When Thor came home he beheld his wife Sif bald and grief stricken and his wrath consumed him like a fire. He found the shoe and knew who had stolen Sif's hair.

His rage barely in check, Thor sought out Loki. With his bare hand he took Loki by the neck and shook him so hard his eyes nearly came free from his head. Loki promised that Sif's sunlike tresses would return if only Thor would let him go. Thor tightened his grip. Loki then promised that Odin, Frey, and Thor would also recieve gifts the like of which none had ever dreamed. Thor gave him one night and one day to fulfill his promise.

Loki went then to Svartalvaheim where the dwarves lived. They were craftsmen whose skills none rivaled. Loki petitioned the sons of Ivaldi the dwarf, Brokk and Sindri, to make new hair for Sif and wonderous things for Odin, Frey, and Thor. In two hours, Brokk and Sindri had made the most beautiful golden hair the world had ever seen, the spear Gugner, the ring Daupner, the ship Skidbladner, and a golden boar named Gyllenborst.

Loki having now nearly fulfilled his promise, did not like having Thor interfere with his joke. Knowing the excessive pride of the dwarves, he now bet Brokk and Sindri that they could make nothing as wonderous as they had already made- their skills were dried like a prune in the sun.

Brokk and Sindri could not disregard this challenge and set to work at once. Loki, not wanting them to succeed, turned himself into a fly and buzzed about the head of Sindri as he made a hammer. This distracted the dwarf and so the hammer's handle was shorter than intended. By sundown Brokk and Sindri had finished the hammer and named it Mjolnir. But because the handle was too short, Loki kept his head.

Loki, Brokk, and Sindri hurried to Valhalla to present the gifts. To Sif they gave the hair and she was restored. To Odin they gave the spear Gungner and the goldering Draupner that every ninth night dropped nine equal big rings. To Frej they gave the ship Skidbladner and the pig Gyllenborst. To Thor came the hammer Mjolnir. When thrown, it would never miss and always return to the owner's hand. It could not be destroyed and could shrink so Thor could keep it in his shirt. A solid blow from the hammer meant instant death and it could command lightning, thunder, and rain.

He returns with the tidings that Thrym has indeed stolen Mjolnir and hidden it deep in the earth. In exchange for its return the giant demanded the hand of Freya in marriage. Freya, goddess of love and sister of Frey, guides and protects our human race with her Brisinga-jewel.

Hearing Thrym's outrageous demand, the goddess snorted with such vehemence that the precious gem shattered. Indeed, all the gods, meeting to deal with this emergency, greeted the giant's ultimatum with laughter. During their deliberations, Heimdal proposed that Thor disguise himself as Freya in bridal attire so that he might himself retrieve his property. Thor's protests were overruled by the assembled deities and he reluctantly submitted to the indignity of being garbed in fine linen and wearing two rounded stones on his bosom.

So attired, he travelled to the hall of Thrym accompanied by Loki attired as a bridesmaid. The hall was laden with a sumptuous feast the likes of which even Asgard had rarely seen. This set Thor's mouth to watering. During the nuptial festivities Thrym became appalled at the bride's prodigious appetite and thirst. Only Loki's ready wit saved the deception. He explained that Freya had fasted long in anticipation of this happy event. When Thrym bent to kiss his bride and, raising the veil, met the thundergod's lightning glare, he reeled back the length of the hall from the impact. Again Loki intervened with an explanation which fortunately satisfied the dimwitted giant. He explained that he had merely felt the overwhelming passion and excitement Freya felt for their upcoming marriage.