Mjölnir: Thor's Mighty Hammer

Mjölnir is depicted in Norse mythology as one of the most fearsome weapons, capable of leveling entire mountains and crushing anything it is unleashed upon. It belongs to the Norse God Thor and is associated with his attribute of being the God of Thunder. 

Both the comic and norse myths tell of the wielder of the mighty hammer must be deemed worthy. if the wielder for whatever reason falters, or cracks under the pressures of life, they may never wield the hammer. 

From a comic book perspective, this concept of worthiness creates a whole new plane for writers to develop inner emotional conflict within the character of Thor. It also allows audiences and readers, whether they watch Thor on film or read the latest edition of The Avengers, to see the that the hammer is indeed a tangible and powerful weapon for its wielder. 

The Mighty Thor: Comics Vs Mythology

The greatest part about reading myths is that we get to see them all the time when it comes to comic books and movies about them. Thor a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is based on the Norse Mythological god of the same name, is the Asgardian god of thunder and possesses the enchanted hammer Mjolnir, which grants him the ability of flight and weather manipulation amongst his other super powers,

The Norse interpretation of him does not depict him of having the exact same abilities, but he is still said to have mystical powers granted to him. He is portrayed as not being the brightest of the Aesir gods, however his tales are legendary in the fact that he is powerful warrior. 

Loki: Trickster or Misunderstood?

Marvel Comics takes a swing at using Norse Mythology as inspiration for the work they put out. Even Thor's villains and allies are inspired by Norse Mythology. For example Loki, the god of mischief, is portrayed as Thor's brother and enemy. In Norse myth, no one really likes Loki being around. Yet Marvel tries to portray Loki as having faults to a character that in a way humanize him. They tend to do that with many of their characters, but it is a good way to tell the stories they are trying to tell.

Norse Myth tells us that he killed Bald'r and that he is essentially a scumbag, but perhaps there are layers that go even beyond that. We see things told from the perspective of the Aesir more often than the perspective of Loki. However if we were to see the perspective of Loki, how much of our own bias opinions win over when it comes to believing a word Loki says? Perhaps that is what is most intriguing about Loki as a character. His intentions, though malevolent on the surface are inherently similar to the injustices the Aesir and other gods have done. This is coming from an opinion that leaves Loki portrayed as the villain for all-time. The road to power, god or not, involves performing deeds that not everyone will see as righteous. 

In this clip from Thor: The Dark World we see Marvel's powerful narrative story telling by providing layers of emotion behind the relationship of Thor and Loki. *SPOILER ALERT* The scene takes place shortly after  Loki, being the trickster that he is, creates an illusion of what he wants people to see. However as an audience that has seen the movie, we know that Thor is able to call Loki's bluff because he knew how much Loki cared for their mother. It is evident that Loki is absolutely devistated. 

Old Norse Gods:Old Norse Pantheon

This Family Tree shows how extensive the Aesir family is. It makes this pantheon a bit easy to remember because one can just memorize who their parents were if they would like to figure out where they fall into.

Yygdrasil: Old Norse Pantheon

This tree splits up the 9 realms that make the universe with respect to the Old Norse mythology. Each realm hosts a different race of beings.

Guide to Names of Gods: Greek and Roman

Greek Gods and their Roman Counterparts

Greek God	Roman Name	Attribute.
Aphrodite	Venus	Goddess of Love
Apollo	Phoebus Apollo	God of the Sun
Ares	Mars	God of war
Artemis	Diana	Virgin goddess of the hunt, wilderness, wild animals, childbirth and plague. In later times she became associated with the moon.
Athena	Minerva	Goddess of wisdom
Demeter	Ceres	Goddess of grain/crops
Dionysus	Bacchus	God of wine
Eros	Cupid	God of love
Hades	Pluto	God of underworld
Hecate	Trivia	Goddess of witchcraft, crossroads, and justice
Helios	Sol	The sun God
Hephaestus	Vulcan	God of fire, and the forge
Hera	Juno	Queen of the Gods
Hermes	Mercury	Messenger of the Gods
Nike	Victoria	Goddess of victory
Pan	Faunus	God of woods and pastures
Poseidon	Neptune	God of the sea
Zeus	Jupiter	King of Gods

Chart: the differences between the Gods of Roman and Greek Mythology

This chart comes from diffen.com and has helped me draw some conclusions as to what the differences between the Greek and Roman myths were.

Description	Gods in Greek Mythology, i.e. the collection of stories or myths of the ancient Greeks about their gods, heroes and the natural world.	Gods in Roman mythology, i.e. the mythological beliefs about gods in the city of Ancient Rome.
Time period	Iliad distributed 700 years before the Roman civilization. No exact date for start of civilization.	Came 1000 years after the Greeks.
Literary source	Greek myths chronicled in the book the Illiad by Homer.	Roman myths chronicled in the book Aeneid.
Origin of mythology	Not known.	Many Roman gods borrowed from Greek mythology and myths of Roman creation from Greeks.
Nature of gods	Gods and goddesses based on human personality traits such as Love, Honor, Hatred, Dignity, as well as their roles in life determined by what they were god of, like: Zeus:Sky/weather, Hades: The underworld, Poseidon: Sea, Aquatics, etc.	Deities named after objects rather than human personality traits.
Afterlife	Importance of the physical life on earth rather than eventuality of the afterlife.	Mortals did good deeds on earth to be rewarded in the afterlife. They strove to gain their place among the gods in heaven in the afterlife.
Traits	As gods were based on human traits they each had characteristics that determined their actions.	Gods and goddesses not gender specific so their individual characteristics were not central to the myths.
Role of mortals	Deities were important for the progression of life but mortals were just as important as it was their contribution in society that in the end mattered.	Myths rooted in brave, heroic deeds of gods not mortals as mortal life was not important after death.
Actions of mortals and gods	Individualistic: actions of the individual were of more consequences than actions of the group.	Not individualistic.
Revered traits	Creativity more important than physical works. They revered the poet.	Focused on actions rather than words. They revered the warrior as sacred.
Physical forms	Greek gods had beautiful bodies where gorgeous muscles, eyes and hair would enhance their looks.	Gods did not have a physical appearance – represented only in the imagination of the people.