The necklace of Brisings

Nordic Saga

The Master Builder from Giant Land and the Birth of Sleipnir

A smith arrived at Asgard and offered to build a fortress in three seasons that would defend against mountain trolls and frost giants. In exchange he asked for the sun, the moon, and Freyja's hand in marriage. The Aesir agreed to the terms if he completed it in one season. The builder could get no help from anyone other than his stallion. With three days left, the Aesir realized that the builder would finish in time, so they made Loki find a way to prevent the builder from finishing. When the builder was working with his stallion, a mare jumped out, and the stallion galloped after her. Since the builder was trying to get back his stallion, less work was done on the fortress. When the builder realized this, he flew into a rage. The Aesir then realized that they were dealing with a giant, so they called upon Thor. Thor put an end to the giant's life and sent him down to Niflhel. Odin's eight-legged stallion, Sleipnir, was born of the giant's stallion, Svadilfari.

EUHEMERISM- the giant offered something that they wanted, giant wanted something in exchange. Alliance that fell apart, double crossed.

Anthropological- Thor leading them into battle, warriors triumph. Loki was involved in any bad dealings

Other stuff

The Dwarves Make Treasures for the Gods

The Theft of Idun's Apples

Anthropological- perseverance is a valued quality. Little things like fly bites could not distract strong men from achieving his goals. LOKI is an oath breaker and is punished accordingly.

Psychoanalytic- hammer was the best of all treasures, phallic symbol to represent patriarchy.

Themes

Book: The Dwarves Make Treasures for the Gods

Statement: Breaking an oath or promise comes with a cost

Explanation: When Loki cut off Sif's hair, Thor scared him enough that Loki promised to find a way to get the dwarves to make new golden hair for Sif. “Loki then wagered his head” (92) for a treasure to the gods. It seemed as though Loki was going to keep his word as he helped the dwarves make the treasures and brought them to the gods. When it was time for Loki to pay his dues after he lost the bet, he fled, therefore breaking his promise. Once Thor caught him, Loki was to be punished. If Loki had not broken his promise, he wouldn't have had to have his lips shown shut.

Book: The Necklace of the Brisings

Statement: Things achieved through greed will have a poor consequence

Explanation: Freyja wanted a necklace so badly, she made a sacrifice to spend a night with the dwarves which would be a decision she would regret. The author says that “Freyja gazed at the necklace. She felt a great longing for it, a painful hunger.” (66) which shows how much she wanted it. Later on, Freyja’s desperation for the necklace is so great, she ends up staying with the dwarves shown in the quote “Freyja’s distaste for the dwarfs- their ugly faces, their pale noses, their misshapen bodies and their small greedy eyes - was great, but her desire for the necklace was greater” (66). She finally got the necklace and thought that all was good until Odin found out about what she did and took the necklace from her and wouldn’t give it back unless she did something for him. Since she still wanted the necklace, she gave in which shows her desperation. She took the consequences that occurred from wanting a material item through greed. Therefore, when something is achieved with greed like the necklace, the consequences will not be preferable.

Book: The Theft of Idun’s Apples

Statement: Don’t promise to give something that isn’t yours

Explanation: After Loki broke his agreement with the eagle, he was forced to promise to birng Idun and her apples to the eagle in exchange for letting him go free, even though Idun and the apples weren’t his to give away. When Idun and her apples were gone, the gods began to age and they desperately wanted to find Idun. Heimdall’s servant told them that Loki led Idun across Bifrost. "'Bring her back,' said Allfather. 'Your choice is easy to explain and easy to understand. Bring Idun and her apples back. Otherwise we'll put you to death'(42)." They made him go and retrieve her from the frost giants as punishment for his wrongdoing. Loki caused problems not only for himself, but for Idun and the other gods. Giving something away that doesn’t belong to you always ends badly not only for the person who gave it away, but sometimes also for the person’s whose right it was to give.

Loki and some other gods were out and they had food and an eagle came and demanded some of the food. Loki agreed eventually and the eagle came to eat the best meat which made Loki mad so he stabbed it with a stick. The eagle took off flying dragging Loki behind him, Loki was in extreme pain and the only way the eagle would let him go was if Loki would bring Idun and her apples to the Bifrost. Loki figured out that the eagle was a giant, but he did it anyway tricking Idun to the Bifrost. The eagle kidnapped her and while she was gone the gods began to age. They were desperate for her back so they found Loki and told him to get her back. So he sneaked off to the land of the Frost Giants and stole her back.

Sif's golden hair was cut off by Loki and when Thor found out, he scared Loki so much that Loki swore he would have the Dwarves make new hair. Loki went to Brokk and Eitri to make treasures. While they made the treasures and Brokk was pumping the air, he was bit by a fly. He was bit again when he was pumping the air for the second treasure. When Brokk was pumping the air for the third treasure, the fly bit him, making him bleed, and he stopped which ruined the treasure. They brought the treasures to the gods: a spear, golden hair, and Skidbladnir, a ring, and the hammer. Loki asked to ransom his head but a dwarf said no, and when he did, Loki ran away with the dwarf chasing him. When the Dwarf caught him, he sewed Loki's lips together.

Modern Day Connections

This is Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe

He is similar to Loki in the myths, being that he is based off of him. In the movies he is a trickster still, but the tricks he plays in the movie are to gain power he thinks he deserves. In the myth it is more to undermine the others.

The necklace that Freyja so desired from the story was described as "a necklace, a choker of gold incised with wondrous patterns, a marvel of fluid metal twisting and weaving and writhing"(65). This would be a modern day representation of the necklace that she was so greedy for.

Questions

ANTHROPOLOGICAL- the futility of fighting with nature, only won because of fire (nature's natural enemy), Loki becoming like the enemy... uncivilized, the fact Odin understood that Loki needed to value the oath.

Idun is a pawn and ignorant to the trials of war. However without her nurturing role, the gods would not survive, unbalanced, men are more aggressive, need a woman to be civilized (feminism), Loki's comment to Freyja that she is not quite beautiful when she is old and bald (shows that the culture had beauty standards, valued youthful look, most likely because fertility)

These are the Dwarves from Lord of the rings. In the myths dwarves are often recurring characters, building the things for the gods. In the myth however the dwarves were made out to be more misshapen creatures

1) Who is at fault for the gods losing their youth in the theft of Idun’s apples?

2) What was Sif’s hair made out of and who swore to find a way to make sure the elves made it?

3) Throughout The Necklace of the Brisings, Freyja seems to make decisions for herself. However, her choices are often influenced by a man's will. In what instances does she agree to a man's terms? What expectations does the man have for her and is Freyja truly selfish for just wanting something for herself?

4) In the Master Builder From Giant Land and The Birth of Sleipnir, the gods and a giant make a deal in regards to the construction of a fortress. If the giant completed his work in one winter's time, then he would be given Freyja's hand in marriage as well as the sun and the moon. Could this deal between two opposing forces possibly be an example of euhemerism? If so, what kind of event in Nordic history would it represent?

5) In The Theft of Idun's Apples, Loki's attempt to fight a giant disguised as an eagle lead to him begging for mercy. The eagle lets Loki go only after he promises to bring Idun and her apples to him. Do you think that Loki had a right to deceive Idun in order to save his own skin, especially at the cost of all of the god's immortality? Have you ever experienced a situation where you felt lying was your only option? How did that work out for you, and what would you have done in his position?

6) In The Dwarves Make Treasures for the Gods, Eitri warned Brokk that he had to keep pumping air with the bellows until his work was removed from the forge or else it would be ruined. Despite being tested by a fly's bites, Brokk remained focused on his goal of helping his brother win the bet against Loki. Was there ever a time in your life where your perseverance was tested? How did you overcome this obstacle?

7) Theft is a common action in these stories. Do you think it is appropriate to return such a crime with violence?

8) Do you think it is appropriate to steal something after it being stolen from you or a

friend? Or are you simply making both parties guilty of a crime.

The Necklace of Brisings

FEMINISTIC PERSPECTIVE… prostitution, comparing women to property, consent, woman doesn’t really own anything but herself (but even herself? not really), the price of a woman’s greed is paid by man, woman will go to any lengths to fulfill her desires.

One night Loki saw Freyja leaving Sessrumnir and followed her curious to where she was going. She went to see the Dwarves and saw a necklace that she just needed to have. They told her was not for sale, but she needed the necklace so they made her a deal. If she would spend one night with each of them she could have a necklace, so she agreed four bad nights for a necklace she would have for a lifetime. Loki took advantage of the opportunity and told Odin of her greed. When Odin found out he was furious and made Loki go get the necklace from her. He stole the necklace and when Freyja noticed the necklace was missing she knew who it was and went to Odin to get it back. He made her a deal, she had to have two kings go to war and destroy each other and have the men that die come back to life to fight again in order to have the necklace back.