The Children of Odin: The Book of Northern MythsColum, Padraic
General
The Children of Odin: The Book of Northern Myths
Colum, Padraic
Mythology, Norse -- Juvenile literature
Down, down, through the winding passages in the earth he went, and he
came at last to where the Dwarfs who were most friendly to him were
working in their forges. All the Dwarfs were master-smiths, and when he
came upon his friends he found them working hammer and tongs, beating
metals into many shapes. He watched them for a while and took note of
the things they were making. One was a spear, so well balanced and made
that it would hit whatever mark it was thrown at no matter how bad the
aim the thrower had. The other was a boat that could sail on any sea,
but that could be folded up so that it would go into one's pocket. The
spear was called Gungnir and the boat was called Skidbladnir.
Loki made himself very agreeable to the Dwarfs, praising their work and
promising them things that only the Dwellers in Asgard could give,
things that the Dwarfs longed to possess. He talked to them till the
little, ugly folk thought that they would come to own Asgard and all
that was in it.
At last Loki said to them, "Have you got a bar of fine gold that you can
hammer into threads--into threads so fine that they will be like the
hair of Sif, Thor's wife? Only the Dwarfs could make a thing so
wonderful. Ah, there is the bar of gold. Hammer it into those fine
threads, and the Gods themselves will be jealous of your work."
Flattered by Loki's speeches, the Dwarfs who were in the forge took up
the bar of fine gold and flung it into the fire. Then taking it out and
putting it upon their anvil they worked on the bar with their tiny
hammers until they beat it into threads that were as fine as the hairs
of one's head. But that was not enough. They had to be as fine as the
hairs on Sif's head, and these were finer than anything else. They
worked on the threads, over and over again, until they were as fine as
the hairs on Sif's head. The threads were as bright as sunlight, and
when Loki took up the mass of worked gold it flowed from his raised hand
down on the ground. It was so fine that it could be put into his palm,
and it was so light that a bird might not feel its weight.
Then Loki praised the Dwarfs more and more, and he made more and more
promises to them. He charmed them all, although they were an unfriendly
and a suspicious folk. And before he left them he asked them for the
spear and the boat he had seen them make, the spear Gungnir and the
boat Skidbladnir. The Dwarfs gave him these things, though in a while
after they wondered at themselves for giving them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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