The design of the spear came to Óðr in a dream, but the weapon was so intricate and potent that only a master craftsman could properly forge it.

First he visited Dvalinn who could not be roused from his nap; Sindri did not consider himself up to the task; Andvari politely declined since the weapon would be used to murder both Gods and Giants and he did not wish to incur the debt that would come of being its maker – instead he offered to craft him a jewel-encrusted rhyton or drinking-horn which never emptied, which Óðr gladly accepted. Finally he came to Brokkr who so rudely refused that it resulted in a bitter feud between them lasting nearly three thousand years, until Sigyn finally intervened, establishing friþ once more between the God and Dwarf.

One day while wandering near the sulfur springs of Thermopylai in the land of Greece Óðr encountered a creature with thick black fur, a bulbous nose, and prehensile tail. He was all trussed up and left hanging over a boiling pool, his fur singed and face terribly scalded.

Óðr carefully cut him down, freed him from his bonds and healed his wounds, whereupon the creature revealed that he was Adranos, King of the Kobaloi who were cousins to the Kekropes and Kabeiroi, and known in other lands as Kobolds or Goblins. He had been driven from his kingdom in Sicily by Hephaistos, and he and his people then wandered for a while, causing mischief and stealing what they needed until Herakles subdued them and sold them into slavery under Queen Omphale of Lydia. They eventually escaped and had been living in the underground caves around the Hot Gates until Adranos ran afoul of the hero Malis (after whom the Malians were named) who left him in the pitiable condition in which Óðr discovered him.

Adranos brought the God to meet his people beneath the earth, and a great feast was held, to which Óðr contributed his best wine. Afterwards Óðr explained his mission and Adranos and the Kobaloi pledged their allegiance to him, joining his Retinue or Furious Host. As a token of this pledge the wizard-smiths made for him the terrible weapon he had sought so long, the God-killing and Giant-destroying spear he will brandish at Ragnarök.