Home›Open Questions›Does the Thor's hammer amulet predate the ninth century, or does the practice begin in the conversion period?Open QuestionsDoes the Thor's hammer amulet predate the ninth century, or does the practice begin in the conversion period?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Does the Thor's hammer amulet predate the ninth century, or does the practice begin in the conversion period?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/does-the-thors-hammer-amulet-predate-the-ninth-century-or-does-the-practice-begin-in-the-conversion-period.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Does the Thor's hammer amulet predate the ninth century, or does the practice begin in the conversion period?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/does-the-thors-hammer-amulet-predate-the-ninth-century-or-does-the-practice-begin-in-the-conversion-periodCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-does-the-thor-s-hammer-amulet-predate-th, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Does the Thor's hammer amulet predate the ninth century, or does the practice begin in the conversion period?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/does-the-thors-hammer-amulet-predate-the-ninth-century-or-does-the-practice-begin-in-the-conversion-period}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionEffectively the entire corpus of around a thousand pendants falls in the ninth to eleventh centuries. That is also the conversion period, so the distribution is compatible both with an old practice becoming archaeologically visible and with a practice that begins as a response to Christian cross-wearing. No securely dated earlier example has been published, and no positive account of an earlier phase exists, so this is an evidential gap rather than a contest between established positions.What would resolve this A hammer pendant, or a mould for one, recovered from a securely dated context earlier than the ninth century, or a systematic re-examination and re-dating of the existing corpus establishing that no such context exists.OpenViking Age and Migration Period archaeology, with finds dating and metalwork typologyJohn Lindow, Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and BeliefsCross-Tradition ConnectionsQuestion OnThor's Hammer Pendant, Sacred Objects & Ritual Items Well-attested Source Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and BeliefsJohn Lindowtier 1SourcesNorse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefstier 1John Lindow, Oxford University Press, 2001View the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year