Thor's Hammer is Stolen

Thor woke one morning to find Mjölnir gone. He searched his hall and all of Asgard — the hammer was nowhere. Without it, Asgard lay exposed. Loki borrowed Freyja's falcon cloak and flew to Jotunheim, where he found the giant king Thrym cheerfully admitting he had taken the hammer and buried it eight miles underground. His price for its return: Freyja as his bride.

When Loki carried this news back, Freyja erupted in fury. Her necklace Brísingamen snapped from her neck. She would not be given to any giant. The gods gathered in crisis. Heimdall offered a plan: Thor should go to Thrym dressed as a bride, with Loki as his handmaiden.

Thor protested loudly. The gods overruled him. They dressed him in a bridal gown, hung Brísingamen around his neck, and set a headdress upon his head. Together Thor and Loki rode to Jotunheim.

Thrym welcomed his "bride" with a magnificent feast. But at the table, the bride consumed an entire ox, eight salmon, all the sweets, and three barrels of mead. "I have never seen a bride with such an appetite," said Thrym. Loki answered smoothly: she had not eaten in eight days, so eager was she to come.

Thrym leaned forward to peek under the veil and recoiled from two burning eyes. Loki explained: she had not slept for eight nights, so burning was her desire for this very moment.

Thrym called for Mjölnir to be laid on the bride's lap to hallow the wedding. The moment Thor felt the hammer in his hands, he tore away the veil. He killed Thrym, killed all the giants in the hall, and rode back to Asgard with Mjölnir restored.