metal--gold and silver,
copper and iron. Brock told his tale, how he had wagered his head
against Loki's that Sindri could make things more wonderful than the
spear and the boat that Loki had brought into Asgard.

"You were right in what you said, my brother," said Sindri, "and you
shall not lose your head to Loki. But the two of us must work at what I
am going to forge. It will be your work to keep the fire so that it will
neither blaze up nor die down for a single instant. If you can keep the
fire as I tell you, we will forge a wonder. Now, brother, keep your
hands upon the bellows, and keep the fire under your control."

Then into the fire Sindri threw, not a piece of metal, but a pig's skin.
Brock kept his hands on the bellows, working it so that the fire neither
died down nor blazed up for a single instant. And in the glowing fire
the pigskin swelled itself into a strange shape.

But Brock was not left to work the bellows in peace. In to the forge
flew a gadfly. It lighted on Brock's hands and stung them. The Dwarf
screamed with pain, but his hands still held the bellows, working it to
keep the fire steady, for he knew that the gadfly was Loki, and that
Loki was striving to spoil Sindri's work. Again the gadfly stung his
hands, but Brock, although his hands felt as if they were pierced with
hot irons, still worked the bellows so that the fire did not blaze up or
die down for a single instant.

Sindri came and looked into the fire. Over the shape that was rising
there he said words of magic. The gadfly had flown away, and Sindri bade
his brother cease working. He took out the thing that had been shaped in
the fire, and he worked over it with his hammer. It was a wonder
indeed--a boar, all golden, that could fly through the air, and that
shed light from its bristles as it flew. Brock forgot the pain in his
hands and screamed with joy. "This is the greatest of wonders," he said.
"The Dwellers in Asgard will have to give the judgment against Loki. I
shall have Loki's head!"

But Sindri said, "The boar Golden Bristle may not be judged as great a
wonder as the spear Gungnir or the boat Skidbladnir. We must make
something more wonderful still. Work the bellows as before, brother, and
do not let the fire die down or blaze up for a single instant."

Then Sindri took up a piece of gold that was so bright it lightened up
the dark cavern that the Dwarfs worked in. He threw the piece of gold
into the fire. Then he went t