The Sword of Summer

Several minutes later, Eitri Junior arrives. His father made the rope Gleipnir, and Junior hates Blitz because Blitz’s father questioned the rope’s quality. It turns out Junior made a replacement rope just in case. Blitz offers the red gold, but the payment isn’t enough. Junior wants his family’s honor back and challenges Blitz to a duel with “[t]he traditional rules, the traditional wager” (296). A terrified Blitz agrees.

Before Magnus can inquire what the duel entails, Sam and Hearth stumble into the bar. Reunited, Blitz explains the duel. The contest is in crafting, something Blitz isn’t great at, and Junior is “the most skilled dwarf alive” (298). It’s unlikely Blitz will win, and if he loses, the price is his head.

The group spends the night at Blitz’s apartment, where Blitz serves egg rolls for dinner and fills in the others on the rules of the contest and his family history. Each participant in the contest makes three items, and a judge assigns points. The dwarf with the most points wins, and in the traditional wager, the loser dies. Most dwarves don’t insist on the traditional wager, but Junior did because of his hatred for Blitz’s family. Junior’s father made some of the most important godly items, including the rope Gleipnir and Thor’s hammer.