Sif is a Norse goddess associated with the earth. She is also Thor's wife. She belongs to the class of newer gods known as the Aesir.
There is not much known about Sif, except for an incident when Loki sneaked into her bedroom and lopped off her beautiful golden locks while she was sleeping.
Thor was furious and threatened to smash him unless Loki managed to replace the hair. Loki asked the dwarfs to create a golden headpiece as a replacement. The dwarfs agreed and made a long wave of fine golden strands which Loki gave to Sif.
Along with the headpiece, Loki had the dwarfs produce other gifts to appease the gods: Odin's spear, Freyr's ship Skidbladnir (that can shrink to fit in his pocket), Freyr's golden bristled boar, and the mighty hammer for Thor.
Scholars have proposed that Sif's hair may represent fields of golden wheat and that she may be associated with fertility, family, and wedlock.
Next Thor's Day: another son of Odin, Vidar
Hodur (HOH-der) is the Norse god of winter and darkness. He is the blind son of Odin and Baldur's twin brother, therefore he belongs to the newer class of gods known as the Aesir.
The sources do not say why Hodur is blind, but scholars suspect it may simply be a representation of darkness and winter.
In the
previous post, you learned how Hodur was tricked by Loki into killing
his brother by shooting him with an arrow made of mistletoe.
http://salemsmoon.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/hr-and-baldr/
As a reaction to the murder, Odin fathered a son, the god of vengeance, Vali (pronounced like the English word valley). Vali grew to adulthood in one day for the sole purpose of slaying Hodur.
So Hodur joined Baldur in the underworld, which is ruled by the death goddess, Hel.
Interestingly, all three of the gods in this tragic story (Baldur, Hodur, and Vali) are among the few predicted to survive Ragnarok (the end of the world).
Next Thor's Day: Sif, goddess of the earth and wife of Thor
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