Loki the mischief-maker, was writhing uncomfortably in Thor's iron grip.
The previous night, while the rest of the gods slept, he'd snuck up on Thor's wife Sif and shorn off her beautiful hair.
It'd seemed like a funny prank at the time, but now Thor was about to break every bone in his body.
Loki had to think of some way to fix what he'd done.
Yet who could replace Sif's matchless hair, golden like a field of summer wheat?
The dwarves!
– their legendary smiths could make anything.
So Loki rushed to their realm, deep within the mountains of the earth.
Even before he arrived, the wily Loki was already scheming how he would get the dwarves to do his bidding.
He decided that his best bet was to pit two families against each other.
