# Norse Mythology Question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 10, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856 "2005-03-10T16:41:17Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/1 "2005-03-10T16:41:17Z")
Not a religiously motivated question.
In the norse legends Thor possesses a hammer named mjolnir. How does one pronounce this?
I think the nir part sounds like near, but am unsure what the mjol bit sounds like. Any scandinavian/icelandic dopers (or anyone else) out there that can help?
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### Author:  [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/2 "2005-03-10T16:46:29Z")
Non-authoritative : I have always pronounced it Mee-OL-nihr.
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### Author:  [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/3 "2005-03-10T16:48:03Z")
Sorry, just realized, with my pseudo phonetics, it should be OHL.
As in rhyming with Coal or Bowl.
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/4 "2005-03-10T17:08:47Z")
I’ve always pronounced it m[sup]y[/sup]ole-near. The first two sounds run together–it’s like the Russian pronunciation of Tatiana.
As long as we’re discussing old Norse pronunciations, what about Ljusalfheim? I can’t figure out what to do with the “lj”.
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### Author:  [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/5 "2005-03-10T17:17:41Z")
I’m under the impression that an “lj” would be pronounced just like an “ly”. As in: “ly-oos-ahl-hime”. Though I may be wrong.
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### Author:  [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/6 "2005-03-10T17:25:42Z")
You might find [these](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Norse) [two](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mjolnir) Wikipedia articles interesting, take a look at the “alternate spellings” section on the second one, that might help you research how to pronounce it better. I also found[this](http://www.hi.is/~haukurth/norse/articles/pronunc.html), and [this](http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/ONPronounciation.htm) as well.
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### Author:  [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/7 "2005-03-10T19:56:35Z")
When I read about Thor in Avengers comics as a kid, I always called it "muh-JOAL _(like “bowl”)_-nur.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/8 "2005-03-10T20:31:44Z")
Ultrafilter’s got it pretty much right –
Giving it to you in I.P.A. is kind of useless, because it comes out exactly the same as the actual spelling – [mjolnir]
The “J” is a glide similar to “y” in English
“O” and “I” are pure vowels. Think about how they are pronounced in Spanish or Italian.
Muhjolner is dead wrong.
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### Author:  [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/9 "2005-03-10T20:37:40Z")
In Danish it’s Mjøl-ner. ([http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mj�lner](http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mj%F8lner)) ”ø” is a vowel you don’t have in English. It’s usually transcribed as “oe” but sounds nothing like either “o” or “e”.
From wikipedia: _“Ø is particularly difficult for English-speakers. It is pronounced by rounding the lips as in “oh”, while producing the “e” in “met”. It is the same sound as the German umlaut ‘ö’ or ‘Ö’ and almost the same as the vowel in French ‘feu’.”_
> **[Danish language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_language#Pronunciation)**
>
> Regions where Danish is an official language but not a majority native language (Faroe Islands)
> Danish (/ˈdeɪnɪʃ/ (listen); dansk pronounced \[ˈtænˀsk\] (listen), dansk sprog \[ˈtænˀsk ˈspʁɔwˀ\]) is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in Denmark, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and in the region of Southern Schleswig in northern Germany, where it has minority language status. Also, minor Danish-speaking communities are found in Norway, Sweden, Spain, the Un...
Basically, you’re fucked.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/10 "2005-03-10T20:49:29Z")
**ultrafilter** , you deal with “lj” the same way you deal with “mj.”
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/11 "2005-03-11T01:30:31Z")
I asked this very question of a native Norwegian friend. She said, “Myol-neer”. The “myol” is all one syllable.
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### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2005, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/12 "2005-03-11T06:59:45Z")
> [@acsenray](#):
>
> **ultrafilter** , you deal with “lj” the same way you deal with “mj.”
“mj” is on trial in California, but I suspect that’s not what you meant.
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2005, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/13 "2005-03-11T07:12:26Z")
> [@Phase42](#):
>
> I asked this very question of a native Norwegian friend. She said, “Myol-neer”. The “myol” is all one syllable.
I also asked this question of a native Norweigan, ultra-Nationalist, lingual purist, Norse Mythology buff friend of mine, about 10 years ago. He said it’s _ **myool-nuh** _.
I’ll trust him until someone proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that he’s wrong.
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### Author:  [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2005, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/14 "2005-03-11T08:39:09Z")
> [@Rune](#):
>
> In Danish it’s Mjøl-ner. ([http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mj�lner](http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mj%F8lner)) ”ø” is a vowel you don’t have in English. It’s usually transcribed as “oe” but sounds nothing like either “o” or “e”.
>
> From wikipedia: _“Ø is particularly difficult for English-speakers. It is pronounced by rounding the lips as in “oh”, while producing the “e” in “met”. It is the same sound as the German umlaut ‘ö’ or ‘Ö’ and almost the same as the vowel in French ‘feu’.”_
> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish\_language#Pronunciation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_language#Pronunciation)
>
> Basically, you’re fucked.
Heh, one time I was driving around with my wife and a friend and we saw some random store with an ö in the name. Someone asked how it was pronounced, and I uttered what I like to think was a reasonable approximation, but they made fun of me. It sounds silly to us native English speakers.
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### Author:  [@hildea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hildea)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2005, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/15 "2005-03-11T09:22:54Z")
I’d say that ø is pronounced like the u in “fucked”, but with more emphasis. Then again, it might be that I pronounce “fucked” wrong 🙂
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### Author:  [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2005, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/16 "2005-03-11T11:19:10Z")
> [@hildea](#):
>
> Then again, it might be that I pronounce “fucked” wrong 🙂
Well, if you pronounce “fucked” with the first syllable like the French word “feu” or “je” (think of “je t’aime”) you are pronouncing it incorrectly. The correct pronounciation for “ø” is indeed just like the German umlaut “ö”, which sounds like the vowel in the french words “je” or “feu”. In other words, your pronounciation of “fucked” may be seriously “feucked up”! 😃
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### Author:  [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/norse-mythology-question/293856/17 "2005-03-13T19:46:52Z")
Thanks for all the answers, I think that clears up my question.