# Would you try to lift Thor's Hammer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 8, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828 "2018-05-08T20:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/1 "2018-05-08T20:34:00Z")
Not sure whether to put this one in Cafe Society or not… Anyway, the scenario, as in the scene in the Age of Ultron movie\* you are hanging out with the Marvel movie version of Thor when he gives you the opportunity to try to lift his hammer _(you at the back, stop it)_. Do you give it a try? If not, why not? Personally I think I’m kind of Black Widow’s opinion _(“That’s not a question I need an answer to”)_ but I admit I would be curious, and I also know that as irrational as it is if I couldn’t lift it that would bother me. So, do you give it a try? \*[Avengers: Age of Ultron - Lifting Thor's Hammer - Movie CLIP HD - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3bhQwY0KCY) ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/2 "2018-05-08T21:21:30Z")
I’m not an elevator, so no. Also I probably couldn’t lift the thing even if it _weren’t_ magic. Dang thing looks heavy. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/3 "2018-05-08T21:43:03Z")
“That’s not a question I need answered.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/4 "2018-05-08T21:44:55Z")
In a second! Even if I don’t succeed in picking it up, \*DUDE, I JUST GOT TO TOUCH THE MYSTICAL HAMMER OF THOR! \* ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/5 "2018-05-08T21:46:07Z")
There’s no penalty if I can’t movie it, like being dropped into a pit of despair forever. The only thing that will happen is the Avengers will laugh at me. I doubt I meet the standards of “worthiness” that a supernatural object holds. On the other hand…maybe I can movie it! best to find out. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/6 "2018-05-08T21:48:12Z")
Sure, out of curiosity. I doubt it would work with any version of Mjolnir, since I’m not particularly special or “worthy” or super-strong. _But,_ Mjolnir just refuses to move, unlike some other “picky” weapons in fiction and myth it doesn’t hurt or kill you for touching it. So why not? ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/7 "2018-05-08T21:51:16Z")
Even Captain America has failed to lift it before. My skin isn’t so thin that failure will crush me. Besides… > [@Noelq](#): > > \*DUDE, I JUST GOT TO TOUCH THE MYSTICAL HAMMER OF THOR! \* ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/8 "2018-05-08T21:58:52Z")
I have no idea whether I’d succeed or fail, which is precisely why I’d take the opportunity to try. And if I did fail, I wouldn’t take it as all that much of an insult, because I don’t know if the hammer’s notion of “worthy” corresponds to my own notion of the same. I’d also, if given the opportunity, experiment with an elevator, a train, etc. What happens if Thor sets it down on a coffee table, and then I remove the table? ---
**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:** [May 8, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/9 "2018-05-08T22:02:14Z")
What part of > [@Noelq](#): > > \*DUDE, I JUST GOT TO TOUCH THE MYSTICAL HAMMER OF THOR! \* don’t people understand? Plus it gives you an lead in for _so many_ dirty jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/10 "2018-05-08T22:32:46Z")
Sure. I mean, “worthiness” excuse aside, it’s pretty much made for one guy so I can’t feel too hurt when it doesn’t budge. Or maybe I am worthy, just very, very weak. Does Mjolnir account for that? Could a worthy three year old swing it around? Maybe an intrinstic part of being worthy to wield it is not skipping arm day at the gym. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/11 "2018-05-08T23:24:54Z")
I dont fit their concept of worthiness, but I wouldn’t give up a chance to see what it felt like trying to move something so small that I couldn’t budge at all. Maybe even ask if Thor can hold it up effortlessly while I try. Plus I’d get to tell people I touched it. It’s an nice story. Even if it somehow does let me lift it, it wouldn’t freak me out as I might not have the values of Odin. I could be the errant good hearted person, not someone who is Valhalla material, which I am definitely not. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/12 "2018-05-08T23:36:33Z")
I would certainly try, and almost certainly fail. I’ll tell you who _could_ have done it, though: Mr. Rogers. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/13 "2018-05-08T23:38:12Z")
I think I might just touch it and then leave as gracefully as possible. I doubt I could lift it even if I qualified. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/14 "2018-05-08T23:39:02Z")
Sure, I’d try. It would go nicely right next to Excalibur. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/15 "2018-05-09T00:51:22Z")
As others have said, _hell_ yes I’d try. There’s no way that I’m worthy of it, but to be able to say that I had a chance to do so would be awesome. > [@Jophiel](#): > > Or maybe I am worthy, just very, very weak. Does Mjolnir account for that? In the comic books, it has. Marvel just concluded a story arc in which Jane Foster served as Thor for a time. During her tenure, she was also increasingly ill from breast cancer\*. By the end, she was essentially bedridden (and painfully thin), but could still pick up Mjolnir. - - When she’d transform into Thor, part of the transformation was Mjolnir purging her body of any poisons or toxins – which included the chemotherapy drugs she was being given. But, as the cancerous cells were “her,” Mjolnir’s enchantment didn’t touch those. Thus, becoming Thor kept neutralizing the treatments she was taking. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/16 "2018-05-09T02:46:57Z")
I’ve picked my Harley up after it fell over so I would give it a shot. And fail. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/17 "2018-05-09T04:26:50Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Also I probably couldn’t lift the thing even if it _weren’t_ magic. Dang thing looks heavy. Exactly. Whatever it’s made from, it’s probably the density of osmium or something and weighs a hundred kilos. I’m not budging it even if I somehow _am_ worthy. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/18 "2018-05-09T04:36:23Z")
Sure, I’d give it a try, and almost certainly fail. It won’t hurt me to try\*, and I’d be curious, if nothing else. \*Probably. If Mjolnir has any degree of sentience beyond judging “worthiness”, I could see it getting annoyed with someone who’s absolutely _not_ worthy, and giving them a little jolt. Nothing too drastic, just a “Dude, hands off” sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/19 "2018-05-09T08:34:29Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > “That’s not a question I need answered.” Pretty much my answer too. I know what’s gonna happen. Not only will I not be able to lift it, that hammer’s got a mind of its own, and it might just be offended that I even tried. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828/20 "2018-05-09T08:41:02Z")
Depends, do I have a nail that needs banging? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-try-to-lift-thors-hammer/813828.md?page=2)