Draupnir

Draupnir or Draupner was the magical ring that was given to Odin by the dwarf Brok, who created it with his brother Sindri. This had the power to make eight copies of equal value every nine nights. Odin later places the ring on Baldr's funeral pyre, which is then returned to him by Hermod.

Creation

One day Loki maliciously cut the hair of Sif, Thor's wife. But when the latter discovered it, he took Loki and would have crushed all his bones if he had not sworn to order the sons of Ivaldi to make a golden hair for Sif, which would grow like her other hair. So Loki went to the dwelling of the dwarves and they made the hair, Skidblandner, Freyr's ship, and Gungnir, Odin's spear. Then Loki bet on his head with the dwarf, whose name was Brok, that his brother Sindre would not be able to make three more treasures as good as those he They have just been named.

The brothers headed to the forge. Sindre put a pigskin in the forge and asked Brok to maneuver the bellows and not stop until he had removed what he had placed from the forge. Loki, disguised as a fly, landed on Brok's hand and stung him, but that didn't stop him from maneuvering the bellows, and what Sindre withdrew was a pig with golden silks. Then Sindre put gold into the forge. This time, Loki landed on Brok's neck and stung him harder, but that didn't stop him from maneuvering the bellows, and what the smith removed was the Draupnir gold ring. The third time Sindre put iron in the forge and asked his brother to continue blowing, otherwise everything would be lost. Then the fly landed between Brok's eyes and stung his eyelids. The blood began to fall into his eyes, so that he could not see; Then Brok released the bellows for a moment to scare the fly. What the smith removed was a hammer. Sindre gave his brother these treasures and asked her to go to Asgard to find the one he had bet on.

While Loki and Brok each arrived with their treasures, the Æsir sat on their thrones and deliberated, and Odin, Frey and Thor i> judges were appointed to give the final decision. Then Loki gave Odin the spear Gungnir that he should never lose the sign of it; To Thor he gave Sif's hair; and to Frey, he gave the ship Skidblandner, which always had a favorable wind as soon as its sails were spread, no matter where its captain went: he could also fold it like a napkin and put it in his pocket if he wanted. After this Brok advanced and gave Odin the Draupnir ring, saying that every ninth night eight rings of equal value would emerge from it. To Frey he gave the golden boar Gullinbursti, telling him that it could run in the air and over the sea day and night, faster than any other horse, and that, no matter how long the night, no matter how dark the others worlds, there would always be clarity wherever the boar was, so shiny were its bristles. To Thor he gave the hammer Mjölnir, saying that he could hit an object no matter how large it was; that he would never hit wrongly, and that when he threw it he should not fear losing it, because no matter how far it fell, it would always return to its master, and according to his wishes, it would become so small that he could hide it in his bosom; but he had a defect, the handle of him was a little short. According to the decision of the gods, the hammer was the best of all treasures, especially for the protection it offered against the cold giants; Consequently they decided that the dwarf had won the bet and the latter therefore wanted Loki's head.

Loki offered to get her back somehow; but the dwarf did not want to accept any alternative. "Well, take me then," said Loki, and in a moment he was very far away, since he had shoes with which he could run through the air and over the sea. Then the dwarf asked Thor to take him, which was done, but when Brok wanted to cut off his head, Loki said: "The head belongs to you, but not the neck." Then the dwarf took thread and a knife and wanted to pierce Loki's lips to keep them together so that he would not deceive anymore, but the knife was not sharp enough. "It would be nice if I had my brother's breath," he said, and immediately the breath was there and so sharp that Brok was able to sew Loki's lips shut. Much later, Loki was able to remove the threads despite all the pain and continued to deceive the unwary with words.

Symbolism

The Draupnir ring is a symbol of fertility. But that is not all; This ring also symbolizes the fertility of the spirit, the creative power of the planet, the evolution of thought, the chain of ideas. The rings fall from Draupner as the drop falls on the drop. Ideas do not remain tied to their parents (Odin), but continue to grow and develop from man to man (Baldur).