Sif is the golden-haired goddess of Norse mythology and the wife of the thunder god Thor. Best known for her radiant golden hair — shorn in the night by Loki and remade by the dwarves — she is a quiet figure of the household, the harvest, and the fruitful earth.
Who is Sif?
Sif is one of the Ásynjur, the goddesses of Asgard, named in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda as the wife of Thor and reckoned among the foremost of the goddesses in beauty. Her defining feature is her long golden hair, which later readers have often taken as an image of ripe grain and the gold of the harvest field. The surviving myths say little of her deeds; she is above all a wife and mother, yet her hair sits at the heart of one of the best-known tales of dwarven craft in all of Norse legend.
The theft of Sif's golden hair
Out of pure mischief, Loki crept up on the sleeping Sif and cut off all her hair. Thor's fury was such that Loki, to save his own skin, swore to have the dwarves replace it. The Sons of Ivaldi, master smiths beneath the earth, spun new hair from real gold that would take root and grow from her head like natural hair. In the same working they made two more treasures: the ship Skíðblaðnir and the spear Gungnir. Loki then wagered his head with the dwarf brothers Brokkr and Eitri that they could not match these gifts — and from their forge came the golden boar Gullinbursti, the ring Draupnir, and Mjölnir, Thor's hammer itself. Sif's stolen hair is thus the spark that set every one of the gods' greatest treasures ringing on the anvil.
Family
Sif is the wife of Thor and by him the mother of Þrúðr, a daughter whose name means "strength." She is also the mother of Ullr, the god of the bow and the ski, whose father is never named — making Thor his stepfather. In the poem Lokasenna, Loki taunts the assembled gods and boasts that he was once Sif's lover; the charge is his alone, one of many barbs he throws to sow discord, and fits his role as the slanderer of the hall.
Symbols and legacy
Sif's golden hair binds her to the ripened grain and the turning of the farming year — the same fruitful cycle named by the rune Jera, the harvest. As Thor's wife she stands beside the god whose storms guard the fields, and their household embodies the settled plenty the Norse farmer prayed for. Though thinly drawn in the surviving sources, Sif endures as the golden goddess whose loss set the dwarves' forges alight.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Sif in Norse mythology?
Sif is a goddess of the Aesir, famed for her golden hair and best known as the wife of the thunder god Thor. Snorri Sturluson reckons her among the foremost of the goddesses in beauty.
Why did Loki cut off Sif's hair?
Loki sheared Sif's hair out of sheer malice while she slept. To escape Thor's rage he swore to have the dwarves craft her new hair of real gold, which set the great treasure-forging in motion.
Who is Sif married to?
Sif is the wife of Thor, the thunder god. By him she is the mother of the goddess Þrúðr, and she is also the mother of the god Ullr by an unnamed father.
Is Sif a fertility goddess?
The sources never call her that outright, but her golden hair has long been read as an image of ripe grain, tying her to the harvest and the fruitful earth alongside her storm-god husband.
What treasures were made because of Sif's hair?
To replace Sif's hair the dwarves forged golden locks that grew like real hair, plus the ship Skíðblaðnir and the spear Gungnir. A rival wager then produced Gullinbursti, the ring Draupnir, and Thor's hammer Mjölnir.