How Thor got his hammer - Scott A. Mellor

Translator: Sanne Yvonne Nordbø Østbø Reviewer: Thomas Bedin

Loki the mischief-maker, was writhing uncomfortably in Thor’s iron grip.

Urostifteren Loke vred seg i Tors jerngrep.

The previous night, while the rest of the gods slept, he’d snuck up on Thor’s wife

Natten før, mens de andre gudene sov, hadde han sneket seg inn til Tors kone,

Sif and shorn off her beautiful hair.

-Siv, og klippet av henne det vakre håret.

It’d seemed like a funny prank at the time,

Det hadde vært ment som en morsom spøk,

but now Thor was about to break every bone in his body.

-men nå ville Tor brekke hvert bein i kroppen hans.

Loki had to think of some way to fix what he’d done.

Loke måtte tenke ut noe for å rydde opp i dette.

Yet who could replace Sif’s matchless hair, golden like a field of summer wheat?

Men hvem kunne erstatte Sivs makeløse hår, gyllent som en hveteåker om sommeren?

The dwarves! – their legendary smiths could make anything.

Dvergene! Deres berømte smeder kunne lage hva som helst.

So Loki rushed to their realm, deep within the mountains of the earth.

Så Loke hastet til riket deres, dypt inne i fjellene på Jorda.

Even before he arrived, the wily Loki was already scheming

På veien var den slu Loke allerede i gang med å pønske ut-

how he would get the dwarves to do his bidding.

-hvordan han skulle få dvergene til å gjøre jobben for seg.

He decided that his best bet was to pit two families against each other.

Hans beste sjanse ville være å sette to familier opp mot hverandre.

He first visited the masterful sons of Ivaldi.

Først besøkte han de dyktige sønnene til Ivalde.

He told them that their rivals, a pair of brothers named Brokk and Eitri,

Han fortalte dem at deres rivaler, brødrene Brokk og Eitre,

had claimed that they were the best craftsmen in the world

-hadde erklært at de var verdens beste håndverkere,

and were determined to prove it in a competition.

-og at de ville bevise det med en konkurranse.

The rules were that each family had to create three gifts for the gods,

Reglene var at hver familie skulle lage tre gaver til gudene—

including, for the Ivaldis, golden hair.

inkludert gullhåret, som ble Ivaldesønnenes ansvar.

Then Loki visited Brokk and Eitri, and told them the same thing,

Så dro Loke til Brokk og Eitre, og fortalte dem det samme,

only now claiming that the sons of Ivaldi had issued the challenge.

-bare at det var Ivaldesønnene som var kommet med utfordringen.

But Brokk and Eitri couldn’t be fooled so easily,

Men Brokk og Eitre var ikke lettlurte,

and only agreed to participate if Loki put his own head on the line.

-og ville bare delta hvis Loke satset hodet sitt.

Literally—if Brokk and Eitri won, Loki would forfeit his head to them.

Bokstavelig talt — hvis Brokk og Eitre vant, skulle de få Lokes hode.

Loki had no choice but to agree, and to save himself had to find a way

Loke måtte gå med på avtalen, men for å redde skinnet sitt-

-skulle han sørge for at Ivaldesønnene vant.

to make sure the sons of Ivaldi emerged victorious.

Both sets of dwarves got to work.

Begge dvergfamiliene gikk til verks.

Eitri set Brokk to man the bellows and told him not to stop for any reason,

Brokk skulle dra blåsebelgen og holde den gående uansett hva,

or the treasures would be ruined.

-ellers ville skattene bli ødelagt.

Soon a strange black fly flew into the room.

Snart fløy en underlig mygg inn i rommet.

As a piece of pigskin was placed in the forge, the fly stung Brokk’s hand,

Idet et svineskinn ble lagt i essen, stakk myggen Brokk på hånda,

but he didn’t flinch.

-men han reagerte ikke.

Next, while Eitri worked a block of gold, the fly bit Brokk on the neck.

Mens Eitre jobbet med en gullbarre, bet myggen Brokk i nakken.

The dwarf carried on.

Dvergen fortsatte som før.

Finally, Eitri placed a piece of iron in the furnace.

Til slutt la Eitre en jernbit i masovnen.

This time the fly landed right on Brokk’s eyelid and bit as hard as it could.

Nå landet myggen på øyelokket til Brokk, og bet så hardt den kunne.

And for just a split second, Brokk’s hand left the bellows.

For ett millisekund glapp Brokk blåsebelgen.

That’s all it took; their final treasure hadn’t stayed in the fire long enough.

Det var nok: Den siste skatten fikk for lite tid i ilden.

Loki now reappeared in his normal form, overjoyed by their failure,

Loke dukket opp i sin vante form, henrykt over feilgrepet deres,

and accompanied the dwarves to present their treasures to the gods.

-og slo følge med dvergene for å presentere skattene for gudene.

First, Loki presented the treasures from the sons of Ivaldi.

Først presenterte Loke gavene fra Ivaldesønnene.

Their golden hair bound to Sif’s head and continued to grow,

Det gylne håret festet seg til Sivs hode og fortsatte å vokse,

leaving her even more radiant than before.

-slik at hun ble enda vakrere enn før.

Next, for Odin the all-father,

Den neste var allfader Odin,

a magnificent spear that could pierce through anything.

-som fikk et praktfullt spyd som kunne gjennombore alt.

And finally a small cloth that unfolded into a mighty ship built for Freyr,

Det siste var et lommetørkle som kunne foldes ut til et mektig skip,

-laget til Frøy, guden for innhøsting.

god of the harvest.

Then Brokk presented the treasures made by him and his brother.

Så presenterte Brokk gavene fra ham selv og broren.

For Freyr they’d forged a golden-bristled boar

Til Frøy hadde de smidd et gullbustete villsvin-

who’d pull Freyr’s chariot across the sky faster than any mount.

-som kunne trekke Frøys vogn over himmelen raskere enn noe dyr.

For Odin, a golden arm ring which would make eight more identical rings

Odin fikk en armring av gull som lagde åtte nye, identiske ringer-

on every ninth night.

-hver niende natt.

And for Thor, a hammer called Mjolnir.

Og Tor fikk en hammer kalt Mjølner.

Its handle was too short, and Loki smirked at the obvious defect.

Skaftet var for kort, og Loke flirte av den åpenbare mangelen.

But then Brokk revealed its abilities.

Men så fortalte Brokk om dens egenskaper.

Mjolnir would never shatter, never miss its mark

Mjølner var uknuselig, alltid treffsikker,

and always return to Thor’s hand when thrown.

-og ville alltid vende tilbake til Tors hånd når han kastet den.

Despite the short handle, the gods all agreed this was the finest gift of all.

Selv om skaftet var kort, var denne gaven utvilsomt den flotteste.

Remembering what was at stake, Loki tried to flee, but Thor reached him first.

Loke husket hva han hadde satset, og forsøkte å flykte, men Tor var raskere.

But before the dwarves could have their due,

Før dvergene fikk krevd sin gevinst,

clever Loki pointed out that they had won the rights to his head, but not his neck,

-påpekte Loke at de hadde vunnet retten til hodet hans,

-men ikke strupen, så den fikk de ikke røre.

and thus had no right to cut it.

All begrudgingly admitted the truth in that, but Brokk would have the last laugh.

Ingen kunne motsi dette, men Brokk skulle le sist.

Taking his brother’s awl, he pierced it through Loki’s lips

Han stakk brorens syl gjennom Lokes lepper-

and sewed his mouth shut,

-og sydde igjen munnen hans,

so the trickster god could no longer spread his malicious deceit.

-slik at luringguden ikke lenger kunne spinne sine onde renker.

Yet the irony was not lost on the gods.

Men ironien gikk ikke gudene hus forbi.

For it was Loki’s deceit that had brought them these fine treasures

Det var tross alt Lokes renkespill som hadde skaffet dem skattene,

and given Thor the hammer for which he’s still known today.

-og gitt Tor hammeren som han i dag er så kjent for.