Eitri (also called Sindri) was the master dwarf-smith who, with his brother Brokkr, forged the three greatest treasures of the Norse gods at his magical forge — among them Thor's hammer Mjölnir. The genius at the anvil whose craft surpassed even that of the legendary sons of Ivaldi, he is one of the supreme makers of the Norse cosmos.
The Master at the Forge
Eitri (Old Norse Eitri; in some sources named Sindri) was a dwarf and a smith of unequalled skill, the brother of Brokkr. In the Norse imagination the dwarves were the master-craftsmen of all the worlds, working their wonders in forges deep in the rock and the earth — and Eitri was among the very greatest of them. It was he who stood at the forge and worked the metal while his brother Brokkr pumped the bellows, and from his hands came treasures of such power that they would equip the gods themselves.
The Contest of Craftsmanship
Eitri's great work came in the famous wager set off by Loki. The trickster had bet his own head that no smith could match the treasures forged by the dwarf sons of Ivaldi. Eitri took up the challenge, and at his forge he worked three wonders — while Loki, transformed into a stinging fly, repeatedly bit Brokkr at the bellows to ruin the work. But Eitri's craft held. He had only to lay each piece of metal in the fire and tell Brokkr to keep pumping; whatever happened, the bellows must not stop. Even as the fly tormented his brother, Eitri drew forth wonder after wonder.
The Three Treasures
From Eitri's forge came three of the most famous treasures in all of Norse myth. First, the golden boar Gullinbursti, whose golden bristles glowed in the dark and who could run through air and water faster than any horse. Second, the golden arm-ring Draupnir, from which dripped eight new golden rings of equal weight every ninth night, a source of endless wealth. And third, the hammer Mjölnir — the mightiest weapon of the gods, which never missed and always returned to the hand, the great defence of Asgard against the giants. Though the fly's last bite gave Mjölnir a slightly short handle, the hammer was judged the greatest treasure of all, and Eitri and Brokkr won the wager.
The Genius of the Anvil
Eitri endures as one of the supreme smiths of Norse myth — the master at the forge whose craft produced Mjölnir, Draupnir and Gullinbursti, the dwarf whose skill armed the gods with their greatest treasures. He embodies the Norse reverence for the smith's art and the dwarves' role as the makers of all wonders: that the gods, for all their power, depended on the craft of the dwarves for the very weapons and treasures that defined them, and that the mightiest hammer in the cosmos came from the forge of Eitri the smith.
From his forge came the hammer that guards the gods, the ring that drips gold, and the boar of golden bristles — for even the gods' greatest treasures were made by the hands of a dwarf.