Thor's gavel

Thor's gavel (Icelandic: Þórshamar), also known as Ásmundarnautur, is a ceremonial gavel, designed by sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson,[1] and originally given by Iceland and delivered to the General Assembly of the United Nations by ambassador Thor Thors in 1952.[2] It is engraved with the phrase "Society must be built on the basis of laws" (Icelandic: Með lögum skal land byggja) in both Icelandic and Latin.[3] It is used by the President of the United Nations General Assembly and at the end of the General Assembly the gavel is ceremoniously passed from the current President to the next President.[4][5]

Thor's gavel
Icelandic: Þórshamar,
Icelandic: Ásmundarnautur
Thor's gavel in 2018
ArtistÁsmundur Sveinsson
Year1952 (1952)
DesignationGavel
LocationNew York, New York, U.S.
OwnerGeneral Assembly of the United Nations

The first version of the gavel was used until 12 October 1960 when Assembly President Frederick Boland slammed it down so hard that the head broke of and went flying during Nikita Khrushchev's shoe-banging incident.[4][6]

An exact copy of the gavel, made by Jón Benediktsson, was given to the United Nations in 1961[7] and served the General Assembly until its disappearance in 2005.[8][9]

The third edition of the gavel was made by Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir (Sigga á Grund) and given to the UN in 2005.[10][11][12] During the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, the gavel broke once again.[4]

References
  1. "Víkingar sem biðja friðarbæna". Dagblaðið (in Icelandic). 22 October 1975. p. 14. Retrieved 24 September 2023 – via Tímarit.is.open access
  2. "Ásmundarnautur á sínum stað á allsherjarþingi SÞ". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  3. "Fundarhamar SÞ er íslenskur". Frjáls verslun (in Icelandic). No. 3. 2007. p. 68. Retrieved 24 September 2023 – via Tímarit.is.open access
  4. "Íslenski hamarinn í New York fór í sundur". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 23 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  5. "Presidential Handing over of the Gavel: 77th -78th Session UN General Assembly". United Nations. 5 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023 – via Youtube.
  6. A.I. Goldberg (25 November 1960). "Boland has many gavels since October's Big 'Bang'". The Baltimore Sun. Associated Press. p. 2. Retrieved 24 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.open access
  7. "Vildi að Ásmundur fengi höfundarlaunin". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 21 September 2005. p. 6. Retrieved 24 September 2023 – via Tímarit.is.open access
  8. "Keeping order in the General Assembly: The strange saga of how a Viking gavel was broken, then lost, then carved again". United Nations. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  9. "Iceland to replace UN gavel". The Kingston Whig-Standard. 15 September 1961. p. 25. Retrieved 24 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.open access
  10. Höskuldur Daði Magnússon (11 May 2023). "Sigga á Grund óvænt í stóru hlutverki á leiðtogafundinum". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  11. "Davíð afhenti nýjan fundarhamar". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 21 September 2005. p. 6. Retrieved 24 September 2023 – via Tímarit.is.open access
  12. Björn Jóhann Björnsson (20 September 2005). "Eftirlíking af hamrinum sem brotnaði undir ræðu Krústsjovs". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). p. 52. Retrieved 24 September 2023 – via Tímarit.is.open access
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