Hey everyone, welcome to another installment of Mythology Explained. In today’s video,
we’re going to cover the myth of how Thor’s hammer - and many other treasures - were made.
The impetus for this tale centered on Thor’s wife, Sif, and her radiant golden hair. Loki,
ever the trickster, performed a prank by shearing the radiant locks from Sifs head. When news
of this reached Thor, he was thrown into a rage. He caught Loki and threatened to throttle
and pulverize him. The prospect of being beaten to a pulp struck fear into Loki’s heart,
but he was able to placate Thork by assuring him he would travel to the realm of the dwarves
and have them craft a new head of hair for his bald wife.
Fortunately for Loki, the sons of the dwarf Ivaldi had the prowess to follow through on
what was promised by Loki’s honeyed-tongue. But a new head of hair fashioned for Thor’s
wife wasn’t the only marvel created: Skidbladnir (meaning assembled from thin pieces of wood),
the best ship in all the nine realms was created. It’s sails were always pregnant with wind,
and such was its make that it could be folded up so that one could keep it in their pocket.
The third marvel wrought by the sons of Ivaldi was the mighty spear Gungnir, which would
become Odin’s choice weapon.
Though Loki had completed his task, he did not elect to make a prompt return, deciding
instead to linger in the subterranean labyrinth that was the dwarves’ home. After wandering
many tunnels, Loki came upon two dwarves: Brokk and Eitri, meaning, respectively, “spark-sprayer''
and “metalworker”. Loki taunted the two dwarves, gibing and jeering that they did
not possess sufficient skill to craft works that could better, let alone equal, those
made by the sons of Ivaldi. To really goad them, he even bet his head, such was his certainty
that they would fail. Though the ploy was petty and relied on base manipulation, it
still managed to incense the dwarf brothers into accepting the wager, launching them into
action.
To disrupt the efforts of the two dwarves, Loki transformed himself into a fly to pester
them while they worked. Loki bit Brokk’s hand while he worked the bellows, but it was
in vain. From the flames was pulled a golden-haired boar imbued with the vigor of life. The boar’s
name was Gullinbursti (meaning “Golden-bristled''), and he burned away the dark by emitting light;
and there wasn’t a horse alive that could match his stride, whether in water, over land,
or flying through the air.
Loki bit Brokk on the neck a second time, but again his attempt to distract proved vain.
Draupnir, a splendid gold ring, was pulled from the mouth of the forge. The ring was
magic and would reproduce eight of itself every ninth night.
Loki - who was growing more desperate, for he did not want to lose his head - went about
his third attempt to distract the dwarf brothers with more determination. This third object
was the most difficult undertaking of the three and, as such, had the narrowest margin
for error. At the outset, Loki bit Brokk’s eyelid, which caused blood to trickle into
his eye, impairing his sight and preventing him from being able to perfectly see what
he was working on. This time, a mighty hammer of unparalleled splendor and majesty was drawn
out. The hammer was said to always strike true and to always return to the wielder after
being thrown. Despite all this, though, the hammer was imperfect, for the haft was stunted,
being too short. However, such was the magnificence of the hammer that not even a short haft could
mar it.
Having successfully crafted three wonders that surpassed those made by the sons of Ivaldi,
the two dwarves were eager to journey to Asgard to claim the prize they were owed, the severed
head of one trickster god.
Loki and Brokk made haste back to Asgard so that the treasures could be presented. Odin,
Thor, and Frey sat in judgement. Thor was given the hammer Mjollnir and the finely wrought
golden hair for his wife; Frey received the boat and the boar; and Odin was given the
spear and the ring.
The gods were filled with gratitude, but they also felt there to be a debt owed. However,
Loki, slippery as an eel, was able to forestall his fate of decapitation by pointing out a
small caveat inherent within the bargain. He said that the dwarves could have his head
but that their bargain gave no claim over his neck. Unable to remove Loki’s head without
cutting through his neck, the two dwarves were foiled; however, they were soon mollified
by the consolation of sewing Loki’s mouth shut.
And that’s it for this video! If you enjoyed it please like the video and subscribe to
the channel.
Until next time
Remember
Where you recognize evil, speak out against it, and give your enemies no peace