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 as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

, the Sons of Ivaldi ( Norse: ''Ívaldasynir'') are a group of dwarfs who fashion Skíðblaðnir, the flying

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

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

, Gungnir, the

spear A spear is a polearm 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 hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

belonging to

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

, as well as the golden hair for Sif to replace the hair that

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

had cut off. According to ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'Poetic Diction' or 'The Language of Poetry'; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda'', compiled by Snorri Sturluson. It consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bra ...

'', after these objects were created Loki made a bet with a dwarf, Brokkr, 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 Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

( 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 nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

( Mjolnir), which were judged by the

gods A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

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'' 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 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 and Gangr, 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sons Of Ivaldi Norse dwarves