Loki and the Dwarfs

Author: Traditional

Time Period: 1001 CE–1500 CE

Country or Culture: Scandinavia

Genre: Myth

PLOT SUMMARY

Loki is a troublesome and impish god, always trying to be a nuisance. One day, he finds himself bored and, in order to amuse himself, cuts off the beautiful golden hair of the goddess Sif. When her husband, the thunder god Thor, finds out what Loki has done, he is enraged. Thor grabs Loki and threatens to beat him, but Loki quickly develops a plan, offering to descend into the caves of the dwarfs to see if they can fashion new golden hair for the goddess. Thor agrees and sends Loki off.

Once Loki enters the underground land of the dwarfs, he tracks down the sons of the dwarf Ivaldi. These dwarfs are so skilled that they quickly create not only stunning golden hair for Sif but also an incredibly fast ship (Skídbladnir) that always catches the wind and can be folded up so tightly that it can fit inside a pocket. After finishing the ship, Ivaldi’s sons go a step further, creating the deadliest and most dangerous spear (Gungnir) that has ever existed. When Loki sees these marvelous creations, he realizes that there is great potential for mischief in the caves and decides to stay in the land of the dwarfs a moment longer.

Loki then tracks down two more dwarfs, Brokkr and Sindri (or Eitri), who are brothers. He immediately begins to tease them, bragging about the wondrous creations he has just acquired and insisting that the brothers could never create anything on par with what the sons of Ivaldi could create. When the brothers protest, Loki bets his own head against them. They set to work, hammering away beside the hot fires, and Loki departs only to take the form of a fly and return to their shop. As Sindri hammers, Loki stings him on the hand. However, the brothers are still able to create a golden boar (Gullinbursti) that can speed through land, water, and air, his coat always shining with a bright light. As Brokkr continues working and throws gold onto the fire, Loki bites him on the neck. Undistracted, Brokkr forms a golden ring (Draupnir) that magically creates eight more golden rings every ninth night.

Sindri and Brokkr then begin their final project, a creation even more magnificent than the others. When they are about to begin, Loki stings Brokkr on the eye. Sindri, however, is still able to work, creating a wondrous hammer (Mjölnir) that always hits true and even returns to its owner when thrown. However, as Brokkr had been distracted, the handle of the hammer comes out slightly shorter than it should be. Even with this flaw, however, the brothers are confident in their creations, and they head to the hall of the gods to collect their debt.

Before the dwarfs arrive, Loki approaches the gathered gods and offers them the treasures, dividing the hammer, the ship, and the other rare creations among the gods Thor, Frey, and Odin. Despite this bit of bribery, the gods still decide that Loki has lost his bet, and the dwarfs pull out their knives with the intention of cutting off his head. Loki, however, makes one last plea, pointing out that he had not wagered his neck, and so instead the dwarfs amuse themselves with sewing his mouth shut before returning home.

SIGNIFICANCE

The god Loki holds a complex role within Norse mythology. While a deity and a regular figure in Asgard, the realm of the gods, he is also a foil to the leaders of the Norse pantheon. In contrast to Thor, the god of thunder and Loki’s most recurrent nemesis, Loki is the god of lightning, standing for chaos and frivolity in the seriously ordered mythology of Asgard. In many early myths, this mischievousness remains playful and often actually benefits the gods. By the foretold end of Asgard, however, Loki will rise in power and lead an army of ice giants against those gods, destroying them once and for all.

The story of Loki cutting the hair of Sif reflects the complicated role of the lightning god. This tale is told in the Prose Edda, a compilation of Norse stories from the thirteenth century CE that provides many of the definitive versions of the myths. As with many of Loki’s myths, its primary function is that of entertainment. The act of cutting off Sif’s hair, for instance, would strike audiences as particularly devious, not only because the goddess’s hair was of legendary beauty but also because having a shorn head was a punishment in Norse society, meant to shame women. Those familiar with Loki’s other stories would enjoy the familiar pattern set into place, with the god first breaking a social code in something like a prank, then relying too heavily on his wits in a dangerous situation, and finally facing the punishment he thought he would avoid all along. The humor and the light sense of danger—even if Loki’s head is cut off, the myth’s audience knows he will certainly find a way to come back—drive the plot forward. At the same time, however, a greater theme is subtly reinforced.

Loki actively brings unpleasantness upon the other gods, but his schemes also regularly benefit them. When he finishes with the dwarfs, for instance, he does not keep their magnificent gifts for himself; rather, he offers them to Thor and the other gods who regularly punish him. This is particularly significant because the hammer that the dwarfs create, Mjölnir, becomes Thor’s legendary weapon, capable of destroying entire mountains and acting as a first line of defense between the gods of Asgard and the frost giants.

While it seems somewhat odd that Loki would not abscond with such treasures for himself, it is also in line with the general themes of Norse mythology. The disorder and playfulness that Loki represents are not simple distractions but instead important counterpoints to the rigid world order of Thor. Just as Loki’s eventual role in the destruction of Asgard is inevitable, a necessary tragedy in the cycle of the world, so too do his small acts of destruction in their own way move the world forward. Loki tricks the dwarfs into creating the hammer he gives Thor, only to battle that fearsome weapon himself at the end of the world. Neither contradiction nor inconsistency, these small details speak to the reality of living in a world in which destruction is understood to be as significant as creation and chaos as necessary as order.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Krasskova, Galina. Exploring the Northern Tradition: A Guide to the Gods, Lore, Rites, and Celebrations from the Norse, German, and Anglo-Saxon Traditions. Franklin Lakes: New Page, 2005. Print.

“Loki and the Dwarves.” Norse-Mythology.org. Dan McCoy, n.d. Web. 3 June 2013.

Mackin, Jeanne. “The Comedy Divine.” American Letters and Commentary 15 (2003): 57–61. Print.