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Family, golden hair and her connection with Thor Sif is a goddess belonging to the circle of the Æsir, known chiefly as Thor’s wife and for her extraordinary golden hair, which features in one of the most important stories about the making of the gods’ treasures. The surviving sources preserve few episodes in which she acts directly. Even so, Sif holds a prominent genealogical place in Thor’s family, and her hair sets off a chain of events leading to the creation of objects central to Norse mythology, including Mjölnir, Gungnir and Skíðblaðnir. Sif is repeatedly identified as Thor’s wife. Her marriage places her at the centre of one of the best-documented divine families in the Norse pantheon. Sif is the mother of Þrúðr, Thor’s daughter, and also of Ullr, although the surviving sources are silent about Ullr’s father. Thor is therefore Ullr’s stepfather. Sif’s motherhood connects her directly with two very different figures: Þrúðr, whose name means “strength” or “power”, and Ullr, a god closely associated with the bow, skis, hunting and winter. The best-known episode involving Sif appears in Skáldskaparmál, part of Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda. Loki cuts off Sif’s hair. When Thor discovers what has happened, he reacts violently and threatens Loki. To escape the consequences, Loki promises to obtain a new head of hair for Sif, made of gold and able to grow on her head like real hair. Loki goes to the dwarves known as the sons of Ívaldi. They make the golden hair intended for Sif, Gungnir, Odin’s spear, and Skíðblaðnir, the ship associated with Freyr. When placed on Sif’s head, the new hair adheres and grows like real hair. Loki wagers his own head against the dwarf Brokkr. Brokkr and his brother, named Eitri or Sindri depending on the manuscript and editorial tradition, create Gullinbursti, Draupnir and finally Mjölnir, Thor’s hammer. Loki tries to sabotage the forging by changing into a fly. While Mjölnir is being made, he briefly interrupts the work, which explains why the hammer ends up with a shorter handle than intended. Despite this flaw, the gods judge Mjölnir to be the finest of the objects presented. Sif’s connection with Mjölnir is indirect but significant. The need to replace the hair Loki had cut sets off the contest of craftsmanship that gives Thor his most famous weapon and transforms the magical inheritance of the Æsir and the Vanir. Hair is Sif’s most recognisable attribute. Modern tradition has associated her golden hair with fields of ripe wheat, but the surviving medieval sources do not explicitly identify Sif’s hair with wheat. The agricultural association should therefore be treated as a later or scholarly interpretation. The available evidence provides a much firmer basis for discussing family, marriage and kinship. Sif also appears in Lokasenna. During Ægir’s feast, Loki accuses her of having had a relationship with him. The accusation is part of the poem’s provocations; other sources do not confirm this alleged relationship, and the passage is insufficient to establish it as a mythological fact. One of Sif’s most important family relationships is her motherhood of Ullr. In Skáldskaparmál, Ullr can be identified through genealogical expressions that connect him with Sif, while Thor is not presented as his biological father. Ullr’s paternal origin has been lost. Sif is also the mother of Þrúðr, Thor’s daughter. Her name, Þrúðr, means approximately “strength” or “power”, an apt meaning for a daughter of Thor. Magni is the son of Thor and the jötunn Járnsaxa. The motherhood of Móði is much less clear. Sif has a central place as Thor’s wife and as the mother of Þrúðr and Ullr, but there is no basis for attributing all of Thor’s children to her. Her marriage to Thor, her motherhood of Ullr and Þrúðr, and the episode of her hair help reconstruct her place in the divine world. Sif’s golden hair is the narrative starting point for the contest of craftsmanship that gives Odin Draupnir, Freyr Gullinbursti and Thor Mjölnir. Group: Ásynjur Divine family: Æsir Husband: Thor Daughter: Þrúðr, with Thor Son: Ullr; father unknown Connection with Magni: Son of Thor and Járnsaxa Connection with Móði: Son of Thor; his mother is uncertain Main attribute: Golden hair Makers of the hair: The sons of Ívaldi Connection with Loki: Loki cuts her hair and must obtain a golden replacement Objects whose creation follows from the episode: Sif’s hair, Gungnir, Skíðblaðnir, Gullinbursti, Draupnir and Mjölnir Agricultural association: A traditional and modern interpretation; explicit identification with wheat is not confirmed by the medieval sources Main sources: Skáldskaparmál in the Prose Edda and Lokasenna in the Poetic Edda
Sif