An amulet depicting Thor’s hammer, Mjollnir, which he wielded with devastating effect against his foes in Norse mythology
GETTY IMAGES
Star quality Old Norse poetry celebrated the exploits of figures such as the warrior Hogni, shown here having his heart cut out in a 12th-century carving in a Norwegian church
AKG-IMAGES
The poetry is marked by verbal ingenuity, imaginative invention and sheer, varied humanity