The Urnes Hammer by Paul Borda depicts the most famous example of this type of carving from a stave church originally located in Urnes, Norway. The design is known for being lacy and fluid with lots of negative space. It was the last pure Viking style before Christianity arrived and its influence transformed Scandinavian art work.

Thor's Hammer is properly named Mjöllnir, the hammer of the god Thor. The hammer has become a symbol often worn by folk of Scandinavian ancestry or by Asatru, Heathens and other Neo-pagans who honor the old Scandinavian gods. In Norse Mythology, Thor's hammer, Mjollnir, enabled Thor to "strike as firmly as he wanted, whatever his aim, and the hammer would never fail, and if he threw it at something, it would never miss and never fly so far from his hand that it would not find its way back, and when he wanted, it would be so small that it could be carried inside his tunic."