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Damascus Mjölnir


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Had a customer order one of these Thor's Hammer pendents, but she wanted it in damascus, and asked me to put a rune on it.  Not sure what the rune means, but looks like the picture she drew.  Still don't get the popularity of these, but this damascus one came out pretty cool.

DSCN2867.thumb.jpg.03d962103ff669eb6da31

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That came out very nice. Runes don't look exactly like . . . There isn't really THE rune they all have an individual's touch so that's authentic enough a Viking wouldn't think twice about it.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Really nice work Heap of Jeep.

The Rune symbol's meaning coppied from the internet: Strength, reliability, dependability, trustworthiness. Enlightenment, endurance. Defense, protection. The driving force to acquire, providing motivation and a sense of purpose. Indicates that you have set your sights on a reasonable target and can achieve your goals. An honest man who can be relied upon. Eihwaz Reversed or Merkstave: Confusion, destruction, dissatisfaction, weakness.

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Interesting stuff there.  Guess maybe I should read up on runes if people are going to have putting them on things.  I'd hate to have gotten it reversed... they probably wouldn't have been to happy... of course, if it caused them confusion, they may not have known why they weren't happy with me... right?  LOL. 

I threw pictures of this up on my facebook page, and now I've got people calling me things, from heathen to pagen, because of this... I really don't get people.  If my customer had wanted a damascus cross, I would have made them one of those... instead, they are Viking lovers, and asked for a Thor's Hammer.  For them, there might be a deeper meaning, but for me, it was just a small commission piece that netted me enough money for some pizza and beer.  Didn't realize I was condemning my soul to the eternal torment in the underworld by forging something that, to me, resembles a boat anchor more than a hammer.  lol.

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Really nice Heap. I wouldn't let em get to you. In my opinion it's interesting history, and innocent jewelry. Different people see things differently and it goes towards the " you can please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time. " 

I've had people that commented that a wall hanger battle hand axe I made was " creepy, scary, evil" and some other negative things.   Make what you want to make and don't make what you don't want to. 

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People with no life or purpose other than social media HAVE to say SOMETHING even, Especially, if they have NOTHING to say. I used to pop folk like that in the nose with scripture till I realized their opinion doesn't matter so why bother? If they aren't sending you money they have ZERO to say about what you make. Tell them so if you feel a need to respond. Just NEVER explain anything to them, you aren't that interested in what they think.

You might have to work on a healthy don't give a . . . "spit" attitude but you'll be much happier. It's worth it, honest. B)

Frosty The Lucky.

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My reply to those giving you a hard time would simply be to remind them of the fact that there was and is many deities other than theirs ...many of which predate "him". Or say nothing and make a damascus Baphomet  pendant. I am glad that we have a distinct lack of zealotry up here because I have no tolerance for it. Nice work on the piece...it turned out lovely and pizza and beer are always worth eternal damnation. Enjoy them often.......You can only be xxxxc once right?

dont push the language issue

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I have always believed that the first amendment allowed US citisens to believe in any God and have freedom of expression - which would include making Tor's hammers.

I have not had time to see the youtube clip but the fact is that we know very little about the old Nordic religion. The bulk of information comes from Chrisitan people writing more than two hundred years after that the old religion was abolished. 

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that is one of the biggest problems with a culture having an oral history, First the repetition can alter the truth, and after they stop repeating it regularly, it can get lost to history or myth

My Mothers Grand Parents came over from Norway....

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Heap of Jeep Having grown up in Jersey right across the river from NYC I have no trouble verbally putting someone in their place. To someone who told me that I was xxxxxx, I would tell them thank God I can't stand you on earth, why would I want to put up with you for eternity. That is a very cool looking Thor's Hammer.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, unfortunately social justice warriors with their virtue shaming and blatant hypocrisy are offended by practically anything and everything these days. They sit in their comfy armchairs passing judgement on their fellow peers in a entirely self motivated effort to elevate themselves above others. Sad really.

Youll never please them. They will always have something to complain about.

Best response is to simply ignore them and refuse to apologize. Your work is very nice and the person who paid for it is happy. The way I've always seen it is just like when you get alarmist trolls on message boards who seem to never have anything good to say about much of anything, and heavily judge and criticize others...

Ignore them and as soon as the next juicy bone plops down in front of them, they'll forget you exist as they begin to devour it.

Of course, you can always tell them off, but most live for that kind of stuff and will beat you to death with their extensive experience being an idiot. I won't lower myself to their level. 

Its a super nice piece man. That's all that's important.

IMHO of course

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  • 4 years later...

Hey there, new here and to forging, but not metal work (welding). I'm also an amateur old Norse literature and Scandinavian scholar. Also a practicing "heathen". I know this thread is old but maybe I could shed some light on some of these subjects.

The rune you created is called "Eihwaz". It's actually pre-viking era rune in the proto-indo European language and the rune and sound it makes is actually highly contested that the vowel shape was like that. The system of writing was called "elder futhark" and it had 24 characters (we think).

The system that replaced that came with the next language "old norse" (what the vikings spoke) and a new (16 character) alphabet with mostly familiar shapes representing specific sounds.

When people ask for elder futhark runes it's usually for religious reasons since it is said that the God Óðinn (Odin) learned these runes while hanging 9 nights on the world tree Yggdrasil. Since they weren't used often in the viking period outside of religious context we conclude that modern interpretations on pendants are used as such.

There are a few books and internet chatter about the runes standing for something, but in reality there is no historical or physical evidence of runic magic other than casting stones (like what a sooth-sayer from medieval times would use). It is a practice which was not documented and rarely written about in the sagas. You'll see the errant " Hann kastr runar" or "he cast runes" in random places, but not often.

Simply the runes were just letters other than the "T" Rune or "tiwaz" in PIE or "Tyr" in Old Norse. It does actually symbolize the Norse God Tyr who was essentially the God of Justice, peace and combat (not war - see thor).

 

We have physical evidence of the Tyr runes being engraved on a blade in a stacked "bind rune" that has a single line with 6 "wings" or basically a T with droopy wings. Looks like a tree symbol.

Obviously Tyr being a God of combat it was more or less a blessing or prayer on the blade to be successful in combat and just in its use.

Unfortunately most modern heathens do little to no research other than internet searches. I have about 2 grand in books on viking age theology, language and sociology. Being of Scandinavian heritage makes it really cool to speak and understand the language and know the history of such a rich culture.

Anyways, nice piece. Love the damascus.

 

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Very nice work, and people are indeed pretty weird when it comes to old Runes and stuff. My wife and I got Runic tattoo's as our wedding ring on our forearms and I also have my avatar picture on my other arm. People like to call me a Nazi for having them. 

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MOD NOTE: Both the original discussion and the recent comments are right on the edge of violating IFI's rule prohibiting discussion of politics and religion. Stick to discussion of the object and how it was forged, or this thread will be locked. Thank you.

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Runes - Wikipedia
Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets, which were used to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter.

 

Runic alphabet Runic/Futhark

Little is known about the origins of the Runic alphabet, which is traditionally known as futhark after the first six letters.

The Runic alphabet may have been based on an early version of the Greek alphabet. A number of letters resemble those used in early Greek alphabet. Alternatively it may have developed from one of the ancient alphabets used in Italy for Etruscan or other languages.

The earliest known Runic inscriptions date from the 1st century AD, but the vast majority of Runic inscriptions date from the 11th century. Runic inscriptions have been found throughout Europe from the Balkans to Germany, Scandinavia and the British Isles.

 

Elder Futhark is thought to be the oldest version of the Runic alphabet, and was used in the parts of Europe which were home to Germanic peoples, including Scandinavia. Other versions probably developed from it. The names of the letters are shown in Common Germanic, the reconstructed ancestor of all Germanic languages.

Younger Futhark or "Normal Runes" gradually evolved Elder Futhark over a period of many years and stabilized by about 800 A.D., the beginning of the Viking Age. It was the main alphabet in Norway, Sweden and Denmark throughout the Viking Age, but was largely though not completely replaced by the Latin alphabet by about 1200 as a result of the conversion of most of Scandinavia to Christianity.

Three slightly different versions of the alphabet developed in Denmark, Norway and Sweden

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