Gungnir Meaning: Odin's Spear and the 'Never Misses' Myth

September 27, 2026 AURYN Editorial

Gungnir is Odin's spear in Old Norse mythology. The claim most often repeated about it, that it never misses its target, is not what the medieval source says. In Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the spear's virtue is that it "would never stop in its thrust". The promise of never missing belongs to a different treasure in the same story: Thor's hammer, Mjölnir.

Where Gungnir comes from

The story is told in Skáldskaparmál, part of the Prose Edda written in Iceland in the thirteenth century. After Loki cuts off the hair of Sif, Thor's wife, he goes to the dwarfs known as the Sons of Ivaldi, who make three treasures: new golden hair for Sif, the folding ship Skíðblaðnir for Freyr, and a spear, Gungnir, for Odin.

Loki then wagers his head that two other dwarfs, Brokkr and his brother, cannot make treasures as fine. They produce the golden boar Gullinbursti, the ring Draupnir and the hammer Mjölnir, and the gods judge the hammer the greatest of all the gifts.

What the Edda actually says

When Loki presents the first three treasures, he describes the virtue of each. In Arthur Brodeur's 1916 translation, the spear "would never stop in its thrust". Later in the same scene, Mjölnir is described as a hammer that would never fail however hard Thor struck, would never miss when thrown and would always return to his hand.

Read side by side, the two descriptions are clearly different. Gungnir cannot be stopped; Mjölnir cannot miss. The popular idea of a never-missing spear seems to come from blending the two.

The spear of Odin

Odin is closely associated with a spear throughout Old Norse poetry, and Snorri describes him riding out at Ragnarök with Gungnir in his hand. The meaning of the name is uncertain; it is often explained as "the swaying one", but translators differ, so it is safest to keep the Old Norse name.

Is Gungnir a rune?

No. Gungnir is a mythological weapon, not a letter of either runic alphabet. A Gungnir design is a stylised spear or a modern emblem inspired by it; see our guide to rune meanings for the runes themselves, and the Valknut for another Odinic motif.