American Gods Codexery

Gungnir

Wednesday's spear, broken by Thor, remade from a new World Tree, and finally turned against him.

Gungnir is Mr. Wednesday's spear in the TV series American Gods. In the second season Wednesday sends the Jinn to find it, and the Jinn and Salim obtain it from Iktomi, who also gives them a tiny sapling. Flashbacks show how it was broken: Wednesday's son Donar, the god Thor, broke Odin's spear with his hammer, Mjölnir.

Quick Facts

Wielder
Mr. Wednesday (Odin)

Lore & Background

Wednesday plants a new Yggdrasil from Iktomi's sapling in Cairo, Illinois. Alvíss, King of the Dwarves, says the spear's runes must be repaired; after Shadow and Wednesday swindle Lou Reed's signed leather jacket for the dwarves, the runemaster Dvalinn crafts the runes on Gungnir, and Wednesday repairs the spear with a branch of the new Yggdrasil. When Mad Sweeney tries to kill Wednesday with it, Shadow grabs the spear, Sweeney falls on it, and Sweeney magics Gungnir into the Otherworld hoard where he keeps his coins.

Reader's Guide

In the third season Mr. World offers to help Laura find the lost spear, and the leprechaun Liam Doyle retrieves it for her. With the luck of Sweeney's coin behind the throw, Laura kills Wednesday with Gungnir at his meeting with Mr. World. In Neil Gaiman's novel, by contrast, a branch taken from the World Tree turns into a spear when Laura stabs Loki with it.

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