What is Thor's hammer called and what does it mean?

Thor is one of the most important gods in Norse mythology. So much so that there is a day in the week to honor him, the "Thor’s day" or as we currently know "Thursday". The fascination for the adventures of this mythological character undoubtedly became even greater at the hands of Marvel and its superhero universe.

Not only the character himself causes fascination among fans of Marvel movies and comics: the inseparable hammer, the distinctive sign of the god, has also been known to attract fans. So much so that one of the most recurring questions from users in this 2021 that has already left, is: what is the name of Thor's hammer?

What is the name of Thor's hammer?

It is one of the most powerful weapons in the Marvel universe, as well as in Norse mythology (comparable to Odin's spear). Some of the attributes are that it cannot be touched by any mortal (except that it is worthy), it returns when it is summoned and it is able to control elements of the storm (rain, lightning).

The true name of Thor's hammer (which Marvel kept intact regarding its mythological origin) is Mjölnir and of course to trace the origin of that name we must go back to ancient Norse stories. Etymologically, Mjölnir which means "devastating", and is related to the Icelandic verb mölva (to crush) and mala (to grind).

Then, why the confusion?

There are few who think that the name of the hammer is really "Jonathan". This confusion (since as we saw it is actually called Mjölnir) comes from an interview on MTV in 2018 the journalist asked the cast of Ant-Man and the Wasp (which would soon join the Marvel Cinematic Universe), the question that many today are still being made: what is the name of Thor's hammer?

The cast generally gave random names a lot of this due to not knowing how to pronounce the hammer's original name correctly. When it was the turn of Paul Rudd, interpreter of Ant-Man, he simply answered "Jonathan", without giving many explanations about it. The rest were made by the thousands of fans who with various memes and comments created the confusion.