Brokkr

Brokkr
Norse mythology
Brokkr andEitriforgingMjöllnir

InNorse mythology,Brokkr(Old Norse:[ˈbrokːz̠],"the one who works with metal fragments;blacksmith",anglicizedBrokk) is adwarf,and the brother ofEitriorSindri.

According toSkáldskaparmál,LokihadSif's hair,Freyr's shipSkíðblaðnirandOdin's spearGungnirfashioned by theSons of Ivaldi.Lokiboasted greatly of all the things that theSons of Ivaldicould create. He also boasted that the other dwarves could not create anything beautiful or useful. Brokkr, who was inAsgardat the time, declared that his brotherEitricould make things far more beautiful and useful than theSons of Ivaldi.Brokkr bet his head with that ofLokithat his brotherEitricould make things with better craftsmanship thanSkíðblaðnirorGungnir.

WhileEitriused magic in a forge that was extremely hot, Brokkr worked the bellows so that the fire would not cool down nor get too hot for the magic. While making the boarGullinbursti,agadfly,often thought to beLokihimself, came and bit Brokkr on the hand. Brokkr was not disturbed though and kept blowing into the fire. While making the golden arm ringDraupnirthe gadfly came again and bit Brokkr, this time in the neck but Brokkr kept on blowing. Finally, while making the hammerMjölnirthe gadfly bit Brokkr on the eye this time. This temporarily caused Brokkr to stop blowing. That brief stoppage of blowing into the fire causedMjölnir's handle to become shorter than it should have been. Because of this,Thorhad to wear the iron gauntletsJárngreiprto handle it.

Eitrisucceeded in making the golden ringDraupnir,the golden-bristled boarGullinburstiand the hammerMjölnir.These objects were judged by thegodsto be superior and Brokkr won the bet. However,Lokidid not allow him to take his head as doing so would have damaged his neck which wasnot included in the bet.In lieu of this, Brokkr sewedLoki's lips so thatLokiwould not brag until the thread came out.