The creation of Mjolnir, legendary hammer of the Norse God Thor. One of the most famous
weapons from all mythology, the lightning hammer came to Thor via, as is often the case,
another mischievous act of the God Loki. But who actually forged the magical weapon, and
how did it end up with Thor? Let’s find out together, right now.
One day, Loki the trickster found himself in an especially mischievous mood and decided
to cut off the gorgeous golden hair of Sif, the wife of Thor. Because, why not.
As you may expect, Thor wasn’t best pleased, and nor I imagine was poor Sif come to think
of it. The thunder god raged and grabbed hold of Loki, threatening to break every bone in
his body. Loki pleaded with Thor to allow him to travel to Svartalfheim, the home of
renowned master craftspeople the Dwarves, to see if they could create a new head of
hair for Sif, one even more beautiful than before.
This appeased Thor for the moment and he allowed Loki to make the journey. He approached the
sons of the Dwarf Ivaldi, who were able to not only forge a magnificent new thread of
hair, but also the best ship ever created, named Skidbaldnir, that could be folded up
and put into your pocket, and Gungnir, the deadliest of all spears.
Pleased with himself and with the hair secured, Loki decided he could afford a bit more fun
this day. He approached the Dwarven brothers Brokkr and Sindri and began taunting them,
claiming there was no way they could forge anything the equal of the three creations
the sons of Ivaldi had just made. He even went so far as to bet his own head on their
lack of ability. The dwarves were proud people and they immediately
accepted the challenge. Lighting the forge, the brothers set to work.
All of a sudden, a fly, who of course was the God Loki transformed, stung the hand of
Sindri as he worked. When the dwarf pulled his creation out of the fire, it was a living
boar with golden hair. It gave off light in the dark and could run faster than any horse,
through water or air. They named it Gullinbursti. Setting another piece of gold on the fire,
the fly next bit Brokkr on the neck as he worked the bellows. This time however, Sindri
drew out a magnificent ring that on every ninth night going forwards, eight new golden
rings would fall from it of equal weight. The ring was called Draupnir.
For the final item, Sindri placed iron on the hearth and told his brother that for this
next piece, they could not afford any more mistakes. Loki however had other plans, desperate
to ensure he did not lose the bet and therefore his head.
He stung the eyelid of Brokkr immediately, the blood that followed blocking his eyesight
and preventing him from properly seeing his work. Sindri however was able to still produce
a hammer of unsurpassed quality. A hammer that never missed its mark and that would
also boomerang back to its owner after being thrown. But despite its power, it still had
one flaw thanks to the efforts of Loki. The handle was too short.
Sindri lamented that this had almost ruined the hammer, the hammer that we know as Mjolnir.
Nevertheless, the Dwarves were satisfied that despite the errors caused by the fly, the
three items they had created were of immense enough quality to win the challenge. With
Loki gone, they made their way to Asgard to claim their prize.
Loki however was able to beat them there, and present as gifts the items he had received
from the Dwarves. To Thor, he gave the new lock of hair and the mighty hammer. Odin received
the ring and the powerful spear and Freya was overjoyed to receive the fiery boar and
majestic ship. As pleased and grateful as the Gods were to
receive these gifts, they nevertheless agreed that Loki had lost the challenge and owed
his head to the dwarves. As the brothers approached Loki with their knives out ready to claim
their victory, the cunning god swiftly pointed out that although he had promised his head,
he had not promised his neck. After much debate, the Dwarves contented themselves with sewing
Loki’s mouth shut, and returned to their forge.
A great example of the chaos of Loki, and another myth where his mischievous ways lead
to an important moment in the wider Norse cosmos. This time, the creation of Mjolnir
and it’s passing to Thor. A potent combination that would go on to become one of the best
known in all of history, mythology and literature.