Thor's Gauntlets

Thor's Gauntlets
Type	Gauntlets
Found	2008 Niflheim, Mediterranean Sea (first one) Croft Manor, England (second one)
Game(s)	Tomb Raider Underworld
Level Found	Niflheim Protected by the Dead

Thor's Gauntlets (also known under the name Járngreipr) are two artefacts playing an important role in Tomb Raider Underworld. Lara finds the two gloves one in Niflheim and the other underneath Croft Manor, brought there by her father.

Lara discovers that the power of the gloves, which enables her to move seemingly large objects of a certain material, is not endless and that to use them permanently they have to be recharged. She discovers that she needs Thor's Belt, Megingjord, for this purpose. This coincides with the legend that Thor needed the gauntlets and his belt to wield his war hammer Mjolnir.

It was said that Thor could only wield Mjolnir by wearing a special pair of iron gauntlets. The gauntlet I discovered in Niflheim could very well be the source of this myth. Most of the gauntlet itself crumbled to the touch, but the carved knot of stone and metal in its center was undamaged by age. It extended metal tendrils and conformed to the dimensions of my hand perfectly. Clearly this is the ancient source of power of the artifact and the rest of the gauntlet was added separately later.

Lara's Journal Entry

Discovery

Lara finds the first of Thor's gauntlets in the Mediterranean. Following a hint given by Professor Eddington, an old friend of her father, Lara travels to an unexplored island in the Mediterranean to find an underwater ruin. There she has to fight a Kraken to open the doors into the inner sanctum of Niflheim. On a pedestal she can find a glove-shaped artefact floating in a blue haze. When Lara touches the glove, it crumbles to pieces, leaving only a tiny device intact. She places it on the back of her left hand and the artefact wraps around her hand, matching her size perfectly, and as we later learn permanently.

She is then attacked by a group of mercenaries and the glove is stolen from her. Lara can however track them to a freighter ship on which she can listen in on a conversation her former friend Amanda Evert is having with Lara's long-time adversary Jacqueline Natla. Amanda is complaining that the gauntlet won't fit her hand and Natla tells her that it can only be worn by Lara now and that even killing her would probably not unbind the artefact.

After escaping the sinking ship, Lara gets into a position where she can shoot at Amanda hanging from a helicopter. To stop Lara from shooting her, Amanda throws the useless gauntlet into the ocean from which Lara then retrieves it.

The second gauntlet, which was originally in Thailand, was found by Richard James Croft and brought to a secret chamber underneath Croft Manor. He left a hidden message to Lara in Thailand by using the initials RJC, which were commonly used by her grandfather, not by her father though. Exploring the tomb of her grandfather in the Family Crypt Lara finds a secret entrance to the catacombs underneath the manor and finally a way into the secret chamber. There she finds a tape recording by her father, a few documents he left Lara, along with the second gauntlet. Lara places the gauntlet on her right hand. The gauntlet helps her getting out of the secret chamber but soon after is drained of its powers.

Appearance

Iron gloves, which crumble by touch but adjust perfectly to fit the bearer's hand. Have Norse engravings that glow blue light when activated.

Powers

The gauntlets allow the wearer to wield Mjolnir, Thor's hammer. Without them it would be rendered useless as its impossible to use otherwise. The gauntlets also bestow appearingly enhanced strength, though in reality the gauntlets react with a certain type of rock making the mass of the rock incredibly less, thus enabling the wearer to move what appears to be colossal amounts of weight. When the gauntlets react with the rock, they and the rock give of a blue glow and a smooth humming noise.

However in the game, the gauntlets seem to work more as insulated gloves to the hammer's powers, rather than sustaining its weight, as Lara can easily host it in her backpack, proving it is not so heavy.

Lara uses them several times in the game to move heavy objects, some of the entrances and exits of temples Lara visits can only be moved with the gauntlets.

Historical Precedent

According to the Norse mythology, in Prose Edda the Járngreipr are described to be the iron gloves of god Thor. Also, Prose Edda indicates a reason for Thor needing the Járngreipr to wield his hammer: when the hammer was being forged, the dwarf working with the bellows was bitten in his eye by a gadfly which caused the handle of the hammer to be shortened.

Gallery

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  in ancient glove form

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  Thor's Gauntlet

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  The Gauntlet activated

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  Gauntlet hidden underneath the Manor

Related Articles

• Thor's Hammer

The weapon wielded with the gauntlets

• Thor's Belt

Source of power for the gauntlets

• Thor

Mighty god in the Norse mythology, the bearer of the three major artefacts in Tomb Raider Underworld