by Joan Holub
Ivaldi’s Sons:
Superfine Blacksmithing
(Way Better Than the Other Guys!)
“What other guys?” Sif whispered to Freya.
Instead of answering, Freya held a finger to her lips. The two girls craned their necks to peek inside the forge without being seen. Sif noticed portraits of four dwarfs above the forge. Their names were written in gold leaf below the portraits. A good way to let visitors know who was who! Like most dwarfs, these wore colorful caps, leather-and-gold bracelets, and pointed boots. And they were all a foot or so shorter than the girls.
“Humph. All that is true. But why should my brothers and I do you any favors?” the dwarf named Alfrigg replied. He seemed to be in charge here, Sif decided.
The dwarf named Berling (according to the portrait) yelled to the one named Dvalin, “DID LOKI SAY HE WANTS AN EASY PIE? WE’RE NOT BAKERS!”
“No! He said he wants us to spin some hair!” Dvalin shouted back at him.
A fourth dwarf brother, Grerr, cocked his head curiously. “How did Sif lose her hair, anyway?”
“SIF LOST A CHAIR?” Berling asked.
The other dwarfs ignored him. “It was, uh, some kind of hairstyling accident,” Loki hedged. “You know how girls are, always trying to get more beautiful.”
“Ugh! As if!” Sif whispered furiously to Freya.
“Yeah, figures he wouldn’t fess up that he whacked off your hair,” Freya said in a low but equally angry voice. “Or maybe he’s afraid that if they knew he was responsible, they wouldn’t help him.”
Deciding that was possible, Sif cooled down a little and moved a bit closer to see what was going on. Unfortunately, while doing this, she accidentally elbowed the stack of coal. Chunks of it began raining down on them. Boom! Boom! “HEY, WHAT WAS THAT?” Deaf as he was, even Berling could hear the coal fall.
To avoid getting crushed, the girls made a run for it, zipping across the arched opening to stand with their backs pressed against the cave wall at the opposite side of the entrance. Heart pounding, Sif held up crossed fingers to Freya, who nodded in return. They were both hoping none of the dwarfs had seen their mad dash or would come out to check on the coal.
If the girlgoddesses got caught listening in, it might ruin the entire deal Loki was trying to make! As the most scheming and persuasive of the gods by far, he would have the best chance of anyone at getting the dwarfs to make both new hair for Sif and those other gifts.
Luckily, Alfrigg was unfazed by a few pieces of falling coal. He distracted Berling before he could go investigate, shouting, “Put that thing back in the forge, Berly Whirly! It’s obviously not ready yet. Looks like something that got pecked by a woodpecker, then mauled by dragon claws!”
“Phew,” Freya whispered. They were in the clear.
Taking a new tack now, Loki said to Alfrigg, “Just think how pleased the gods and goddesses of Asgard will be if you do what I’m asking. Especially Odin. He rewards those he considers his friends.”
Peeking in, the girls saw Alfrigg cross his muscular arms. “Humph. What have the gods ever done for me?”
“And I’ll owe you a favor, too,” Loki hastened to add. “No expiration date.”
The grumpy dwarf snorted. “Promises, promises!”
“Hey! What’s the big deal, Alfrigg? The forge is already hot,” said Dvalin. “Let’s make the girl some hair, for dwarf’s sake!”
“Yeah, Odin would be a good ally to have, and a favor from Loki could be . . . useful,” said Grerr.
“Maybe you’re right,” Alfrigg said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “Okay! We’ll do it.”
“Awesome!” Loki declared. Though the girls couldn’t see him from where they stood, Sif pictured him rubbing his hands together with glee now that he’d gotten his way. “And if you could add in some gifts—say, a spear that never misses its goal, for Odin, and a ship that can sail over land and sea, and—”
Alfrigg let out an annoyed grunt. “You’re pushing your luck, Tricky-Loki!”
It was a nickname that was well deserved, Sif thought. However, she did like Loki’s gift ideas so far!
“Oh, but just think how pleased the gods and goddesses will be with those gifts!” Loki exclaimed. “They’ll sing your praises far and wide. It’ll be like free advertising! In no time you’ll become known as the best smiths in all the nine worlds. Everyone will flock to your cave with all sorts of projects for you. They’ll ignore your competitors’ workshops!”
Hidden in the shadows, Sif and Freya shared a grin. When it suited him, no one was more convincing than Loki.
At the notion of outdoing other blacksmiths, Alfrigg grew more enthusiastic. “Yeah! But none of you Aesir better come asking for more freebies after this.”
“We . . . um . . . I . . . won’t mention the gifts were free when I speak of them,” Loki assured him quickly.
“Okay. Deal,” agreed Alfrigg at last.
“We’re running low on coal,” said Dvalin. “I’ll go get some before we start.”
Hearing this, the girls crept from their hiding place and rushed back up the passageway to the cave’s entrance before the dwarf could catch them listening in. Once outside, they high-fived. The plan seemed to be working!
Freya reached for the pouch that contained her cat’s-eye marble. “Since Loki’s actually doing what he’s supposed to, shall we go ahead and leave?”
Sif glanced up at the cliff, noting that Odin’s two ravens had flown off. Then she replied to Freya, “Did you notice the dwarfs only agreed to make two gifts in addition to spinning me some new hair? Let’s wait here and make sure Loki talked them into making five, plus my hair, as he promised us.”
Freya gave a nod. “Good point. In fact, maybe we should nab the gifts from him the minute he comes out of the cave and deliver them to the academy ourselves. Because I wouldn’t put it past Loki to claim they were never made and just keep them for himself!”
“Neither would I,” Sif agreed. “Let’s do it!” The girls parked themselves on a large rock behind one of the stone columns they’d passed earlier. Thus hidden, they waited for Loki to come out.
Turned out that the Ivaldi brothers were not only skilled; they were fast. Loki ambled out of the cave only a half hour later carrying a large bag. A sharp-looking spear was pointing out its top. Even from a distance the girls could hear him whistling merrily and see that he looked quite pleased with himself.
“That bag is way too small to fit that spear, plus a ship, some hair, and three more gifts,” Sif whispered to Freya while Loki was still some ways off.
“The bag could be magical,” Freya replied. “Maybe it can shrink stuff to fit. You know, like how my cart and cats can shrink to a marble to fit in a pouch.”
“We need to find out,” whispered Sif.
Freya nodded. “Let’s sneak up on Loki and grab his arms so he won’t be able to transform or race off. Then we’ll check the number of gifts and transport the bag back to the academy in my cart if he got all six, including your new hair.”
“Okay, but we can’t let him spot us or there’ll be no way we can catch him,” Sif advised.
As Loki drew closer, the girls got ready to spring out at him. But to their surprise, he swerved before he reached the column nearest them. Walking at a diagonal, he bypassed several other stone columns before joining the path they ranged along.
“Hey!” Sif whispered to Freya. “Where’s he going?”
Freya shrugged. “I don’t know. But he’s not heading back to the academy, that’s for sure!”
9
The Bet
QUIETLY SIF AND FREYA BEGAN to follow Loki along the dirt path. Darting from stone column to stone column, they paused to hide behind each, hoping to keep him from spotting them too soon. Luckily, the boygod never looked back.
At the end of the path, quite out in the open but with a mountain behind it, was a large wooden building. A metal sign hung above the doorway. It read:
Brokk and Sindri:
Finest Blacksmith Brothers Ever
(Way Better Than Those Other Guys!)
Beneath this was a motto: WE STRIKE WHEN THE IRON IS HOT. And indeed, the girls could hear hammers clanging away inside. They watched Loki enter the building, and then moved closer.
There weren’t any windows along the front, but spying a small open window on the side of the building, they sneaked over and peeked through. Sparks of fire were flying as a squat, muscular dwarf with a dark beard and wavy black hair hammered away at a glowing lump of metal he held between tongs on top of a heavy iron anvil. There were two portraits over the forge here. A glance at the nameplates beneath each showed that this dwarf was named Sindri.
Nearby stood the other blacksmith brother, Brokk. He was bald on top, with a fringe of orange hair ringing his head. He stopped whatever he’d been doing to come over to Loki. “Whatcha got there?” he asked as the boygod set down his bag.
“Just you wait and see,” Loki said mischievously. Sif’s and Freya’s eyes widened when he removed the sharp spear that had been sticking out from the top of the bag and then took out a beautiful golden skein of hair.
At the sight of it, Sif huffed loudly. Was Loki planning to trade the hair and other gifts to these dwarfs for his own gain?
Freya quickly clapped a hand over Sif’s mouth. When she let go, Sif hissed, “What’s Loki doing? That hair is mine. Those other dwarfs made it for me!”
“Shh,” cautioned Freya. “We’ll make sure you get your hair. For now, let’s find out what Loki is up to. He’s only pulled two gifts from that bag so far.”
Freya was right. Loki was still four gifts shy of the number he’d promised to bring back. And the bag looked almost empty! Sif calmed herself as they waited to see what the boygod would do next.
By now Sindri had set down his hammer and tongs in order to examine the treasures Loki had taken out of the bag. When Loki put the golden skein of hair—her hair—in the dwarf’s grimy, coal-blackened hands, Sif had to stifle an urge to pound on the window and protest. But she forced herself not to interrupt. As Freya had said, they needed to find out what Loki was up to. Right now they had no proof of what that was.
“Wow!” said Brokk, gazing in wonder at what Sindri held. “Hair? Made from real gold!”
“You betcha! Ah, but that’s not all! I’ve saved the best for last,” Loki exclaimed. As the blacksmith brothers gathered around, he drew a leather pouch from his bag and opened it. It was much like the ones hanging from Freya’s necklaces, only several times larger. Quickly he pulled an object from the pouch that seemed to be a jumble of many small parts.
“What do you think that is?” Sif whispered to Freya as they continued to stare through the window.
“No clue,” Freya replied uncertainly.
The two brothers appeared to be just as confused. Sindri stared at the object with raised eyebrows as Loki proceeded to unfold its many small parts. Finally those parts clicked into place to become the cunning little ship Loki had requested.
“It’s magical, of course. Once in water, it will grow to an enormous size,” Loki informed them. “So huge that it can carry hundreds of crew, their supplies, and weapons. Plus, I have been assured that a good wind is guaranteed to blow whenever the ship’s sail is raised.”
Cool, Sif mouthed silently, and Freya nodded.
Sindri scowled. “Assured by who? Ivaldi’s sons?” When Loki just smiled in response, Brokk picked up the ship, and the two dwarfs murmured over it, obviously as impressed by it as Sif and Freya were.
“Hair. Ship. Spear. That’s only three gifts,” Sif whispered. Then a new thought came to her. “I think Loki must be planning to—”
Shh. Freya held a finger to her lips as Loki began to speak again. “I bet you’ve never seen such well-crafted treasures as these, have you?” he asked.
“Humph. The work done in our shop is finer,” Sindri declared flatly. But to Sif’s ear, he sounded unsure. Maybe even a little jealous.
“Think so?” Loki said skeptically. “Admit it. You guys could never make objects as awesome as these. They’re gifts for the gods of Asgard!” He slapped Brokk on the back, which, much to Sif’s horror, caused him to fumble the ship and nearly drop it.
“Ha! Can too make better gifts! Want to bet?” Sindri challenged. As Loki repacked his bag with Sif’s hair, the ship, and the spear, Brokk began banging at his anvil while still keeping an eye on the drama that was unfolding.
Sif and Freya grinned at each other. Because both had just figured out what Loki was up to. He wasn’t going to trade these three gifts for his own gain. Not at all. Instead he was going to try to trick these brothers into creating more gifts for the gods. Three more, to be exact. Gifts that could help protect the academy against enemy giants and delay the coming of Ragnarok and the downfall of Yggdrasil!
Loki screwed up his face, as if considering Sindri’s idea. “Okay,” he said at last. “I’m so sure you guys cannot create anything to rival these three gifts that I’ll stake my head on it.”
Sif and Freya gasped at Loki’s daring wager and then ducked below the edge of the window as the very thing that Loki had just staked in his bet turned their way. Had he heard them? Hopefully not, since Brokk had been hammering.
When Loki said nothing more and no one came out of the shop, the girls popped up their heads to peek again. Looking stunned, Brokk had stopped hammering, and both brothers were staring at Loki. Sindri’s bushy black eyebrows rose in disbelief. “If our gifts are more magnificent than the Ivaldi brothers’ gifts, you’ll give us your head ? What are we going to do with that?”
“Put it on a shelf for decoration?” Loki joked.
Brokk appeared to consider the offer. “A god’s head would be quite a trophy.”
Sindri nodded. “I guess our workshop could do with some freshening up.” He said this quite seriously.
Sif and Freya listened in shock as the two dwarfs began discussing exactly how they would mount Loki’s head and where it would look best. Having settled on the idea, they both grabbed their tongs and chorused, “It’s a deal!”
Sindri’s tongs still held the lump of metal he’d been hammering earlier, so now he stuck it in the red-hot forge till it softened and began to glow again. Then he returned the lump to his anvil and picked up his hammer. Clang, clang, clang.
“One question,” Brokk said to Loki, his tongs in hand too. “Who will do the judging to decide which blacksmith shop’s gifts are the best?”
“How about Odin?” Loki suggested.
CLANK! Sindri brought his hammer down so hard, it smashed the object he’d been making to smithereens and caused Sif and Freya to jump in surprise. “No way!” he bellowed.
“Yeah! Why should we trust him? He’ll take your side,” said Brokk.
Loki shrugged. “Odin has no problem with you dwarfs. It’s the giants who are his enemies, so why would he favor me, a half-giant, over you?”
“Makes sense,” Sindri said after a few moments spent stroking his beard.
“Agreed,” said Brokk. “Odin can judge.”
Loki grinned. It seemed his legendary powers of persuasion had triumphed again, Sif thought. Despite what he’d told the dwarfs, he was probably certain of his ability to convince Odin to favor him, and so he’d keep his head.
As Sindri got to work heating a new lump of metal in the forge, Loki hovered nearby, making remarks such as “Ymir’s bones! It’s warm in here. You sure that forge isn’t too hot?” and “Say, you sure have a lot of tools. Can you tell me the names of all of them?”
Freya elbowed Sif and whispered, “He’s trying to distract the dwarfs. Get them to make three more gifts that aren’t better than the ones Ivaldi’s sons made.”
“Yeah, so he gets the gifts we want, but they lose the bet!” Sif tapped palms with Freya in a silent high five.
However, Sindri wasn’t having any of Loki’s shenanigans. He soon banished the boygod through a white-painted door to wait in a windowless st
orage closet at the back of the workshop where he would be unable to talk to them or see what they were working on.
When Loki made a move to take with him the bag of gifts Ivaldi’s sons had made, Sindri barked, “Leave ’em! That way maybe you won’t be tempted to weasel out of our deal and run off when you realize we’re sure to win the bet!”
“Your lack of trust cuts me to the core,” Loki replied. Still he left the bag on the floor of the workshop before disappearing into the storage closet.
“I take back that high five,” Sif muttered to Freya as they crouched beneath the window. “Loki’s trying to make things right, but I think he’s going to need some help. I would feel awful if he lost his head finally doing a good deed.”
“Then he shouldn’t have made that stupid bet with them,” Freya complained. But then she sighed. “Got a plan?” Though Loki might not be their favorite friend, neither girl wanted him to die. He could, too. He wasn’t immortal, after all. None of the Norse goddesses and gods were. Though Idun’s apples kept them all youthful, those apples couldn’t prevent them from being killed.
“I do, actually,” Sif said. It had come to her in a flash as she watched Loki close himself into the storage closet. Quickly she explained her plan to Freya. Then the girls circled the workshop till they came to a blue door that led into that closet from the outside. They saw at once that the lock on the door was broken. Since Loki could easily escape through this door, Sindri had probably been wise to make him leave his bag of gifts inside the workshop. Loki wouldn’t want to leave without those gifts.
“What are you doing here?” he asked in surprise when the girls opened the door.
They pushed past him to stand near some cupboards that stored blacksmithing supplies and tools. “We followed you from the Valhallateria,” Sif admitted.
“You’ve been spying on me?” Loki asked, standing in the open doorway.
Ha! As if he never spied on others himself, thought Sif. This boygod was the king of spying!
“More like trying to make sure things go smoothly,” Freya said coolly. Her fingers moved, automatically straightening the strings of the pouches dangling from her necklaces, as her restless fingers often did.