The Eye of Odin continues the tale of the earlier history of
Odin: Thor battles the Storm Giants Fafnir and Fasolt for possession of the
goddess Idunn, sister of Frey. But Odin calls a halt, confessing that he did
promise the fair goddess to them as payment for their building Valhalla for
him. Odin asks Loki if he was able to discover a way out of this bargain; Loki
describes how he sought the Rhinegold as a reasonable alternative for the
giants but the gnome Alberich stole the gold and fashioned it into a magic
ring. Odin's first response is that he must have that ring but the giants,
overhearing Loki's story, demand the ring in exchange for Idunn. Odin takes
Thor and Loki to Midgard, to the mines of Nibelheim, land of the gnomes. There,
Alberich, by the power of the ring and the Tarnhelm which can make him
invisible, plays tyrant over his fellow gnomes. The evil gnome takes on the
form of a dragon to battle the Asgardian trio and Thor fights him to a standstill.
Loki tricks Alberich into turning into a toad...and Odin threatens to squish
him if he does not hand over the gold. He gladly does in exchange for his
freedom—but Odin demands the ring as well. Alberich curses the ring and hands
it over to the All-Father....
The trio return to Asgard and give the Rhinegold to the
giants but they demand the ring as well. Odin, possessed by the power of the
ring, refuses to hand it over. The Earth-goddess Erda appears and persuades
Odin to give it up for his own well-being. They trade the ring for Idunn and
immediately the giant brothers fight over who shall possess the ring and Fafnir
kills Fasolt, takes the ring and the gold and vanishes from their sight. At
Odin's request Thor extends the Rainbow Bridge from Valhalla to Asgard and the
All-Father and Frigga become the first inhabitants of the great hall. Odin
plans to wipe the memory of that day's events from everyone's minds but Loki
has a warning...and Thor has a warning for Loki....