Thor, the Eyrerland Statue, the National Museum of Iceland.

This is the actual statuette, the Eyrerland Statue of Thor, housed at the National Museum of Iceland. Believed to be of the Nordic god Thor holding Mjöllnir, Thor's hammer.

I was given permission to photograph this unique artwork and place it in the context of being a house god, set in the niche of a wall in a Viking long house. It is made of bronze, 6.7cm high. It was discovered on a farm in the North of Iceland near Akureyri and is a rare piece of Viking art. It may depict a comic scene from the Poetic Edda story of Thor in which this down to earth deity attends a giant's wedding to recover his stolen hammer. Among his many attributes, he was called upon at weddings to bless the bride.