![]() ![]() Gungnir is said to have runes carved on its point, which presumably increase its aim and deadliness through magic. It was created by the dwarves, the most skilled smiths in the cosmos, as is related in the tale of how the gods’ greatest treasures were made. Such depictions are found from Viking Age runestones all the way back to Bronze Age rock carvings of a spear god, who very well may be Odin (though due to the very early date and lack of other distinguishing features, it’s impossible to say for certain).Īs expected of a God's personal weapon, Gungnir is no ordinary spear. ![]() Pre-Christian Scandinavian visual art often depicts Odin bearing a spear in fact, the spear is one of his most typical iconographic attributes. It goes back at least as far as the ninth century, when the poet Bragi Boddason referred to Odin as Gungnis váfaðr (“Gungnir’s shaker”). Both poetry and visual art demonstrate that this connection is deep and long-standing. In the recorded Norse myths, Gungnir is the weapon most consistently and powerfully associated with Odin. Gungnir (Old Norse Gungnir, “Swaying ” pronounced “GUNG-neer”) is the name of the mighty spear that belongs to the god Odin. Following the death of his owner, Gungnir is ultimately destroyed along with Asgard. During Ragnarök, Odin most notably caught Thor off-guard by stabbing the latter through his chest, before engaging in battle Kratos, Atreus and Freya with his magical spear. But when the All-Father absolutely needed to defend himself, he instantly turned his unassuming and benign staff into a deadly spear-blade, summoned from the Bifröst in a flash. Unbeknownst to his surrounding, Odin systematically kept his legendary weapon with him and merely used it as a walking stick when he was wandering around. Even though he was a skilled and deadly combatant, Odin rarely used his legendary spear after he became King of the Aesir, since his position as the ruler of the Nine Realms made battles with potential foes few and far between. Unbeknownst to his surrounding, Odin used his unmatched mastery of the Bifröst to conceal his weapon, which secretly imbued a variety of battle enchantments with every shape to further enhance its owner's magical abilities. Long before the events of the series, the King of the Aesir then notoriously used the Spear of Heaven to stab himself in his mad quest for knowledge.Įlegant and refined, the weapon was a masterpiece of Dwarven craftsmanship. Forged by the Master Craftsman and Alchemist Ivaldi, Gungnir was notably the weapon that ended the life of the Giant Ymir, thus ensuring the rise of Odin as the All-Father. Gungnir, also known as the Spear of Heaven, is introduced in God of War: Ragnarök as Odin's signature weapon. Everybody knows Gungnir, right? Odin's spear, and Ivaldi's masterwork. ![]()
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