DVERGAR (dwarfs) are an all-male race of supernatural beings in Germanic mythology. Only in later sagas are they described as stunted and deformed. Molded from earth or quickened in the blood of giants in earlier eddic sources (Gylfaginning, ch. 13; Vo̜luspá, st. 9), the dwarfs were created by the gods. This was the most successful of the gods' experiments in producing life by nonbiological means, for the dwarfs were craftsmen like the gods and served their interests. Artisans in wood and metal and gifted with magical creativity, dwarfs produced precious objects such as Þórr's hammer, Óðinn's spear, Sif's golden hair, Freyr's boat, and Freyja's necklace and boar. A particularly useful item that they forged for the gods was the magical fetter that kept the monstrous wolf Fenrir bound until the gods' last battle at Ragnarǫk. Dwarfs also engaged in creative enterprises of their own, such as brewing the...