Sons of Ivaldi

See also:Alvaldi

"The third gift—an enormous hammer" (1902) byElmer Boyd Smith.

InNorse mythology,theSons of Ivaldi(Norse:Ívaldasynir) are a group ofdwarfswho fashionSkíðblaðnir,the flyingshipofFreyr,Gungnir,thespearbelonging toOdin,as well as the golden hair forSifto replace the hair thatLokihad cut off

According toSkáldskaparmál,after these objects were created Loki made a bet with a dwarf,Brokkr,that his brotherEitri(orSindri) 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 theboarofFreyr(Gullinbursti), theringofOdin(Draupnir) and thehammerofThor(Mjolnir), which were judged by thegodsto be even more wondrous than the others. Thus, Brokkr had won the bet.

The account of this tale given inSkáldskaparmáldoes 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 inGrímnismál43, 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,Idunnis 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. ThusIdunnis a sister of the famous smiths, the Sons of Ivaldi.

In the Old Norse sources, the giantÞjaziis said to be the son ofAll-valdi[Harbardsljód 19] or Öl-valdi [Skaldskaparmal 42]. I-valdi may be another form of the name. Þjazi is said to have two brothers,IðiandGangr,or Idi and Egil. Thus, Gang is another name for Egil.Egilis also found as a companion of Thor and keeps his goats safe when he ventures into the land of the giants.