Mjolnir

Mjolnir or Mjöllnir was the hammer of the Norse thunder god Thor. It could summon deadly lightning bolts and return to its owner if thrown.

History
Mjolnir was crafted by a pair of dwarves. At 1.75 meters long and kilograms in weight, Mjolnir was envisioned by some to be a two-handed battle-hammer decorated with jewels and made with precious metals. However, it was more likely considered to be a short hafted weapon with a thick granite head and leather thong attached to either side of a wooden handle which reflected the uncomplicated nature of Thor, the god who wielded it.

According to myth, Thor, Loki and their companions contested the giants for control of Mjolnir but the giants ultimately cheated in their attempts to claim the hammer.

In the early 1930s, an unidentified archaeologist hired by the Smithsonian Institute to catalog (but not unearth) the world's artifacts traced Mjolnir's last location to be Trondheim in Norway and estimated its worth at $125,000. They depicted it in their journal as reflecting the less ornate design.

Adolf Hitler was rumored to be in search of Mjolnir following Richard Wagner's inclusion of secret clues to the hammer's location within his opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. In addition to Nazi interest, Norwegian scholars wished to collect the artifact for the fame and find credence in Norse mythology. While the British sought to pre-empt possible Nazi recovery, the Norwegians recoiled against British involvement.