Sons of Ivaldi

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern per ...

, the Sons of Ivaldi are a group of dwarfs who fashion Skíðblaðnir, the flying

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

Freyr Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, and weather. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden an ...

Gungnir In Norse mythology, Gungnir (, "the rocking") is the spear of the god Odin. Attestations ''Poetic Edda'' In the Poetic Edda poem ''Völuspá'', the Æsir-Vanir War is described as officially starting when Odin throws a spear over the heads of ...

, the

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastene ...

belonging to

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, ...

, along with the golden hair for

Sif In Norse mythology, Sif (Old Norse: ) is a golden-haired goddess associated with earth. Sif is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th century ...

to replace what

Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi ...

had cut off. According to ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda''. The section consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bragi, the god of poetry, ...

'', after these objects were created Loki made a bet with a dwarf,

Brokkr In Norse mythology, Brokkr (Old Norse: , "the one who works with metal fragments; blacksmith", anglicized Brokk) is a dwarf, and the brother of Eitri or Sindri. According to ''Skáldskaparmál'', Loki had Sif's hair, Freyr's ship Skíðblaðni ...

, that his brother Eitri (or Sindri) would not be able to craft items to match the quality of those displayed by the sons of Ivaldi. This contest resulted in the creation of the

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

( Gullinbursti), the ring of

( Draupnir) and the

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, ...

( Mjolnir), which were judged by the

gods A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...

to be even more wondrous than the others. Thus, Brokkr had won the bet. The account of this tale given in ''Skáldskaparmál'' does not reveal the names of Ivaldi's sons, nor how many there were, and they remain conspicuously absent after their initial mention in the stanza. The passing mention made of them in ''

Grímnismál ''Grímnismál'' (Old Norse: ; 'The Lay of Grímnir') is one of the mythological poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript and the AM 748 I 4to fragment. It is spoken through the voice of ''Grímnir'', one of ...

'' 43, the creators of Skidbladnir, "the best of ships", likewise sheds no additional light. Thus, their identities are a matter of scholarly speculation. In the eddic poem Hrafnagaldur Óðins, stanza 6, Idunn is identified as an "elf" (''alfar'') and the "youngest of the elder children of Ivaldi". This implies that Ivaldi had two sets of children, probably by different mothers. Thus Idunn is a sister of the famous smiths, the Sons of Ivaldi. In the Old Norse sources, the giant

Þjazi In Norse mythology, Þjazi (Old Norse: ; anglicized as Thiazi, Thjazi, Tjasse or Thiassi) was a giant. He was a son of the giant Ölvaldi, brother of giants Iði and Gangr, and the father of Skaði. His most notable misdeed was the kidnapp ...

is said to be the son of All-valdi arbardsljód 19or Öl-valdi kaldskaparmal 42 I-valdi may be another form of the name. Þjazi is said to have two brothers,

Iði Iði (Old Norse: ; also Idi) is a jötunn in Norse mythology. He is the son of Alvaldi and the brother of Þjazi and Gangr. Name The Old Norse name ''Iði'' has been translated as the 'active one' or the 'hard-working one', deriving from ''i� ...

and

Gangr Gangr (or Gang; Old Norse: , 'traveller') is a jötunn in Norse mythology. He is portrayed as the son of Alvaldi and the brother of Þjazi and Iði. Name The Old Norse name ''Gangr'' has been translated as 'traveller'. It is related to the Ic ...

, or Idi and Egil. Thus, Gang is another name for Egil. Egil is also found as a companion of Thor and keeps his goats safe when he ventures into the land of the giants. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sons Of Ivaldi Norse dwarves