Chisel of the Gods

We are all familiar with Thor, the hammer-wielding god of Norse mythology, but how many of us are aware that many other members of that mythical pantheon are similarly tooled up? For example, Loki was pretty handy with a chisel and Bragi had a magic hacksaw that could cut through rainbows. Magni was presented with a mighty bradawl, which he famously used to pluck out the eye of Fenrir. Ullr, the Norse god of winter, used his spanner to tighten up the nuts at the North and South poles, and brought about the last great ice age. And even Odin himself had a Black and Decker Workmate.

It is testament to the declining importance of these mythical beings amongst Scandinavian peoples that in later retellings of the myths, the tools are either missing or greatly diminished. For example, in texts dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, Loki's chisel has become a centre punch, Magni has a small Phillips screwdriver and even Thor himself has traded in his hammer for a thing for getting stones out of horse's hooves.