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~ By Courtesy of Others ~

 

A Tale of Two Hammers

When Thor was quite young,
He seemed angry at everything,
His parents could not handle him,
So they had to send him away.

Thor made his new home
Among the Giant Vingnir and his wife Hlora,
They raised him to be
A fine young man.

One day in his
Late teen years,
Thor overheard Vingnir,
Planning to bring trouble
To the Aesir.

Thor knew he could not let this pass,
He remembered that his Foster-Father
Had a Stone Hammer filled with Vafur-Fire
That he called Mjolnir.

He knew what must be done,
Late one night,
Thor crept into
His Foster-Parents room.

Taking up Mjolnir,
Thor lifted it high,
Bringing it crashing down
On Vingnir’s skull.

Next he crushed Hlora’s skull in,
Thor,
Standing over the dead Giants,
Said, “You will not harm my kin.”

“My rage and anger
Now belong to you and your kin,
I shall do everything,
Within my power to stop you at every turn.“

Taking Vingnir’s-Mjolnir,
And packing his things,
Thor made his way back
To Asgard.

Back home in Asgard,
Thor stayed true to his words,
Killing many Giants
That would harm the Aesir.

Once Thor had Vingnir’s-Hammer
Stolen by Loki,
At the Giant Thrym’s request,
Then it was taken to Thrymheim.

Thor was able to recover his Hammer,
With Loki’s help,
By following Heimdallr’s advice,
That Thor dress like Freyja.

Another time Thor was away,
And his wife Sif was sleeping,
Loki snuck into Bilskirnir,
And sheered all of Sif’s hair.

Upon Thor’s return,
He was very angry,
He knew that Loki was behind it,
And had him brought before the Gods.

Loki was made to go,
Down to the dark Alfs,
To the magical Smiths,
And have them make some replacement hair.

Loki talked to the
Sons of Ivaldi,
Into making the replacement hair
For Sif.

The sons of Ivaldi
Made Sif’s wig,
They made Freyr’s Skidbladnir,
And Odinn’s spear Gungnir.

Loki had told the sons of Ivaldi,
That he would return,
And let them know what the gods thought
Of their fine works.

Instead of going back to Asgard,
Loki stopped to see
The dwarfs Brokk and Sindri,
And showed them.

"The works of
The sons of Ivaldi",
Loki asked them,
"Can you make anything as nice?"

Brokk thought not,
But Sindri thought
That he could.
Loki said, “I bet may head you can’t.”

The dwarfs Brokk and Sindri
Made Odinnn’s Armring Draupnir,
They made Thor Iron Hammer,
And Freyr’s Golden Boar.

Loki told the dwarves
That he would return,
And let them know
What the Gods thought.

Thor’s new Iron Hammer
He called Mjolnir,
It would soon
Prove to be very valuable,

During the battle with
The Giant Hrungnir,
Thor used his new Hammer,
Killing Hrungnir.

After that battle,
Thor returned home,
And hid Vingnir’s Hammer
In a secret place.

The dwarves Brokk and Sindri,
Could not wait for Loki’s return,
So they went to Asgard
Before the Aesir.

They asked what the Aesir,
Thought about the mighty works
They had made,
In response to the works of Ivaldi’s sons.

The Aesir told Brokk and Sindri,
That they found their
Works to be the best,
And most valuable.

Winning the bet,
Brokk wanted Loki’s head,
But Loki talked his way out of it,
And the Aesir agreed.

The sons of Ivaldi,
Did not know about the bet,
Loki had made,
With Brokk and Sindri.

But word began,
To spread across,
All the Nine Worlds,
Finally to Volund’s ears.

The news was like
Adding salt to a wound,
After having his father killed
In a war with the Aesir.

Volund decieded that,
He would make a sword
That would be stronger
Than Thor’s Hammer.

Gathering what he needed,
Volund
Began to hammer the metal
Into the shape of a sword.

He hammered,
Revenge and Hate,
And Woe and Misfortune
Into that sword.

Volund named
The sword Gambantein,
The Wand of Revenge,
Long he worked to perfect it.

From every poisonous river
He hardened the blade,
The blade itself was as
Sharpe as Vafur-Fire.

The blade shone like
The brilliance of the sun,
He risted with runes of evil,
It had a golden hilt of untold beauty.

Urd told Mimir
That it was
His duty
To stop Volund.

Before Volund
Had the chance
To use Gambantein,
Mimir and his sons
Had captured Volund.

Sindri looking over,
Thought that,
It indeed was a better work,
Than his Hammer.

Mimir and his sons
Took Gambantein,
And hid it
Where no on would find it.

After some time Volund
Escaped from the fetters,
That Mimir’s sons
Had bound him with.

Volund in his anger
Stormed the walls of Asgard
In the shape of a Giant Eagle,
Attacking the Aesir.

Volund
Was cut short
By Thor’s New Iron Hammer,
The Giant Eagle bursting into flames.

After a time Svipdag
Went searching for Gambantein,
And found it,
And taking it up,

He journeyed all around,
Gathering as many Giants,
As he could for
A battle against the Aesir.

In the heat of the battle,
Thor threw His Iron Mjolnir
At Svipdag,
Meeting the Hammer with Gambantein.

The sword,
Cut right through the Hammer,
Destroying it,
It returned to Thor in pieces.

After the battle,
Thor went to where
He had hidden Vingnir’s Stone Hammer,
And took it up once more.

© Robert Etter

Author of "A Devotional: Honoring Thor and Family" and "Thor, Midgard's Veurr, and the Fylgja",
Both together in one book:
Thor, God Of The Common Man

 

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