Thor gives us static.

When we talk about the universal functions of electricity, which runs everything from the cognition in your brain to the internet, we are on a supernatural level talking about Thor. The charges that hold atoms together are an operating principle wrought by Thor's power, so the extension of Thor's role as a protector is that he keeps the all the matter that Midgard is constructed of together so that we may exist upon it in the first place.

The resurrection of Thor's goats from death brought about by the hammer is in a sense a doubled Frankenstein's monster moment (well, really it's temporally the other way around as Shelley's Romanticism/Enlightenment-inspired fiction came far after) where on an atomic level Thor's electric charge re-coheres & reconstructs the dead matter of Tanngrisnir & Tanngnjóstr using his hammer. (This godly feat could also be an electrically-based particle acceleration to produce a directed time-reversing effect, but that's a wayyyy longer discussion.)

The spiritual ritual binding of two people using a hammer is from Þrymskviða, specifically the disguised-as-Freyja Thor and the jötunn Þrymr, may also be a representation of the electrical attraction & bonded oathing within marriage. The narrative's same hammer is immediately used to discharge the Thor-Þrymr marriage, and this could be a representation of charged objects of the same polarity suddenly repelling each other. Electrical discharge can also be what kills every giant in the room at the end of this not-so-blessed event.

This brings us to the archeological record of many amber-made Thor's hammer necklaces:

[find from Wolin, Poland]

Given that metal is a superior material in terms of lacking amber's brittleness, and more correctly matches Sindri & Brokkr's forged weapon, this begs the question as to why amber was ever used as a representation. Sure, it's pretty & lighter, maybe even evocative of the Scandinavian homeland given the Baltic's large trading supply of amber. Yet the other hidden reason would be amber's electrostatic effect from rubbing on wool & fur, which were common Viking clothing materials:

The electrostatic effect through frictional rubbing sometimes produces a tiny visible spark just like a very small version of lightning, which is precisely where this material use as Thor's hammer pendants probably comes from.

Philologically the word amber comes from "elektron", where the charged particle electron in (almost) all atoms derives from.

Amber also sometimes has dead things preserved in it from the point of when it was a softer tree resin, so having the association with Thor as a resurrection-capable deity may also further this connection. (Can you now also hear the Jurassic Park video voice to Norseplay "Dragon DNA" instead?)

These hammer pendants' static charge is the small physical effect where Thor manifests most closely to its wearer, which explains the choice of amber for decorative Mjolnirs.

[amber charge diagram from Lumen Learning.]

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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology,  field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.