Sif's Golden Hair- Norse ArtifactArtifact

The Theft and the Wager

Loki cut Sif's hair while she slept. Snorri in Skáldskaparmál does not say why, only that he did it, and that when Thor found out he seized Loki and would have broken every bone in his body. Loki swore he would go to the black elves and have them forge hair of gold that would grow like the real thing.

He went to the Sons of Ivaldi. They made Sif's golden hair, and while they were at it they forged the spear Gungnir, which never missed its mark, and the ship Skíðblaðnir, which always found a fair wind and could be folded up like cloth. Loki should have taken these gifts and gone home. Instead he sought out the dwarf brothers Brokkr and Sindri and wagered his own head that they could not craft anything to match what the Sons of Ivaldi had made.

Sindri set to work at the forge. He placed a pig's skin in the furnace and told Brokkr to work the bellows without stopping. A fly landed on Brokkr's arm and bit him, but he kept pumping. Out came Gullinbursti, the golden boar. Sindri put gold in the furnace next. The fly bit Brokkr's neck. He kept pumping. Out came Draupnir, the ring that dropped eight new rings every ninth night. Then Sindri placed iron in the furnace. The fly bit Brokkr between the eyes so hard that blood ran down into them, and Brokkr paused just long enough to swipe it away. When the hammer Mjölnir came out of the fire, its handle was shorter than it should have been.

The gods judged the treasures. They gave the victory to Brokkr and Sindri: Mjölnir, even with its short handle, was the finest thing ever forged, because it was the only weapon that could hold back the giants. Loki owed his head. He offered to redeem it with any ransom, but Brokkr refused. When the dwarf came to collect, Loki pointed out that the wager specified his head, not his neck, and Brokkr could not take one without cutting the other. Brokkr settled for sewing Loki's lips shut with a leather thong. Loki tore the stitches out soon after.

Sif's golden hair, the prize that started it all, grew from her scalp the moment the Sons of Ivaldi set it in place. It moved and shone like the hair Loki had stolen, and no one afterward could tell the difference.