Loki: What’s hidden in plain sight in episode 4
By Mike McNulty
Sif and her bad hair day
One of the more unexpected surprises during “The Nexus Event” was the return of Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif. Or in this case, a projection of Sif based off one of Loki’s “bad memories” set on an infinite loop à la Groundhog Day. And we see that this awful memory centers on Sif being furious with Loki over him cutting her hair as a prank. Those familiar with Norse Mythology will recognize what this references, and how it actually ties into one of the more important aspects of the original mythos.
The way the original story goes is that Loki shaved off all of Sif’s hair while she slept as a practical joke. Naturally, Sif didn’t find this the least bit funny, and neither did her husband, Thor, who threatened to kill his half-brother. In desperation, Loki promised to restore Sif’s hair, and turned to a pair of dwarven blacksmith brothers called the Sons of Ivaldi. Not only did they create a luxurious wig for Sif, but two other magical items: a sailing ship called Skidbladnir, and a spear named Gungnir.
However, because he couldn’t help himself, Loki said that nobody could craft anything finer that what the Sons of Ivaldi made. This riled up another pair of dwarven brothers, Brokkr and Eitri, who claimed they could make even better gifts for the gods. So the God of Mischief wagered that if they could do this, he’d offer up his own head. Brokkr and Eitri then made three more magic items, despite Loki attempts at cheating by turning into a horsefly and trying to mess up their work.
When they presented their gifts to the Asgardians, Loki gave Sif her new hair, gave Gungnir to Odin, and gave Skidbladnir to Odin’s son-in-law, Frey. Brokkr, however, presented the following gifts: a golden boar named Gullinbursti for Frey, the reproducing ring Draupnir for Odin, and for Thor, the hammer Mjolnir. Yes, unlike as we’ve seen in both the comics and the Thor movies, the original mythology has Thor’s signature weapon created as a result of a bet and as the indirect result of Loki giving Sif a really bad hair cut.
In any case, the Asgardians proclaimed Brokkr the winner, which meant he could decapitate Loki as they agreed. However, Loki said that while Brokrr could take his head, he must do so without damaging his neck since that wasn’t part of their original wager. Of course, this was impossible, which also meant Loki kept his head, despite the other gods having a huge argument over where someone’s head technically began. Hence the origin of the term, “Loki’s Wager,” in which both sides of an argument can’t make any headway (no pun intended) because they can’t agree on the terms of the argument itself.