The saga begins not with a forge, but with a malicious whim. Loki, the shape-shifting trickster of Asgard, found himself bored one afternoon while the gods were at rest. Seeking a victim for his humor, he crept into the bedchamber of Sif, the wife of Thor, and with a sharpened blade, sheared off her magnificent golden hair, which flowed like sun-ripened grain. When Thor discovered the theft, his rage shook the foundations of the world. He seized Loki, threatening to crush every bone in his body unless the trickster found a way to replace the hair with something even more beautiful. Terrified by the Thunder God’s wrath, Loki swore he would travel to Svartalfheim, the realm of the dwarves, and return with a head of hair made of pure, living gold.
Upon arriving in the subterranean workshops of the earth-dwellers, Loki first sought out the Sons of Ivaldi. These master smiths were famous for their ability to imbue metal with life. They agreed to Loki's request, and in their deep caverns, they fashioned not only a wig of spinning gold that would grow from Sif's scalp like real hair, but also the ship Skidbladnir, which could be folded like a cloth, and the spear Gungnir, which never missed its mark. Loki was delighted, but his nature would not allow him to stop there. He wished to create a conflict that might further his own ends, or perhaps he simply could not resist the urge to gamble. He sought out two other brothers, Brokkr and Sindri (sometimes called Eitri), and boasted that they could never produce works as fine as those crafted by the Sons of Ivaldi. To seal the challenge, Loki bet his own head that the brothers would fail to match the quality of the first three treasures.
Sindri and Brokkr accepted the wager with stoic confidence. They entered their forge, a place of intense heat and echoing hammers. Sindri, the elder and perhaps more magically inclined, laid a pigskin into the hearth and commanded Brokkr to work the bellows without a moment's pause. He warned that if the rhythm of the air flow faltered even once, the work would be ruined. As Sindri stepped away to perform his incantations, Loki, realizing he might actually lose his head, transformed himself into a large, biting fly. He landed on Brokkr’s hand and bit him deeply. Despite the pain, the dwarf did not flinch, and his hand remained steady on the bellows. When Sindri returned, he pulled from the flames Gullinbursti, a boar with golden bristles that could run through air and water faster than any horse, and whose mane shed light in the darkest of nights.
For the second treasure, Sindri placed a large ingot of pure gold into the crucible. Again, he instructed Brokkr to blow the bellows with unwavering consistency. The heat in the forge rose to a shimmering intensity, the gold turning from solid to liquid light. Loki, still in the form of a fly, returned with greater desperation. He landed on Brokkr’s neck and bit with twice the venom. The dwarf winced, blood trickling down his collar, but he kept the air flowing into the heart of the furnace. When the time was right, Sindri reached into the fire with iron tongs and pulled out a heavy, gleaming arm-ring of the finest gold. This was Draupnir, the 'Dripper.' It was a masterpiece of simplicity and elegance, perfectly circular and radiating a soft, divine aura. Sindri explained its secret property: every ninth night, eight other rings of equal weight and beauty would drop from Draupnir, ensuring that its owner would never want for wealth or tokens of favor.
Finally, the brothers prepared to forge the third item, which Sindri intended to be the greatest of all. He placed a heavy piece of iron into the forge. He repeated his warning to Brokkr, for the iron required more heat and more precise airflow than the gold or the leather had. Loki, sensing his impending doom, knew he had to break Brokkr’s concentration. As the dwarf worked, the fly landed between Brokkr’s eyes and bit his eyelid so fiercely that blood ran into his eye, blinding him. For a single second, Brokkr took one hand off the bellows to wipe the blood away. The fire dipped, then surged as he resumed the work. Sindri returned and sighed, noting that the item was almost ruined. He pulled out Mjölnir, a massive war-hammer. Because of the brief pause in the bellows, the handle was slightly too short, but the weapon was nonetheless indestructible and would always return to its thrower's hand.
Loki and the brothers traveled to Asgard to have the gods judge the gifts. The Aesir sat upon their thrones: Odin the All-Father, Thor of the Lightning, and Freyr of the Harvest. Loki presented the hair and the spear Gungnir to Odin, and the ship Skidbladnir to Freyr. The hair immediately bonded to Sif’s head, and the gods were impressed. Then, Brokkr stepped forward to present the brothers' creations. He gave Gullinbursti to Freyr and the hammer Mjölnir to Thor. When it came time to present the gift to Odin, Brokkr held up the golden ring, Draupnir. He explained that this ring was not merely a piece of jewelry, but a fountain of abundance. He told the All-Father how it would multiply, providing the means to reward loyal warriors and maintain the economy of the heavens. Odin placed the ring upon his arm and declared it a work of peerless craft.