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Mjölnir (literally, "that which smashes") is the hammer wielded by Thor, the Norse god of thunder.

According to Marvel Universe the blacksmiths used the core of a star as a forge to construct Mjölnir.

[at Thor's coronation] Odin: Thor Odinson, my heir, my first born. So long entrusted with the mighty hammer, Mjölnir, forged in the heart of a dying star. Its power has no equal! It's a weapon to destroy or as a tool to build. It is a fit companion for a king. I have defended Asgard, and the lives of the innocent across my realms in the time of the great beginning.

Asgardians are presented in the Marvel Universe as 'just' an advanced, physically durable and long lived race with strange technology. So has there actually been any attempt to show or explain how blacksmiths could actually survive inside the heart of a dying star?

Paul D. Waite
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Morgan
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  • I felt that my answer was pretty comprehensive, given the panel below. Is there anything else you'd like to see before considering an acceptance? – Valorum Jul 01 '16 at 20:36
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    How could Thor's hammer Mjölnir be forged in the heart of a dying star? Very carefully. – Paul D. Waite Mar 08 '21 at 12:15

4 Answers4

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You're misreading the passage. The blacksmith Eitri and his assistants Brok and Buri used the core of a dying star as the heat source to "forge a mold with which he birthed Mjolnir".

This "heart" (which presumably also served to heat the Uru from which the hammer is constructed) was not inside the star at the time but rather had already been ejected from the star as it exploded or collapsed.

There's an image of them hard at work in Thor Vol 2 #80

enter image description here

Valorum
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    Interesting. So Odin's comment in the movie 'Thor', that "Mjöllnir, forged IN the heart of a dying star" is incorrect and that it was actually a Mjöllnir MOLD (to later pour molten metal into) that was made from the heat of an 'ejected' heart of an exploded star? I'm not being sarcastic, just trying to get my mind around this narrative. – Morgan Apr 20 '14 at 23:02
  • How things have changed. In Norse mythology, Mjölnir was made by the dwarven brothers Sindri (or Eitri) and Brokkr in a forge in their workshop. – Morgan Apr 20 '14 at 23:05
  • @Morgan - I don't think the line is totally incorrect. The Uru was made molten using the same heat; http://marvel.wikia.com/Uru. – Valorum Apr 20 '14 at 23:22
  • The maximum temperature of a coal fire in a forge is about 3,500°F (1,927°C). The temperature at the heart of a dying star is roughly 1,000,000°F (555,538°C).

    Iron melts at 2,796°F (1,536°C), Tungsten melts at 6,152°F (3,400°C), Uru metal melts at ?????? <1,000,000°F (555,538°C).

     – Morgan Apr 21 '14 at 00:14
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    @Morgan - I'm not disputing that it's stupid... – Valorum Apr 21 '14 at 00:21
  • I understand and your canon answer is as usual, well researched. I was wondering though if they had developed some 'Asgardian technology' consistent with their 'hammer forging by a technologically advanced race' mythos'. – Morgan Apr 21 '14 at 00:50
  • @Morgan your figure for the temperature of a dying star is far too low. It should be more like 100,000,000,000°C (180,000,000,000°F). (At least, it should if "dying star" means "supernova".) – N. Virgo Apr 21 '14 at 07:19
  • @Simon that's true enough. I guess the astronomical object most closely resembling "the [ejected] heart of a dying star" would be a white dwarf, which if it was newly created, would be around only 100,000°C. – N. Virgo Apr 23 '14 at 10:15
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    @Richard This is where I run into the problem with the star core explanation. If you stand next to a blast furnace or forge... it's hot. At only several thousand degrees you must heavily armor up with some kind of leather, Nomex, Kevlar or ceramic material just to stand 'close' to it. Now bump that furnace size up to a tiny 50 thousand mile diameter and 1 million degrees. Asgardians are tough and durable for sure but even they can be BBQd. – Morgan Apr 27 '14 at 00:29
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    @Morgan - But you're OK with the fact that they seem to be stood in the vacuum of space? – Valorum Apr 27 '14 at 09:37
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    @Richard - Everyone has their threshold :) It's been shown that Asgardians are very durable and can absorb an amazing amount of punishment but they can still be killed with a well placed sword thrust, ice spear or energy blast. They've been shown to be able to survive limited amounts of time in space but there's no where I know of that shows they could come close to surviving a million+ degree heat source. They're durable, not indestructible. – Morgan Apr 27 '14 at 10:01
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    It's worth noting that the "Asgardians are super-advanced aliens rather than gods" thing is true in the movies, but isn't always true in the comics. The scene you've attached to your answer may come from a continuity in which Thor (and those Dwarves making the hammer) are supernatural beings, and thus not perfectly in line with the question being asked. – Nerrolken Jun 16 '15 at 16:40
  • @Morgan, I think your physics are right. But canon doesn't follow physics. Hence the answer. – Paul Draper Jul 09 '15 at 01:38
  • It doesn't say they used the heat to forge the mold. It can be read that the material of the mold was the stellar core. – OrangeDog Dec 10 '19 at 11:30
  • @StopHarmingMonica - Did you look at the picture? – Valorum Dec 10 '19 at 11:34
  • @Valorum yes, the thing he's chiselling appears to be the same material as where the flames are coming from, and the other scattered fragments in the background. – OrangeDog Dec 10 '19 at 11:35
  • My comment is vindicated, those dwarves are being very careful. They're all wearing safety gloves. – Paul D. Waite Mar 08 '21 at 13:17
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    @PaulD.Waite - "Safety squint engaged" – Valorum Mar 08 '21 at 14:16
  • @Valorum never look directly at the heart of a dying star. – Paul D. Waite Mar 08 '21 at 14:17
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No one ever said that the blacksmiths had to be inside the star, just like blacksmiths here on Earth don't have to jump into big piles of hot coals themselves...

The material and technology would certainly be strange and advanced, but not surreal =)

Patrick Hughes
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    A forge of approx. 1,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit with a diameter of 186 million miles. That's hot enough that helium nuclei can be fused to form the nuclei of heavier elements and about the size of Earths orbit around our sun? Need a pretty lung pair of tongs me thinks. – Morgan Apr 20 '14 at 22:07
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    @Morgan They could've had multi-phasic shielding (oops... wrong canon ;) – Doug_Ivison Apr 20 '14 at 22:09
  • @Morgan: In Spiderman 2, Doc Octopus designed his arms to work on his fusion reactor. Maybe Asgardians have a similar (unseen in the movie) technology. – Taladris Jun 16 '15 at 16:07
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I always took this to mean that as the star died and collapsed down into itself it would begin to create the heavier elements, as is the nature of giant stars that die, the bigger the star the heavier the elements that can be produced.

The material that would become the head of the hammer was therefore FORGED by the star itself dying, not by blacksmiths literally being inside the star as it died forging this. Once the star was dead it would most likely have gone supernova and ejected all the heaver elements out, again as is the nature of stars.

The Asguardians would have then found this extremely dense material and thought, lets turn this into a hammmer, they would have then shaped this, put the inscription on it and stuck a handle into it.

Cearon O'Flynn
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Well, Dwarfs are not considered Asgardians. They belonged to a completely different race of beings. They were bred since the first dwarf to withstand extreme temperatures, some even being completely unfased by any heat. What throws this theory out of the window though is there clothing :/. But combined with this theory that someone above me posted

The Asgardians would have then found this extremely dense material and thought, lets turn this into a hammer, they would have then shaped this, put the inscription on it and stuck a handle into it.

could mean that the dwarfs could withstand intense but no too intense heat. Norse mythology makes the dwarfs all look like forgers that have no problem with any kind of heat.(It is said tho that the hammer was made in a dying star and not out of a dying star.

Rogue Jedi
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Dominik
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