The Bet, part 1: The Prank [17/100]
The gods have their legendary toys to play with: Odin has his spear Gungnir, which always hits its mark. Freyr has his magnificent steed Gyllinbusti, which can fly and light up the dark. And most importantly, Thor has his magical hammer Mjölnir, which has saved the gods from ruin countless times.
But these items didn't spring out of the ether, they all have their origin. And the whole thing started with a poorly-thought out prank by Loki. Of course it did.
One night Loki stealthily made his way to Þrúðvangr ("field of power"), the place in Ásgard where Thor's home Bilskírnir ("crack of lightning") is built. It's said that the house is one the finest one in the world, and it's certainly the biggest: It has 450 floors.
Loki sneaked in; All the inhabitants were sleeping. He made his way to the chamber of Sif, Thor's wife. (Had he been there before?) She, too, was sleeping. And then, without a sound (minus a few giggles probably), he cut off all of Sif's beautiful blonde hair.
The next day, Sif was distraught, Thor was mad, and Loki, forever unable to keep a good joke to himself, was crowing about the prank to his friends. Thor found out - of course he did - and was about to crush Loki like a bug (even in the days before he had his hammer he was strong as a bull), when Loki swore he'd make amends. He said he would replace Sif's renowned blonde hair with something even more beautiful, and Thor let him go to do so.
Loki put on his magical shoes, which carries him great distances with each step, and immediately set out to Svartalfheim, the home of the dwarves, because in all the nine realms they're the greatest metallurgists. Loki commissioned some dwarves known as the sons of Ivaldi, and they made silken hair entirely out of shining gold. In addition, they crafted the magical ship Skiðblaðnir ("built with thin pieces of wood"): It can be folded up like a cloth to fit in a pouch, and when the sails are up the winds are always in the owner's favour. And finally they crafted the deadly spear Gungnir ("the swaying one"); The magical runes on its tip make sure it always hits its target, no matter the skill or strength of the one who wields it.
Viking-era decorated spearhead. Inlaid copper and silver on the rib, with silver leaf on the blade surface.
Loki could have made his way straight back home to Ásgard with these items and all would have been forgiven, but he didn't.
Maybe he saw an opportunity to get even more magical items for free, or maybe he wanted to make an effort to really get on Thor's good side again. No matter the reason, the next part features a lot of repition (the rule of three, the rule of six AND the rule of nine) so I'll deal with it in the next installment!
---
This part of the myth is very typical Norse mythology: Loki does something bad, and in atoning himself he makes the gods better off than they were before, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Actually the prank is pulled off very similarly to one we'll deal with later, where Freya is the victim (in fact I had to look up both stories in my copy of the Eddas to make sure I didn't mix up elements).
I've only embellished the tale of the Eddas slightly here and there, taking elements from the main retelling I grew up with. In the Eddas, we don't know how Thor found out Loki was to blame for Sif's shorn head. Thor comes across as uncommonly intelligent if he immediately reasons out that Loki must have done it, so I like the adaption where Loki brags about it (though in that retelling the bragging is sexual, about having been in Sif's bed the night before).
Also in this original story in Snorri's Skaldskaparmál Loki's magical shoes make their appearance riiiiight at the very end so I've introduced them at the start. Think of them as Chekov's Shoes. Anyway I don't think they're mentioned anywhere else in the myths, which I think is a bit of a pity, since most of the gods are tied to some sort of magical item and I think it's suitable that Loki's item has to do with running away (especially when you think about the myth that brings his final downfall, but I'm getting ahead of myself again).
Rereading this myth, I find myself wondering whether Loki's prank is done to humiliate Sif or Thor. I think I'll look more into that in the second and final part coming up.
Next time: Shapeshifting, more smithing, violence, and the actual bet!
But these items didn't spring out of the ether, they all have their origin. And the whole thing started with a poorly-thought out prank by Loki. Of course it did.
One night Loki stealthily made his way to Þrúðvangr ("field of power"), the place in Ásgard where Thor's home Bilskírnir ("crack of lightning") is built. It's said that the house is one the finest one in the world, and it's certainly the biggest: It has 450 floors.
Loki sneaked in; All the inhabitants were sleeping. He made his way to the chamber of Sif, Thor's wife. (Had he been there before?) She, too, was sleeping. And then, without a sound (minus a few giggles probably), he cut off all of Sif's beautiful blonde hair.
The next day, Sif was distraught, Thor was mad, and Loki, forever unable to keep a good joke to himself, was crowing about the prank to his friends. Thor found out - of course he did - and was about to crush Loki like a bug (even in the days before he had his hammer he was strong as a bull), when Loki swore he'd make amends. He said he would replace Sif's renowned blonde hair with something even more beautiful, and Thor let him go to do so.
Loki put on his magical shoes, which carries him great distances with each step, and immediately set out to Svartalfheim, the home of the dwarves, because in all the nine realms they're the greatest metallurgists. Loki commissioned some dwarves known as the sons of Ivaldi, and they made silken hair entirely out of shining gold. In addition, they crafted the magical ship Skiðblaðnir ("built with thin pieces of wood"): It can be folded up like a cloth to fit in a pouch, and when the sails are up the winds are always in the owner's favour. And finally they crafted the deadly spear Gungnir ("the swaying one"); The magical runes on its tip make sure it always hits its target, no matter the skill or strength of the one who wields it.
Viking-era decorated spearhead. Inlaid copper and silver on the rib, with silver leaf on the blade surface.
Loki could have made his way straight back home to Ásgard with these items and all would have been forgiven, but he didn't.
Maybe he saw an opportunity to get even more magical items for free, or maybe he wanted to make an effort to really get on Thor's good side again. No matter the reason, the next part features a lot of repition (the rule of three, the rule of six AND the rule of nine) so I'll deal with it in the next installment!
---
This part of the myth is very typical Norse mythology: Loki does something bad, and in atoning himself he makes the gods better off than they were before, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Actually the prank is pulled off very similarly to one we'll deal with later, where Freya is the victim (in fact I had to look up both stories in my copy of the Eddas to make sure I didn't mix up elements).
I've only embellished the tale of the Eddas slightly here and there, taking elements from the main retelling I grew up with. In the Eddas, we don't know how Thor found out Loki was to blame for Sif's shorn head. Thor comes across as uncommonly intelligent if he immediately reasons out that Loki must have done it, so I like the adaption where Loki brags about it (though in that retelling the bragging is sexual, about having been in Sif's bed the night before).
Also in this original story in Snorri's Skaldskaparmál Loki's magical shoes make their appearance riiiiight at the very end so I've introduced them at the start. Think of them as Chekov's Shoes. Anyway I don't think they're mentioned anywhere else in the myths, which I think is a bit of a pity, since most of the gods are tied to some sort of magical item and I think it's suitable that Loki's item has to do with running away (especially when you think about the myth that brings his final downfall, but I'm getting ahead of myself again).
Rereading this myth, I find myself wondering whether Loki's prank is done to humiliate Sif or Thor. I think I'll look more into that in the second and final part coming up.
Next time: Shapeshifting, more smithing, violence, and the actual bet!