# Thor's Hammer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 4, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196 "2015-03-04T14:27:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/1 "2015-03-04T14:27:50Z")
In one of the trailers for Avengers II, the other Avengers were taking turns trying to pick up Thor’s hammer. None of them could. In the comics, there have been other characters who picked it up–Storm, and (in crossovers) Superman and Wonder Woman that I remember, plus an EMT, I think. I’m wondering, what fictional characters (other than Marvel or DC characters who’ve actually done it) do you think could pick up Thor’s hammer? I’m going to say Captain Carrot (from Discworld) and Constable Benton Frasier from **Due South**. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/2 "2015-03-04T14:35:08Z")
Honor Harrington comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/3 "2015-03-04T14:37:57Z")
Michael Carpenter, from the Dresden Files. But that goes without saying. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/4 "2015-03-04T14:39:03Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Honor Harrington comes to mind. All you have to do is complete the long chain of retcons to make her an Asgardian. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/5 "2015-03-04T14:39:50Z")
Spock. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/6 "2015-03-04T14:44:30Z")
If Thor’s hammer is infinitely heavy, what qualifies to support it? Could it be set on a table? On the second floor of a building? Is it glued in place to where Thor places it? If nothing can lift/support his hammer does it become invincible if thrown at an enemy from above caught between it and the earth? ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/7 "2015-03-04T14:46:23Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > If Thor’s hammer is infinitely heavy, what qualifies to support it? Could it be set on a table? On the second floor of a building? > Is it glued in place to where Thor places it? > If nothing can lift/support his hammer does it become invincible if thrown at an enemy from above caught between it and the earth? The hammer is not infinitely heavy. It probably weighs about 40 pounds or so. Thor hangs it on a hook in Jane’s apartment in Thor 2. The difference is that if the person is not worthy, the hammer will refuse to be moved. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/8 "2015-03-04T15:08:29Z")
There was a neat bit in the first Thor movie where Thor places the hammer on top of Loki to keep him from moving. In the Star Wars universe I would imagine that Luke Skywalker would be able to lift it because he is nobly heroic. Also Obi Wan, Yoda, and probably all of the other Jedi. I would argue that Chewbacca could as well though I think it would make for a more interesting story if Han Solo could when the others couldn’t. From Farscape I would think D’Argo would be able to hold the mighty hammer since he is another noble hero. I don’t think anyone else there would be able to, maybe Zhaan. I haven’t read these books in years but I loved it way back when, but the [Star of the Guardian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_the_Guardians) series one of the main antagonists is Sagan but I could see him holding the hammer. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/9 "2015-03-04T15:18:32Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > From Farscape I would think D’Argo would be able to hold the mighty hammer since he is another noble hero. I don’t think anyone else there would be able to, maybe Zhaan. I can see D’Argo getting all pissed off because he couldn’t move it and going as far as to shoot at it. Then Zhaan walks over, picks it up, rolls it over on her finger tips and says “light as a feather” while D’Argo stomps off. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/10 "2015-03-04T15:24:33Z")
[Previous thread on the subject](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738982). From Discworld? Maybe not Captain Carrot. I’d bet Cohen the Barbarian could do it, though, as ancient as he is. From Neal Asher’s Polity universe, maybe Ian Cormac. > [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > In the Star Wars universe I would imagine that Luke Skywalker would be able to lift it because he is nobly heroic. I doubt most Jedi are violence prone enough to lift it. I could see Darth Vader maybe being able to lift it, though. The Aesir notion of “worthy” is kind of funny like that. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/11 "2015-03-04T15:33:45Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > I doubt most Jedi are violence prone enough to lift it. I could see Darth Vader maybe being able to lift it, though. The Aesir notion of “worthy” is kind of funny like that. :dubious: So you think the Aesir notion of “worthy” includes slaughtering children and Force-choking people to death in a fit of pique? Frodo and Samwise, probably. Maybe Galadriel. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/12 "2015-03-04T15:38:14Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > :dubious: So you think the Aesir notion of “worthy” includes slaughtering children and Force-choking people to death in a fit of pique? Maybe? Hard to say. Captain American has only lifted Mjolnir a couple times and can’t the rest of the time. Then again, Loki (at least in the comics) has been able to lift Mjolnir as well, and he’s hardly the poster child for upstanding behavior. Like I said, the Aesir notion of “worthy” is funny like that. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/13 "2015-03-04T15:53:08Z")
In my retcons, the key word is “wield” although this contradicts observed behavior of the artifact in canon. Anyone can pick the thing up or move it. However, you need to have the Aesir virtues in order to use it as a weapon (or actually do anything useful with it). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/14 "2015-03-04T16:01:17Z")
Not unlike a Jedi wielding a light saber. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/15 "2015-03-04T16:14:48Z")
I imagine Tom Bombadil would pick it up, use it to fix that wobbly post at the top of the stairs, and then toss it in the toolshed without giving it a second thought. But then, ol’ Tom is rather like a honey badger in certain ways… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/16 "2015-03-04T16:45:50Z")
Picking up a magic weapon that’s been enchanted to be unliftable unless you’re worthy of becoming a warrior king is pretty much the wheelhouse of King Arthur, right? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/17 "2015-03-04T16:52:24Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Not unlike a Jedi wielding a light saber. What about Han and the Tauntaun? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/18 "2015-03-04T16:57:37Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I’m going to say Captain Carrot (from Discworld) What about the _real_ [Captain Carrot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Carrot)? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/19 "2015-03-04T16:57:52Z")
I don’t recall a tauntaun ever using a lightsaber. Was that in one of the Lucas “improved” releases? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196/20 "2015-03-04T17:05:00Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > :dubious: So you think the Aesir notion of “worthy” includes slaughtering children and Force-choking people to death in a fit of pique? > > Frodo and Samwise, probably. Maybe Galadriel. Faramir? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thors-hammer/714196.md?page=2)