The Treasures of the Gods

Loki shears the golden hair of Thor's wife Sif as a prank — and the forfeit furnishes Asgard. The sons of Ivaldi forge living gold hair, Odin's unerring spear Gungnir, and the folding ship Skidbladnir; then Loki wagers his head that the dwarf brothers Brokk and Sindri cannot do better. Stung three times by a suspicious fly, Brokk pumps the forge that yields the golden boar Gullinbursti, the self-multiplying ring Draupnir — and Mjolnir, the hammer that guards the world, its handle a hand's-breadth short because of a single lost heartbeat. Loki keeps his head on a technicality and gets his lips sewn shut for it.