not a single act of craftsmanship is ascribed to Þórr. He is not a craftsman but a fighter. An artisan’s implement is not a fitting attribute for a person whose life’s work is battle. Þórr’s instrument is never shown with other craftsman’s tools, and it does not produce the sound of a hammer. Þórr, as an armed weather god, has counterparts in other Indo-European mythologies, e. g., the Roman Jupiter, Indian Indra, Greek Zeus, Slavic Perun, Celtic Taranis, Latvian Pe–rkons. We cannot doubt that the figure of Þórr reaches back into Indo-European times. In the age of Indo-European unity, which preceded the Iron Age, this god could not have held an iron worker’s hammer. Indeed, the gods are pictured with various arms: bolts, axes, clubs, or arrows. If Þórr later wields an iron hammer it must have supplanted the earlier thunderweapon, as has been suggested by some scholars.
There is no evidence, however, to show that hammers supplanted earlier aggressive arms. Hammers have not been recovered from hoards of Viking treasure and thus could not have held much practical or symbolic significance. The most exalted place in weaponry was in medieval times accorded to the sword. One hundred and thirty-three sword names are listed in the þulur (name lists in Snorra Edda) and not a single hammer name. Mysterious powers were attributed to some swords, as to that of Freyr which fights by itself when wielded by a doughty warrior (For Scírnis st. 8–9; Edda 1983, 71). Swords were forged for young warriors by master craftsmen, such as the sword Gramr for Sigurðr or the sword Nálhringr for Þiðrekr. If an older weapon of high religious status, a guarantor of life and its continuation, were to be replaced by a weapon of the Iron Age it would naturally have been supplanted by a sword.
Þórr’s weapon is often a shafted instrument, whether a hammer or an axe. Let us see whether the older tool, the axe, was ever superseded by a hammer. In contrast to hammers, axes appear frequently in archaeological finds in the Germanic area, onwards from the Neolithic Age. Crafted in flint and later in bronze and iron, they retained importance and significance and became the favourite weapon of the Viking raiders. From the earliest times onwards axes were imbued with religious value; cultic axes are seen among the rock drawings of the Bronze Age and were graven on memorial stones.

Miniature axes have been found that were intended to be worn as amulets or for adornment in a tradition which extended in certain areas from the Stone Age to the time of the Viking incursions (Paulsen 1956, 190–221; de Vries 1956–57, I 116). Throughout the northern and north-western parts of Europe we come upon especially precious and richly decorated blades. These must have served as a sign of rank for warriors of high station. To substantiate this assumption we may point to an illustration by Matthew Paris in a manuscript of the second quarter of the thirteenth century depicting the battle of Stamford Bridge; here King Harald harðráði alone holds an axe while his followers wield various other weapons.
From the thirteenth century onwards a crowned lion, clasping an axe, is depicted on the royal seal of Norway (Paulsen 1956, 262). Thus we do not find that the hammer has replaced the axe in warfare or in heraldry. When Christianity and Christian imagery came to the North of Europe the cross was shown on certain axes, as on the axe of Sibirsk (Paulsen 1956, 138), indicating their unbroken sanctity. Christian imagery did not find expression on workmen’s hammers, and in St Olaf’s axe the tool retained its religious significance into Christian times. Axes, furthermore, were not supplanted by hammers in folk traditions.
Axes are cast on the eve of the Thursday (Þórr’s day) before Easter onto the sprouting fields to promote the growth of fruit (de Vries 1956–57, II 122). Axes still function in the marriage customs of modern times; they may be placed beneath the bridal bed or on the threshhold which the bride must cross.11 Axes are employed against the ravages of storm and wind. In Slesvig-Holstein an axe is thrust into a door-post in the course of a thunderstorm. It may also be laid on the table to keep lightning from the dwelling (Schwantes 1939, I 273). Axes and not there is a figure holding an axe in its hand from a burial-find in Grevensvænge in Zealand; two drawings made before 1780 show that the figure was one of a pair when found (see RGA 1973– , I 564).
We may conclude that hammers did not replace earlier implements in folk belief, heraldry, ceremonial, or human warfare. This finding is not surprising, for the blacksmith did not rise above other classes in the Germanic Middle Ages, and the highest office of the land was held by a warrior king. The two important smiths of Germanic literature, Reginn and Völundr, are shown in humilation and defeat. It is true that Þórr appears at times in humble form with the features of a peasant lad, but he was never redrawn as a blacksmith.
It might be argued that in his form as a folktale hero the god might do battle with an ordinary household tool. But in Viking times hammers were not common household equipment. They are not listed in the inventories of Viking artifacts among household tools, such as knives, scythes, sickles or axes, but only among the special equipment of skilled artisans. The very rarity of hammer finds also shows that they were not common in a household (cf. note 4 above). Moreover, the Norse farmers accomplished their bloody deeds with spears, axes, pikes or swords, and even a servant might wield a spear (Ynglinga saga ch. 48, ÍF XXVI 80), whereas hammers are never named. Even the craftsmen of the texts, Reginn, Vo≈lundr, and the skilful dwarfs, did not employ their craftsmen’s tools in battle, for these creatures fight their enemies by magic means (Motz 1983, 90–115). I venture to assert that no episode of the Icelandic texts shows the killing of a man with a craftsman’s hammer. Þórr’s deeds thus would have no model in the literature, myth, folklore or social reality of Norse tradition. It is true that in one humorous poem Þórr is cast in the role of a blacksmith (Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, 11th century; ÍF IX 267–68). In this poem the noun hamarr does not appear; the man is named in mockery the Sigurðr of the sledgehammer (Sigurðr sleggju), the king of the tongs (konungr tangar) and the Þórr of the bellows (Þórr smiðbelgja). The poem testifies, incidentally, to the low esteem accorded to the craftsman by the warrior. The poem does not point to any special relationship between the god and the craftsman’s hammer.
If the hammer did not replace other instruments in heraldry, ceremonial, human warfare, and especially in folk belief, why should it replace the Stone Age instrument in the hand of Þórr? Yet the noun hamarr consistently designates the weapon in the texts. We may wonder if the noun has a less specific meaning, denoting simply the mighty object in Þórr’s hand. Let us now consider how the instrument was visualised in various sources.

11 Bächtold-Stäubli 1927–42, I 743–48 under Axt. It must be noted, however, that in one small area near Skåne, it is a hammer which is laid beneath the bed of the bride (see Elgquist 1934).


The visualisation of Þórr’s weapon

We find Þórr’s weapon visualised as various objects and a hammer is not prominent. On a picture stone from Altuna, Uppland (eleventh century) the god holds a shafted instrument which might indeed be a hammer; it might also be a double axe, such as those of the rock drawings of the Bronze Age (fig. 2, p. 349 below). On the Gosforth Stone (tenth or eleventh century) the shafted object holds a greater resemblance to an axe than to a hammer. On a stone of Ardre (ninth century) a spear is wielded against a water monster. On Thorvaldr’s Cross Slab (Isle of Man, tenth century) a male figure carries fish, dangling from a cross, and he holds a square object, a stone or a book, ready to be hurled, in his right hand (Gschwantler 1968, 166).
In describing Þórr’s statue in the temple of Uppsala, Adam of Bremen (IV 26; 1961, 470) mentions a sceptre as Þórr’s attribute, and this information is repeated by Olaus Magnus (1555, 100), where Þórr is depicted with a sceptre in a woodcut. It is true that Saxo Grammaticus mentions ‘Jove’s hammers’, malleos quos Ioviales vocabant, in his Gesta Danorum (1931–57, I 350); these are, however, not the weapons of the god, but cultic instruments which might imitate the sound of thunder. Þórr’s weapon, on the other hand, is a club, clava, in his account (Saxo Grammaticus 1979–80, I 72; 1931–57, I 66). Saxo thus clearly distinguishes between the hammer, a cultic tool, and the clava, the mighty weapon. And the giant Geruthus is slain by a sword, chalybs (Saxo Grammaticus 1931–57, I 242). In one of the Anglo-Saxon dialogues Solomon and Saturn, thunder swings a fiery axe (Menner 1941, 169).
According to the folklore of Värend in Småland thunder is a stone, thrown by Þórr or Gofar, still often found in places which were struck by thunder; such a stone is designated as thorenvigg, ‘Þórr’s wedge’ (Hyltén-Cavallius 1863–68, II 222). A modern farmer of this area told that he had seen the god riding in his carriage; he has also been seen carrying a bolt of stone in his hand (Montelius 1910, 77). The Swedish names thornkile, ‘Þórr’s wedge’, thorensten, ‘Þórr’s stone’, the Norwegian torelod, ‘Þórr’s ball’, indicate that the instrument was viewed as a stone, a ball or a wedge. The Greek noun keraunos, ‘thunderbolt’, was routinely translated as thorvigge in Danish medieval texts (Blinkenberg 1911a, 69).
A kenning in a skaldic poem, descriptive of Þórr’s weapon, evokes the image of a battle-axe (Þjóðólfr hvinverski, Haustlöng st. 17; Skáldskaparmál ch. 17). Here Þórr is named the ‘friend of the troll of the snout’, rúni tro≈lls trjónu; trjóna ‘snout’ is a variant of muðr ‘mouth’ which also designates the cutting edge of an axe; battleaxes are traditionally referred to as troll-women. Þórr is thus the ‘friend of the edged battleaxe’.
We thus find the following objects in Þórr’s hand: a bolt, a stone, an axe, possibly a hammer, a wedge, a spear, a ball, a sceptre or a club, while in the Icelandic texts one noun only is employed.13 We may also observe that the noun sleggja ‘sledge-hammer’ is never used for Þórr’s implement. It has been claimed that the hammer was engraved on memorial stones of medieval times. What was engraved, however, is the image of certain amulets which may bear a resemblance to a hammer in some of their stylisations. These will now be discussed.

13 A statuette of bronze from Eyrarland in Iceland is traditionally believed to represent the god Þórr with his hammer. An unprejudiced look at the object in the man’s clasp shows that this has small resemblance to a hammer. Its shaft is split in the middle, terminates in three knobs, rests on the man’s knees, and issues from beneath his mouth. It is held in a way in which no hammer is ever held. When the picture of the statuette was shown by me to persons unacquainted with Norse scholarship, the object was never recognised as a hammer. If it was identified at all it was identified as a musical instrument (cf. Motz 1992). In the present article the object on the man’s knees is not counted among the forms in which Þórr’s weapon was conceived.

The amulets

Small artifacts that could be fastened to a chain or a ring, made of iron, but also of more precious metals, plain or elaborately decorated, have been discovered in areas of Scandinavia. They are ascribed to the tenth century AD. Since a vertical part, resembling a shaft, extends from a horizontal part, resembling a hammer’s head, the relics are interpreted as replicas of the hammer swung by Þórr, and the name ‘Þórr’s hammer’ has been applied. They are said to indicate a rise of fervour of pagan faith in the face of triumphant Christianity.

The interpretation of these objects as ‘hammers’ may be questioned. They are flat, sometimes elaborately decorated and fashioned of precious metals, of minute size, and they were worn as jewels or as amulets. The blacksmith’s hammer is invariably bulky and consists of wood and iron. In most examples of the amulets there is no separation between ‘shaft’ and ‘head’; sometimes the decoration proceeds unbroken from the horizontal to the vertical section. A hammer’s head is always bulkier than the shaft; in the ornaments the thinnest part is at the bottom of the vertical section, and never at the top. The artifacts thus would represent a very stylised version of the craftsman’s tool.
Hammers were, however, never manufactured in stylised form; they were not produced in miniature or in precious metal; they were never decorated and were never worn as amulets. Hammers, it was noted earlier, are not listed among the artifacts of Viking treasure.
Some of the amulets resemble the blade of an axe. We may recall that axe blades are flat and may be fashioned in precious metal; they are seen in very stylised form and are often adorned with elaborate decorations (sometimes the decoration of an amulet is the same as that incised on certain axes; Paulsen 1956, 208). The thickening of the horizontal section recalls the thickening of an axe-blade towards the shaft. The pointed excrescence at the end recalls the curve of the edge. Axe blades were produced in miniature through the ages. The custom was indeed very popular at the time of the Viking raids (RGA 1973– , I 566). Miniature blades of silver, named St Olaf’s Axe, are sold to the present day (figs. 3, 4, 5, pp. 349–50 below). On the basis of the evidence I suggest that the so-called ‘Þórr’s hammer’ represents yet another form of the axe-blade pendants of archaic tradition. It is true that some amulets resemble hammers and some even bear resemblance to the Christian cross. We know that the Christian cross exerted great influence on the pagan symbol; and some images show its transformation into a cross (Paulsen 1956, 217). Paulsen also points out (1956, 205) that stylistically the forms of miniature axes, miniature hammers and miniature crosses flow into one another.15

I suggest that the object known as ‘Þórr’s hammer’ represents a middle stage between the axe blade and the cross. Paulsen observes with regard to axes (1956, 233): ‘In the Viking Age we recognise the axe . . . as the symbol of battle, of power, of dignity, of legality, ownership, and salvation’ (my translation).

15 Paulsen further states that some ‘hammers’ resemble amber crosses worn as amulets. Amulets in the form of crosses are reproduced in Paulsen 1956, 200, figs e, f. Among the charms which dangle from an archaic Greek necklace is one identical in shape to one of the Germanic ‘hammer’ amulets. It surely did not reproduce Þórr’s hammer (Cook 1914–40, II, fig. 633 on p. 700).

I suggest that it was the axe blade and not the hammer which symbolised loyalty to the pagan faith. The hammer, therefore, did not replace the ancient image of the axe blade in the jewellery.
It has been claimed that the custom of wearing amulets was stimulated by the Christian custom of wearing the Christian cross. The wearing of amulets, was, however, an established tradition among the Germanic peoples. Hundreds of golden bracteates, showing scenes of cultic significance, for instance, which testify to the popularity of the practice, have been discovered and ascribed to the Migratory period.16

16 Hilda Ellis Davidson (1965, 13) asserts that the image of Þórr’s hammer appears on runic stones which also show an inscription to the god. This claim cannot be substantiated: what appears is the image of the amulet, as can clearly be noted in some instances by the presence of the loop. And these stones do not coincide with the stones bearing inscriptions to Þórr. The latter are seen on the stones of Glavendrup in Fyn, Virring in North Jutland, Sønderkirkeby on Falster, all in Denmark, and Velanda Skattegården in Västergötland, Sweden (Marold 1974, 195–96). The ‘hammer’ sign appears on stones in Læborg, Spentrup, Hanninge in Jutland, and Schonen, Åby in Västermo, Stenkvista Kirka in Södermanland, Karlevi in Öland, Gårdstanga in Skåne; enumerated in Paulsen 1956, 216, and in Marold, 1974, 196. On such a stone the amulet may turn into a cross (Paulsen 1956, 217).

The magic sign

A sign, actually named Þórshamarr, does, in fact, exist in Norse tradition; it resembles a swastika. Such signs are found on archaic artifacts, on boundary markers, on runic stones, and on the bracteates of the Middle Ages. The sign occurs in many regions of the world, and does not seem to have originated in the North of Europe. We may assume that here an important sign became attached to an important god (de Vries 1956–57, II 127). It has no relation to a hammer and here we find an example of an object, designated by the noun hamarr, which has no link with the craftsman’s tool.


The noun hamarr

If we assume that Þórr’s weapon was visualised in many forms we may wonder why one noun was so consistently and unvaryingly applied. We may also search for the underlying reason. My investigation of the noun hamarr has led me to the following conclusion: the noun has another meaning,‘stone’; Þórr’s weapon was originally a stone or a tool of stone; the old name was kept when his emblem was conceived in various ways.
The Old Icelandic hamarr is possibly traceable to an Indo-European root *(a)kam- with the meaning ‘pointed’, ‘sharp’, ‘stone’. We thus find Sanskrit á´sman- ‘stone, rock’, Lithuanian akmuõ ‘stone’, Greek ákmon– ‘anvil’, Old Slavonic kamy ‘stone weapon’, Avestan asman- ‘stone, heaven’, Old High German hamar ‘hammer’, ‘hammer used as a weapon’, Old Icelandic hamarr ‘crag, rock, cliff’ (de Vries 1962, 207; Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon 1989, 303).
The meanings indicate that the craftsman’s tool, the ‘hammer’, was originally a stone. This indication is verified by archaeology. Flattened stones without handles have been excavated in Denmark near places where iron smelting took place as late as the last centuries before the Christian era, together with stone anvils to work the iron which was gained from swamps (fig. 6 on p. 350 below; Brøndsted 1957–60, III 113). Germanic speech thus retained the name of the simpler tool after it had been replaced by the shafted instrument of wood and iron.
If we apply the sense of ‘stone’ to the noun hamarr and remember that the god’s name corresponds to English ‘thunder’, we may understand the phrase ‘Þórr’s hammer’ to be the linguistic counterpart to English ‘thunderstone’, German Donnerstein, Dutch dondersteen, Danish tordensten, Norwegian torestein. These names are given to certain Stone Age relics through which in folk belief thunder was created, and they may lead us to trace a connection between Þórr’s weapon and the ancient concept of the thunderstone.

The thunderstone

The belief that thunder and lightning are caused by a stone which falls to earth from heaven is apparent in a great number of traditions. The agent is identified with prehistoric artifacts of stone, stone chisels and stone axes, and also fossils which are encountered in the fields. The belief has kept its vitality in the Germanic area into modern times. It is thought that in its fall the object becomes deeply embedded in the earth and that it will slowly rise to the surface. Wonderful qualities are attributed to such a stone. It is treasured, put in a special place within the house, hung up near the chimney or beneath the roof, or set on the shelf for storing milk. Above all, it will protect the house against lightning, but it may also guard the health of cattle, or keep the trolls from harming men.
We have noted that the concrete form of the talisman is identified with prehistoric artifacts of stone. It is only natural that many names should be recorded for a significant element of folk belief, and some of these will be cited here.
We find Danish tordenbolt, tordenkile, tordenkølle, dönnesten, tordensten, Sebedeje, Swedish thorvigge, thorenvigg, godviggen, thornkilen, thornskil, gomorsten, thorensten, askvig, oskpil, Norwegian torestein, torelod, dynestein, toreblyg, Dutch donderbeitel, donderkeil, dondersteen, German Schurstein, Donneraxt, Donnerkeil, Donnerhammer, English thunderbolt, thunderaxe, thunderhammer, thunderstone, thunderflone. Some of the names that have archaic forms have an archaic sense, and we cannot be completely sure of their meaning. We have some certainty, however, that the weapon was visualised as a stone, an axe, an arrow (English bolt, Danish bolt, Swedish pil), as a wedge (German Keil, Danish kile, Norwegian blyg, Dutch keil), a club (Danish kølle), a chisel (Dutch beitel), or a round ball (Norwegian lod). We may observe that Iceland, alone in the Germanic area, does not evince a belief in thunderstones (though one instance has been recorded). Notions concerning the concept are also rare in northern Norway. Thunderstorms are infrequent in northern Norway and are exceptional in Iceland. The tradition might have been forgotten or might never have developed (cf. Blinkenberg 1911b, 93). The objects encountered in these places are all of stone, and they represent, as a wedge, a bolt, a knife or a chisel, the kind of utensil which had originated in pre-metal times.

The thunderstone in non-Germanic tradition

The wide diffusion of the belief in thunderstones is indeed surprising. The traditions from outside the Germanic area exhibit strong resemblances to the Germanic pattern. It is thought that the stone has dropped from heaven, that it is embodied in stone artifacts of prehistoric times, axes, knives and arrowheads of flint, that it is embedded in the earth and will slowly rise to the surface, that it has protective qualities, especially that of shielding men from lightning. It is sometimes worn as an amulet to guard its owner against danger.
Evidence of these beliefs has come from Hungary, Lithuania, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, Assam, Burma, Cambodia, China, Japan, the Guinea Coast, and the Sudan (Blinkenberg 1911b, 98–120). We find the semantic equivalent of the Germanic name ‘thunderstone’ in the Lithuanian Perkuno akmuõ (Perkun is the god of thunder), Moravian kámen hromovi, French pierre de tonnerre, Spanish piedra de rayo, Portuguese pedra de raio, Italian pietra de truono, ancient Greek keraunía líthos.
As in the Germanic area, the name may indicate that the lethal missile was envisaged as a Stone Age tool, as in Greek astropoléki, ‘sky-axe’, or as a weapon, as in Hungarian Isten mjila, ‘god’s arrow’ (Blinkenberg 1911b, 99 (wrongly printed Iften), 107).

The name Mjöllnir

The name of Þórr’s weapon, Mjöllnir, has been connected with Icelandic mjöll, a word for fresh snow, with reference to its shining or flashing, and to mala and mølva ‘to grind’ (de Vries 1962, 390; cf. Alexander Jóhannesson 1956, 677). It is also plausible to relate the name to Slavic and Baltic cognates: Old Slavonic mlunuji, Russian molnija, ‘lightning’, and Latvian milna for Perkuns’s weapon (see Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon 1989, 627). It is noteworthy that in Slavic and Baltic the thunderstone is designated by a noun that is cognate with Icelandic hamarr : Lithuanian Perkuno akmuõ, and Moravian kámen hromovi. These facts suggest that the Slavic, Baltic, and Germanic peoples, who were neighbours, had at one time formed a cultural subgroup among the Indo-European nations.

The thunderstone and the god Þórr

Hyltén-Cavallius (1863–68, II 222; quoted in Blinkenberg 1911b, 87) reports that lightning is believed to be a ‘wedge of stone thrown by Thorr or Gofar, and is still often found in the places where the thunder has struck’. This object is called thorenvigg, ‘Þórr’s wedge’. That Þórr was brought into relation with the thunderstone is shown by the names thorvigge, thornkile, thorenvigg, thornskil, thorensten (Swedish), taarenstien (Danish), torestein, torelod, toreblyg (Norwegian). We may understand that folk belief had placed the agent of the thunder clap into the hands of the mighty god. A modern account, cited earlier (p. 337), actually notes that Þórr carried a ‘thunderbolt of stone’. The attachment of the phenomenon to a god is also evident in non-Germanic traditions in such names as Perkuno akmuõ, and in Latin Jovis tela, ‘Jupiter’s arrows’.

We may assume that two different beliefs existed side by side: that the stone fell of its own volition and that it was hurled by a god. It is surely a mark of faith in human achievement and in humanist values when the destructive power of the thunderstorm is controlled by a god in human form who is also the ‘friend of men’. In tracing Þórr’s weapon to the thunderstone we may understand why it was sometimes cast, for it retained the ancient image of the fall from heaven. The return of Þórr’s weapon of its own accord parallels the rising of the thunderstone from its embedding in the earth. We also understand why it retained its ancient name. But we must not forget that in later times it was also seen in various other forms.

The thunderweapon in non-Germanic mythologies

The awe and terror caused by thunder and the lightning stroke clearly left their mark on folk belief throughout the world. They also left their imprint on sophisticated mythologies. In the traditions of the Ancient Middle East the rule of the pantheon is accorded to the weather god who wields the weapon of the thunderstorm. And he is almost always pictured with his sign of sovereignty. In Syrian iconography he is shown with a club as he strides across the mountains (Helck 1971, 170), and the weather god carved into the rock Yazilikaya of Anatolia holds a spear (von Schuler 1965, 212). In north-Syrian images of the first millennium BC the axe is the most common of his attributes. The Mesopotamian god of arms, Ningirsu, is in possession of a seven-headed mace (Jacobsen 1947, 394). Zeus triumphs over Typhoaeus with a bolt, but he is also shown with a double axe, a spear, and even with a sword (Cook 1914–40, II 559, 704, 712, 722, fig. 669 and plate XXX). The battles of the gods are of vital significance, for through them the order of the cosmos is created and upheld. We may observe that the instrument used for fighting the divine battle shows some resemblance to the fighting tool of folk belief, envisaged as a stone, a mace, a club or an arrow. The archaic object has assumed various forms in the myths. From a missile it has turned, in many cases, into an instrument of close attack. In the instances in which the weapon is hurled, the ancient image of the fall from heaven has been retained.

The god Þórr

We cannot doubt that Þórr belongs in kind with the strong god of storms through whom the cosmos is upheld. He possesses the ancient thunderweapon, and, like that of Zeus, it has retained its name. It is clear that the medieval Norsemen no longer remembered the derivation of the instrument or the archaic meaning of its name. When it was associated with Þórr, the noun hamarr did not relate to a well-defined entity of men’s surroundings; it had received a meaning of its own as an object of sacred and mysterious significance. Thus no synonym is ever used for Þórr’s attribute.
If we examine the figure of the god in the Germanic context we still find him as the champion of cosmic order, and he is depicted, above all, in his relentless fight against the giants. He has acquired the features of a folktale hero who achieves his triumphs through his strength of muscle rather than his sovereignty over the elements of nature. In the Icelandic texts he has all but lost his relation to the thunderstorm. While his ride in a goat-drawn carriage may cause the fires of the earth to blaze and the mountains to burst asunder, it does not create the destruction of the thunderstorm.
His hamarr, in turn, is bereft of meteorological significance. By the time of our sources it has become above all Þórr’s invincible weapon. What was retained was the ancient name, its occasional use as a missile, its voluntary return, and its deadly impact on the enemy. The Slavonic kámen hromovi, the Lithuanian Perkuno akmuõ, as names for the thunderweapon, using nouns which are cognate to Germanic hamarr, indicate that the designation had already existed in Indo-European times. It is only natural that a name meaning ‘stone’ should be given to an instrument of stone.
If the name hamarr was given to the thunderstone, as argued in this article, the meaning ‘stone’ was subsequently lost in the Scandinavian languages except for Icelandic natural features, where the word is used to mean rock, crag or cliff. The name has remained, however, in the West Germanic languages in isolated instances, e. g. English thunderhammer, German Donnerhammer. In a Middle High German curse, cited by Grimm, donerstein actually interchanges with hamer : sô slahe mich ein donerstein (let me be slain by a donerstein), and dat di de hamer sla (may you be struck by a hamer).20

20 Grimm 1875–78, I 149, 151. The archaic sense of hammer as ‘stone’ is retained in a few instances in West Germanic speech. The name of the Highland game of ‘throwing the hammer’ has a counterpart in the Middle High German name steinstosson, also used of a game. The German Hammerwurf, denoting a short distance, parallels the English ‘stone’s throw’. In Dutch both compounds are preserved: steenworp and hamerworp.

Summary

Þórr’s weapon has traditionally been held to be a hammer, but in this article I have questioned this assumption. Þórr’s use of this weapon is ambiguous and it is visualised in various forms. The worship of the god predates the use of iron hammers. A hammer did not replace an earlier implement in Germanic folk belief, imagery, ceremonial or warfare. The noun hamarr has the meaning of ‘stone’, ‘rock’. The belief in thunderstones was widespread in the Germanic area. The thunderstone was often believed to be Þórr’s weapon. A similar process took place in ancient mythologies. Þórr’s earliest weapon was a stone which later was also seen in other forms: among these the axe is prominent. His weapon did not receive its name or nature from the ironworker’s tool but from the ancient concept of the thunderstone. The noun hamarr was retained after it had acquired a new meaning. It denotes the variety of forms in which the thunderweapon is envisaged. Not only the instrument, but also its name existed in Indo-European times.

The Axe-Supreme Symbol of the Aryan Race

The axe is one of the most ancient of Aryan symbols, being associated both with the Battle Axe culture of the Indo-Europeans and its links with the Aryan Thunder God. It has thus both a religious and an ethnic significance.
The oldest known axes are associated with the Nordic peoples and it is thus safe to conjecture that this instrument which is both a tool and a weapon originated with our own race.
Archaeological finds of ceremonial axes dating back to the Neolithic Age have been found as burial or religious votive deposits, including examples buried underneath northern European megaliths, dwelling sites, in tombs, bogs, fields and hearths. The frequent positioning of often valuable axes upright in the earth with the cutting edge in the air is an indication of the ritual use of the axes. Miniture axes worn as pendants have also been found.
The sacred use of the axe is indicative of the existence of a prehistoric axe God. The cult of this axe God ccontinued into the Bronze Age. Prehistoric pictures of an axe God are frequent in rock art in Swedish caves.
The Frisian God Fosite possessed an axe and it was He who was considered the law giver and judge of the Frisian tribes. His temple is called Axenshowe. It is possible that this Fosite is the same deity referred to in the Norse Eddas as Forseti, the son of Baldr and Nanna, whose residence was Glitnir. He is represented in the Eddas as a God who settles disputes.
Alcuin in the 8th century CE refers to an island called Fositesland, situated between Frisia and Denmark and named in honour of the God who was worshipped there.
Minuture axes symbolscontinued to be worn late into the Iron Age and again into the Viking Age.
Rudolf Simek [Dictionary of Northern Mythology] suggests that since there is no apparent literary evidence for the cult of axes that there is a connection with Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor/Thunor/Thunar/Donar. Both cult symbols, the axe and the hammer are also fertility symbols as well as having a martial aspect.
He states "The great age of the Germanic axe-cult, the relationship with the Cretan axe-cult and the parallels to the lightning weapons of the non-Germanic gods, such as Indra`s and Hercules` clubs or Sucellos the Gaul`s hammer all suggest an Indo-Germanic origin of the various forms of the axe."
He also refers to a connection with the Old Slavic Perkunos/Perun, closely related to the Baltic Perkunas and Perkons. Thor/Thunor/Thunar/Donar is also related to the Celtic Thunder Gods Taranis and Sucellos, both of whom carry a hammer.
Even the Finnish Thunder God Ukko carries an axe-hammer.
The distinguished scholar Hilda Ellis Davidson also refers to Thor`s weapon as an `axe-hammer` in her works.
Since composing this article I have stumbled across this interesting article taken from Cosmos Magazine:

Hand axe

The limestone axe is the oldest ever found in Europe.

Credit: Michael Walker

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PARIS: Early humans used two-sided stone axes in Europe up to 900,000 years ago, far earlier than previously thought, according to a new study.

The transition from primitive chopper-like tools to more finely crafted double-faced axes marked a milestone in the history of technology, and gave those whose wielded them an edge in the struggle to survive.

The revised dating of tools discovered in the 1970s at two sites in Spain largely erases a time gap that had long perplexed scientists.

Mind the gap

Before the new study, the earliest double axes found in Europe were thought to date from only 500,000 years ago - fully a million years after they had come into use in Africa.

It seemed unlikely that populations on the European continent, originating from Africa, could have lagged so far behind on such a key development.

Gary Scott and Luis Gibert of the Berkeley Geochronology Centre in Berkeley, California applied a technique called magnetostratigraphy to determine that the hatchets were in fact crafted between 760,000 and 900,000 years ago. Magnetostratigraphy is based on the periodic reversal of Earth's magnetic field.

Tiny compasses

Acting like tiny compasses, fine-grained magnetic minerals in the tools contain a record of the polarity at the time they were used. Once buried in sediment, the polarity is preserved.

"The age (of the axes) must be Early Pleistocene, the most recent period dominated by reverse polarity, 1.78 to 0.78 million years ago," the researchers concluded. They published their findings in the British journal Nature.

The new dating suggests that early man was present in southwestern Europe for much of this period, and that the barrier between Africa and Europe was more permeable than once thought, they said. The two archaeological sites, both in southern Spain, are La Solana del Zamborino, and Estrecho del Quipar.