73 pages • 2 hours read
Rick RiordanThe Hammer of Thor
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Myth and Modern Day
Riordan is the author of several fantasy series incorporating world mythologies, and all of them are set in the same story universe. The Magnus Chase series integrates Norse myth into modern-day settings and takes place during the events of other series. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is Riordan’s first series, and it sets the tone for both how Riordan deals with myth and the modern-day influence on each group of deities. Magnus Chase takes place after the events of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and during the events of Riordan’s two other series involving the Greek gods—The Heroes of Olympus and The Trials of Apollo. Specifically, The Hammer of Thor takes place during The Trials of Apollo, as referenced in the final chapter when Annabeth describes a Greek god who’s fallen to Earth as a mortal. Annabeth believes her current troubles will be dealt with by Midsummer (when Magnus and his friends will battle Loki), suggesting that the third book in the Magnus Chase series will take place after one or both of the Greek gods series have wrapped up.
Riordan brings a contemporary feel to ancient myths through humor and by mystically transporting the godly realms to different cities in the United States. The Greek and Egyptian gods (of the Kane Chronicles) reside in New York City, while the Norse gods have made a new home in Boston. In New York, the Empire State Building serves as the entrance to Mount Olympus, and similarly, Magnus accesses Valhalla through a seemingly normal townhouse in an expensive neighborhood of Boston. Riordan also models the Nine Worlds after different Boston neighborhoods. In The Sword of Summer, Magnus travels to Nidavellir (the dwarven realm), which resembles Southie (Boston’s south side), and Alfheim in The Hammer of Thor reminds Magnus of Boston’s upper-class neighborhoods, such as Wellesley. Individual establishments also mirror one another across the worlds, such as Thrym’s bar, which bears a strong resemblance to the Bull and Finch Pub, the real-life Boston bar upon which the bar in the television show Cheers was based.
Cultural Context: Representation and Diversity
The characters of the Magnus Chase series come from a variety of backgrounds and identify in different ways. Sam is both a Muslim woman and a Valkyrie, meaning she subscribes to two very different religious belief systems. While Islam is her dominant religion, she does not shun the Norse gods, and to fit the polytheistic Norse religion into the idea that there is only one true god, Allah, she views the Norse gods as powerful entities who may have been created by Allah.
Islam is often stereotyped as a violent religion, typically due to cultural biases that label people from the Middle East as terrorists, but Islam is widely considered a religion built on peace, where the greater struggle is that of internal conflict and the lesser struggle is the defense of one’s home and beliefs against outside forces. Despite the turmoil of her different lives, Sam finds peace in prayer, and she does irreparable harm only if she sees no other path forward. Islam is also stereotyped as a religion where women are oppressed because they are “forced” to cover their heads, but the hijab headscarf is a personal choice and not required. Sam chooses to wear a hijab, partly because her cloth has mystical abilities, but also because doing so is part of her faith. She also trains to be a pilot, showing that she is extremely intelligent and allowed to direct her own future. Sam’s family follows the cultural practice of arranged marriage, which stereotypes frame as “outdated.” In the process of choosing a match for Sam, her family takes great care to select someone she approves of, and she and Amir are both in love and in full support of one another.
The Magnus Chase series also showcases issues of identity through several characters. Sam’s identity as a Muslim woman has a great impact on who she is and the decisions she makes. Being Muslim is a choice for Sam, but for Alex, being gender-fluid is just who she is. While she identifies as female more often than male, Alex is mostly just herself with the same personality, humor, and care for her friends no matter how she currently identifies. Many stereotypes of the LGTBQ+ population paint people who don’t identify as straight and cisgender as somehow different or “other,” but Alex is a person, same as Sam or Magnus. She is more than her identity or preferred pronouns, as Riordan shows by her realistic emotions and reactions.
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