Sif and her Golden Hair

Sif was the wife of Thor and he was the son of Odin. Thor loved fighting with his hammer, and this meant he was often away from Asgard where the Norse gods live, as fighting was not allowed there. Norse gods had to go and fight somewhere else if they wanted to, and Thor did want to.

While Thor was away, Sif had plenty to do herself. She was very beautiful and she was goddess of fertility, so she had to travel all over the North, doing everything she could so people had good crops and food to eat. Wherever there were farms and people tilling the land, Sif was sure to be nearby, to protect them from the cruel winds and winters of the North.

And everyone was always glad to see her. Firstly, because she brought good luck, and secondly because of her long, shiny, thick and wonderful golden hair. It shimmered and glimmered down her back and round her face, golden and thick as a field of corn.

Of course, as every woman knows, beautiful hair does not take care of itself. She was very proud of her hair, and did not allow herself to have a bad hair day. Especially as she knew her husband Thor was very proud of it too, and often boasted about it when he was drinking. Sif loved Thor, and she wanted to keep his admiration for her beauty and his love. So morning, noon and night, Sif combed her wonderful hair with a jewelled comb, and she often washed in pure sparkling streams, and laid it out to dry on a rock. It took quite a while.

One day, while she was sitting on a bank of moss outside her house in Asgard, drying her golden hair in the sun, Sif went to sleep. That’s easy in the sun when you’re not doing much. Especially, if another god puts a spell on you so you don’t wake up if there’s a noise…

It was Loki, the god of fire and mischief, who put the spell on Sif so she didn’t wake up. And while she was asleep, Loki took his scissors and chopped off Sif’s hair, all of it! Her beauty was gone, her head was bare as a baby’s…

A while later, Sif woke up. Her head and neck felt cold and light, – she looked up and saw the sun was still shining. Then she felt for her hair, – it was gone! Horrified she rushed inside and burst into tears…rain fell in bucketfuls on all the corn in the north, so the people asked “What in heaven’s happened to Sif?” She cried and cried, and when eventually Sif stopped crying, she was pale as death, and put on a rough veil like a shroud to cover her head and shoulders. She stayed inside, so no-one could see her.

That night Thor came home. But instead of saying “hello”, Sif said nothing and pulled her veil closer. Thor thought she must be somewhere else, so he walked over to the palaces of the other gods to look for her. He could not find Sif. Thor came home, but he did not like coming back to an empty house. “Sif” he called, “where are you?”  When Sif could remain quiet no longer, she cried.  “Oh husband, I am ashamed. My hair has gone. An evil-doer has cut it off and taken it. I don’t want you to see me like this, so I must go. I must leave Asgard, the home of the gods, beautiful and perfect, and live somewhere else.”  Thor burst in, and was horrified: it was true, Sif had lost her beauty, she had lost her wonderful shimmering hair! It didn’t help either that she was puffy-eyed, pale and depressed.

“Who did this, Sif?” said Thor. “I am the strongest of the gods, and I will find whoever it was and kill him. I will make the other gods use all their strength, all their magic and all their powers to give you back your wonderful golden hair!”

Thor led Sif in her veil to the Council House, where some of the other gods and goddesses were sitting on crystal benches sipping mead. None of them could tell Thor who had cut Sif’s hair. Finally, Odin spoke. “It must have been Loki who did this,” he said. “He is god of fire, and we all know that fire can do a lot of harm. And nobody else would do such a thing. This is a great mischief and Loki has always loved mischief. But Thor, you must not kill him here. There can be no killings in Asgard. I will find Loki for you. But do not kill him. Besides, he has many skills, and maybe he will find a way to return Sif’s beauty to her.”

“Hmph,” grunted Thor who was red with anger. “I’d like to kill him, but that wouldn’t help Sif”. Odin spoke again, “Control your rage, my son. I will call the call, and all must answer it, even Loki!”

Odin called and all the gods and goddesses who were not in the Council chamber, had to stop what they were doing and go there. Even Loki.  Loki saw at once that everyone was against him, so he said “How do you know I’m guilty?” “Come,” said Odin. “Don’t lie. You have done Sif and Thor a great wrong, and you must put it right!”

“I can’t grow hair for someone,” joked Loki. “And if I could, it would not be on her head!” None of the gods laughed. Loki looked at Thor whose temper was famous, and he looked at Odin who said again “You must make good the wrong you have done,‘’  and he saw that he would indeed have to find a way to restore Sif’s beauty.

So Loki left Asgard. He did not leave to escape from Thor, though that was part of it. He left to try and find a solution. He did not go to the Giants,or to Midgard where people lived, for he knew that there had never been a man or woman who could do anything to restore Sif’s hair. No, Loki went under the earth.

This is not something that you or I could do, for inside, the earth is boiling hot. But Loki was the god of fire, and so he could go down and down inside the earth. That is where the Gnomes live.  There they were master smiths and the rich guardians of metals, minerals and crystals: they had learnt to use hammer and tongs to make beautiful and magic things from them.

Loki was crafty, and he always flattered the Gnomes when he went to see them and promised them the earth although they already had it!  The Gnomes liked him. Nobody else had ever been nice to them.  Then he said “Have you enough gold and skills to make a cap of floor-length hair as fine as silk?” The Gnomes set to work at once. They hammered and toiled for days, but finally the Cap of Golden Hair was ready! Even Loki was impressed. “’Tis true, you are master smiths indeed. None better. Will you give me this Cap in return for the Heavens and the Earth?”

The Gnomes who were not clever, gave Loki the Cap of Golden Hair, although the Earth was already theirs, and the Heavens were not Loki’s to give. Loki said goodbye, and took the Cap back to the Heavens to find Sif. “Take your veil off,” he said “here is your golden hair again.” And he flung the Cap on Sif’s head where it fitted perfectly.

And that is the story of how Sif lost and regained her golden hair.

If you want to listen to the audio version, the link is here:
https://charlotteswonderfulstories.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/dec-sif-and-her-golden-hair-.mp3