#mjolnir

Thor awoke one morning to find that the hammer Mjolnir, given to him by Loki, had been stolen.  Seeking aid, Thor appealed first to Loki, who was both his dearest friend and the god most capable of solving problems.  Loki suspected the thief had been a Jotunn, so he volunteered to fly through Jotunheimr, to seek out Thor’s hammer.  Thor supported the idea, so he accompanied Loki to Freya to ask to borrow her falcon cloak.  With Freya’s approval, Loki donned the cloak and set off to Jotunheimr to find Thor’s hammer.

As he flew over Jotunheimr, Loki noticed Trymr, a Jotunn prince whom he suspected.  Trymr asked Loki how the gods and alfs were faring, and why Loki was in Jotunheimr.  Loki informed Trymr that things were not well for the gods, and proceeded to ask Trymr if he had taken Thor’s hammer.  The Jotunn admitted to the theft, but he had buried Thor’s hammer many miles beneath the ground, so no one could retrieve it but Trymr himself.  Trymr would return Thor’s hammer if the goddess Freya came to his kingdom to be his bride.

Loki returned to Asgard with the news, and on hearing it, Freya became so furious that her necklace Brisingamen broke.  She did not want to marry Trymr, and the other gods would not want to lose Freya either.  A meeting was held among the gods to decide how to proceed.  They needed Thor’s hammer for the power it granted them over Asgard’s enemies, but they did not want to give up Freya.  Then Heimdallr suggested that since the hammer was Thor’s property, Thor should be the one to wed Trymr to retrieve it.  All gods but Thor agreed with the idea.

The gods dressed Thor in a wedding dress, strapping two round stones to his chest to resemble breasts.  They then covered his face with a wedding veil.  Loki volunteered to accompany Thor as his maid, in both solidarity and in case his skills were needed to resolve more trouble.  In addition, Thor’s deep voice was certain to give him away, so he needed someone to speak for him.  The details of Loki’s disguise were not mentioned in detail, but I think that since Loki is a shape-shifter capable of changing into anything, Loki had no need for a crude disguise like Thor’s.  Instead of trying to look like a woman, I imagine he simply transformed himself into a woman.

Thor and Loki, dressed for the wedding, journeyed to Jotunheimr, proclaiming themselves to be Freya and her maid.  Trymr was very excited that his bride had indeed come, and the celebration began immediately.  But Thor’s appetite was anything but ladylike, and he consumed an entire ox himself.  Trymr wondered at why Freya would have such an appetite, and Loki quickly answered that Freya had been so excited for the wedding that she had not eaten for the past eight days.  Trymr was satisfied with the explanation, and lifted Thor’s veil to see his eyes.  Thor’s eyes were bloodshot and fierce, and Trymr, startled, wondered why Freya had such eyes.  Loki explained that Freya had been so excited for the wedding that she had not slept for the past eight days either.

As the ceremony progressed, the hammer was finally brought out to be presented to Freya (who was really Thor) as a bridal gift.  It was at this time that Trymr’s sister approached Thor and demanded he give her a present to win her favour.  Thor smiled as the hammer was set in his lap, having his weapon returned, and he proceeded to slay Trymr and his sister, and probably also the other wedding guests.  With the hammer returned and the Jotunn thief dealt a harsh justice, Thor and Loki returned to Asgard.

Sif, the fellow Aesir whom Thor had married, possessed beautiful, long, golden hair.  Both Thor and Sif were extremely proud of this lovely hair; Sif for the beauty it afforded her, and Thor for being associated with a wife of great beauty.  Loki, in his role as a trickster, lived to introduce chaos where there was order, doubt where there was none, and humility where there was pride.  In Loki’s mind, the pride over Sif’s hair warranted a lesson in humility.

While Sif slept one night, Loki stole into her chambers and cut all of her hair from her head.  Loki was subtle in his movements, so Sif did not wake until the morning as she naturally did.

When she woke and realised her hair was gone, Sif was devastated.  When Thor returned home to find his wife without her hair, his blood boiled with rage toward the obvious culprit, Loki.

As was common in his life, Loki was threatened with various horrific fates, as punishment for his actions.  Always one to talk his way out of trouble though, Loki assured Thor he could correct the situation.  More than that, he would make Sif’s hair even more golden and beautiful than before.  Thor agreed to the offer, and so Loki went on his way, having escaped a terrible punishment yet again.

Loki travelled to Svartalfheimr and commissioned a group of Dvergues, the sons of Ivaldi, with the task of forging a crown of hair for Sif.  Loki specified that it needed to be golden like the sun, and to grow like normal hair.  The Dvergues made the crown for Loki, and then Loki further enlisted their help to make great gifts that would endear Loki to the Aesir, and help them to forget about the hair-cutting fiasco.  Loki was a constant target for animosity, even when he acted just as the gods dictated, so this time he would do much more than had been asked of him.  He would bring much more than just Sif’s hair.

In addition to the hair, the Dvergues had made two special items.  The first was Gungnir, a finely crafted spear that Loki presented to Odin.  The second, presented to Freyr, was Skidbladnir: the finest of all ships, which could be folded like cloth and stored in a pocket.  These gifts were great, but Loki saw a chance to gain even more gifts for no cost at all.

Sindri was a Dvergue thought by most to be the finest craftsman in all the world’s tree.  Loki approached Sindri’s brother Brokkr, boasting that no one could craft anything so fine as the works he had gained from the sons of Ivaldi (Gungnir, Skidbladnir, and Sif’s crown of hair).  Brokkr challenged Loki that his brother could do better, and so a wage was made.  If Sindri could craft a weapon finer than Gungnir, a transport faster than Skidbladnir, and an accessory more beautiful than Sif’s hair, then Brokkr would have Loki’s head.

Sindri placed a golden swine skin on the furnace, and instructed Brokkr to work the bellows until he returned.  Loki, not wishing to lose his head, went to the forge as a gadfly, and attempted to make Sindri’s work flawed by biting Brokkr on the arm.  Brokkr did not falter, and the resulting gift was a golden boar called Gullinbursti.  Sindri placed red gold on the furnace, and gave Brokkr the same instructions.  Loki tried biting harder, but to no avail.  Sindri removed from the fire a beautiful arm ring called Draupnir, which would replicate every nine nights.  He then placed iron on the furnace, and left Brokkr with the same words.  Brokkr held to his task fairly well, but when the gadfly Loki bit him on the eyelid, the resulting blood obscured his vision for a moment, so the last gift was partially flawed.  The last gift was Mjolnir, soon to be Thor’s famous hammer.  It’s flaw was a shortened handle, so that it could only be held by one hand, and not two.

Gullinbursti was presented to Freyr, Draupnir to Odin, and Mjolnir to Thor.  Loki had succeeded in gaining three free gifts for the gods, but unfortunately for him, the works of Sindri were judged to be better than those forged by the sons of Ivaldi.  That meant that Loki’s head was forfeit.  Ever the clever wordsmith, Loki reasoned that there was no way he could give them his head.  After all, in order to cut off the head, the neck would also be damaged.  The neck was not part of the bargain – only the head – so it was impossible for them to obtain Loki’s head.

Sindri and Brokkr were forced to admit they could not take Loki’s head, as per the agreement.  However, they were far from pleased for being cheated in such a way, so in retribution, they sewed Loki’s lips together.  Loki pulled the thread out, but his lips were scarred from the act.  For this, Loki is often referred to as “Scar Lip”.

Loki was only ever obligated to replace Sif’s hair, but in the end, he had done far more.  In addition to restoring Sif’s hair, more beautiful than before, Loki also gained for the gods Odin’s spear Gungnir, Freyr’s ship Skidbladnir, Freyr’s golden boar Gullinbursti, Odin’s ring Draupnir, and most importantly, Thor’s hammer Mjolnir.  Loki had been mischievous in cutting Sif’s hair, but he had proceeded to go to great lengths as well as pains to redeem himself, replacing what was lost and gaining significantly more for Asgard.

By the time the war between the Aesir and Vanir had ended, Asgard’s walls had sustained significant damage.  With the defences as they were, Asgard was vulnerable to attack by any of its enemies, most notably the Jotunn.  It was at this time that a man arrived, seated atop a fine white stallion, who volunteered to rebuild the shattered walls.  He boasted that his walls would be the strongest in all the world’s tree.

Such a claim would not be easy to accomplish, and the gods feared such a task would not be easy to afford either.  On asking, they found the man's price was Freya’s hand in marriage, the sun, and the moon.  It was an outrageous demand.  Furthermore, Freya was one of the Vanir hostages, living with the Aesir as per the terms of the recent war’s treaty.  Handing one of the hostages off to an unnamed stranger was not likely to promote good relations with the Vanir.

But Loki, skilled in avoiding payment (especially to the dwarves who had built Mjolnir), introduced a shrewd plan to the Aesir.  They would limit the man to only three years, and the man would not be allowed any help.  If the man did not finish the wall in those three years, as was surely impossible anyway, he would have failed to keep his end of the bargain, so the gods would not be required to pay.  Even if the walls were not completely rebuilt, to have even a small portion rebuilt for free was ideal.

When presented with the terms of this agreement, the man agreed, on the condition that he be allowed the use of his horse, Svadilfari.  The gods were initially confident that they would gain a wall for free, but in the months during which the wall was being built, it soon became apparent that they had been wrong to make such a deal.  With the help of Svadilfari, the man was completing the walls at an alarming rate, and it was clear he would indeed be finished within the three year limit.

The gods were unwilling to part with Freya, the sun, and the moon, so they demanded that Loki find a solution for them to avoid payment.  The plan had originally been Loki’s, even if the other gods had agreed to it, so Loki was the one blamed for the situation.  If he did not find them a way out of the deal, the gods threatened, Loki would be tortured and killed under the brunt of their rage.  Furthermore, the Aesir had an image to maintain, so whatever solution Loki employed, it had to be one that maintained the farce that the gods were treating the deal fairly.

Killing the mason or his horse, or worming out of the deal with words and loopholes would only make the gods appear dishonourable, so Loki was limited in what he could do.  But Loki’s cunning had never met an obstacle it could not overcome.  He took the form of a mare to draw the man’s horse away from the construction.  On seeing the beautiful mare, the stallion Svadilfari immediately reared up, broke free from the cart to which he was attached, and ran off after the mare.

The mason searched for his horse all night, but to no avail.  He eventually returned to the wall, attempting to complete the task himself.  But without his horse, he could not complete the wall in time.  The gods informed the mason that since he had not completed the task, he would not be paid.  The man had been foiled by his own horse’s lust, so there was no way he could blame the gods for breaking the deal.

The gods attempted to dismiss the man without his pay, but the man was frustrated at his loss.  He revealed himself to be a Jotunn in disguise, and began to smash up all he could in his rage.  Surrounded by gods though, he was ultimately defeated by Thor’s hammer Mjolnir.  Loki returned some time later, having produced a foal by the stallion Svadilfari.  He named the foal Sleipnir, and presented it as a gift to Odin.  The foal had eight legs, and grew to be the fastest and best horse in all the world’s tree.  It was a very fine gift.

Loki had thus acquired the strongest of fortifications for Asgard for no pay at all, and he had produced for Odin the fastest horse in the realm.  Although Loki had given the gods a scare when his original plan had seemed doomed to fail, he was never to be bested by troubles, and he always redeemed his mistakes to the benefit of Asgard.