It was a wonderful place, this underground world of the dwarfs, and they kept their secrets carefully from the people of the upper world. 'Welcome,' said Dvalin, one of the dwarfs, to Loki; 'welcome to our kingdom. What errand may have brought you hither?' Then Loki told how he had charmed away Sif's hair, and that he wanted new ringlets for her, and a steed for Freyr, a new hammer for Thor, and a ring for Odin. All these shalt thou have, and of the best,' returned Dvalin; thou art our kinsman, and it shall never be said that the dwarfs failed in their friendship.' Then the dwarfs took the skin of a wild boar and threw it into the furnace, where the flames leaped round it till it turned red and seemed to be consumed by a million tiny stars, then it burned and burned until we might think that it must have been burnt to tinder; but it was not so. It had simply grown into a solid block at which the dwarfs pounded away with their sledge-hammers as if it had been a piece of red-hot iron. Then again they thrust it into the furnace, and taking their bellows blew the flames into such a roaring sparkling column that Loki half thought they meant to set the upper-world on fire, and whilst some blew the others plied their hammers so quickly that the cave rang with the clang of their blows. Now all this time Loki was sitting by, regretting that he had made so many promises and sorry to see how well the work was going on. For now that he was safely away from Thor and Freyr he did not wish them to have the wonderful gifts that he had promised to get for them, and though he knew that he should be obliged to keep his word, he determined that if he could in his kinsmen's work he would do so. any way injure So he changed himself into a venomous fly and perched upon the wrist of Brokur who was blowing the bellows Happily Brokur's skin was so tough that he did not feel the bite that Loki gave him and went on blowing steadily, and in due time the work was finished and out of the fire leaped the goldenhaired Gullinbörst, the most wonderful wild-boar that was ever heard of, and this was the fleet steed that Freyr the sun-god was to have to carry him round the world. Then the dwarfs set to work to make the ring for Odin, and a wonderful ring it was, of broad gold, shaped like a serpent with its tail in its mouth, and studded all over with precious stones. This was the ring Dröpner that afterwards became so well known. No sooner was it finished than the unwearied dwarfs set to work again to make the hammer for Thor; and for this purpose they took a bar of cold iron, which, without heating, they began to beat with their hammers. They used neither file nor fire; yet it grew shapely and strong beneath their even blows. Loki soon saw that this hammer would be better than Miölnir, and vexed exceedingly, he determined to do his best that it might not be as perfect as the dwarfs wished to make it. After some thought as to the best means of doing his work, he changed himself into a hornet and stung the chief worker so terribly on the forehead that the blood gushed forth, and the dwarf raising his hand to the wound before the steel was quite beaten out, missed his stroke and so the haft was left an inch too short, and there was not time to make another. Still, in spite of this, the G |