Concerning Loki?

Question

I've been reading up on this online (something I normally don't like to do with this sort of thing), but I've come across a couple of websites that place Loki as, no less, Head of the Vanir. Now when I read the Eddas, it seems he is Aesir. I'm just wondering if maybe I'm missing something here?


http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/bldefvanir.htm

Belzebot lol Oh I know... I've heard it all before. =)

Answer 1

You want to know about Loki? You've come to the right place...here ya go...sources...authors...references...

LOKI

(ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GODS, MICHAEL JORDAN)


Origin: Nordic (Icelandic). Ambivalent character well represented in mythology.

Known period of worship: Viking period circa 700CE and earlier until the present day.

Synonyms: Lopt.

Center(s) of cult: none evidenced and probably Loki was not worshiped as were the other Asgard deities.

Art references: probably the subject of anonymous carvings

Literary sources: Icelandic codices; Prose Edda (Snorri); Historica Danica (Saxo).


Loki is mischievous, Machiavellian, humorous, sometimes sinister character. Snorri describes him as being "pleasing and handsome in appearance, and evil character, very capricious in behavior." He is the "poor relation" among the gods who has strong affinities with the giants, particularly at Ragnarok (doom) when he steers their ship, and whose loyalties are always suspect. Said to be the son of the giant Farbauti. He is also a scandalmonger. He was indirectly responsible for the death of Baler (directly according to Snorri) and fought with Heimdall. Sometimes he appears as a hero rescuing the gods from various predicaments through cunning. He also stands for evil, though less often, and was compared by Christian times with the Devil. Able to change shape at will-- said at various times to have impersonated a mare, flea, falcon, seal and an old crone. As a mare he gave birth to Othin's horse Sleipnir and he also allegedly sired the world serpent, the mistress of the netherworld, Hel, and the wolf Fenrir, which will devour the sun at Ragnarok.

One of his prominent attributes, said to come from antiquity, is that of accomplished thief, stealing at various times, Freyja's necklace, Thór’s belt and iron gloves, and the apples of youth. There is little to support the notion of Loki (Wagnerian: Loge) as a fire god other than similarity of name--logi, meaning fire.

(THE ULTIMATE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GODS, ARTHUR COTTERELL & RACHEL STORM)

LOKI sometimes Lopt, was the Germanic fire god and son of the Giant Farbauti and Laufey. He was a mischief-maker, trickster and shape-changer, and grew progressively more evil until eventually the gods bound him in a cave until the coming of Ragnarok, the end of the world. Boredom was a problem for Loki, who was tired of the string of days that unwound without a knot or a twist in them.

The fact that his parents were giants may help to explain his tendency towards evil deeds. He simply could not help playing tricks and exposing the gods to danger, although it was often his quick-wittedness that afterwards saved them. Loki, for instance brought about the loss and return of Idunn and her apples of youth. Without these magic fruit, the gods were subject to the ravages of time like everyone else. On occasion Loki was even prepared to risk serious harm to his companion Thór, the thunder god. When Loki led Thór unarmed into the hall of the giant Geirrod, only the loan of weapons from the kindly frost giant Grid saved the thunder god. Loki tricked his friend because the price of his own release had been delivery of the thunder god into his power.

Yet it was Loki who devised the novel scheme to get back Thor’s hammer after it was stolen by the dwarfs and passed into the hand of the frost giant Thrym. The price for the hammer’s return, Loki discovered, was the hand of Freya, the fertility goddess. He therefore persuaded Thor to go to Thrym dressed in Freya’s clothes. When Thrym too out the magic hammer, Thor seized it and laid low all the frost giants present.

Loki was married twice, first to the giant Angerboda and then to Sigyn, with whom he had two sons Vali and Narvi. His monstrous children by Angerboda were Fenrir, Jormungand and Hel, ruler of the underworld: all fearsome representatives of the evil side of his nature. Even after he brought about the death of Odin’s son Baldur, the gods continued to tolerate his presence in Asgard. But when he arrived at Aegir’s feast and began to torment everybody present with insults and sneers, their patience came to an end.

To escape their wrath Loki changed himself into a salmon. From his high seat in Asgard, however, Odin located the fish and mounted an expedition to catch it. Loki was then placed in a dark cave. His son Vali was changed into a wolf, who immediately attacked his brother Narvi and killed him. Narvi’s intestines were then used to bind Loki beneath the dripping mouth of a venomous snake. In this dreadful prison, the god awaited Ragnarok. Then he was to emerge to lead the army of evil in their final battle with the gods, when Loki would meet his own end at the hands of Heimdall.

(ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF MYTHOLOGY, PHILIP WILKINSON)

LOKI: Part god and part giant. Loki was a mixture of trixter and creator. He could be a friend to the gods, but Loki also caused the death of Balder. He led his monstrous children and the souls of the dead against the gods in Ragnarok, and therefore they were wary of him. His other names included the Sly God and Father of Lies.

(DICTIONARY OF MYSTICISM AND THE OCCULT, NEVIL DRURY)

LOKI: In Scandinavian mythology, the god of fire who was originally a member of the Aesir. Loki guided the mistletoe that killed Balder, and as a consequence the other gods bound Loki to a rock, with a snake dripping poisonous venom over him. He was saved by his wife and joined the evil monsters and giants as the sworn enemy of the Aesir.

(WHO’S WHO IN NON CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY, EGERTON SYKES)

LOKI: In Nordic myth, a culture hero who was one of the Aesir. He was the husband of Sigyn. Although the stories of his activities in the Eddas describe him as being beautiful, he would appear in fact to have been related to the dwarfs, which is shown by the numerous occasions on which he acted as intermediary between them and the Aesir. The confused stories of these activities may arise from endeavors to fuse his identity with those of Lodehur, one of the original companions of Odin, and Logi, a god mentioned in the Lay of Skrymir. It may have been in this later capacity that he destroyed the hair of Sif. His role seems to have been that of a malicious Merlin, and the word ‘Loki’ appears to have had the sense of Magus, certainly when it was applied to the ruler of Utgard in the story of Skrymir. He was the father of Fenrir and Hel. He has been compared to Coyote and Ikto.

(A COMPREHENSIVE DICTIONARY OF THE GODS, ANNE S. BAUMGARTNER)

LOKI: German. Son of Farbauti and Laufia. Father of Hel, the Fenris wolf and the Midgard serpent. God of strife, evil, discord and other nasty things. He is a handsome fellow with a small agile build. He also has no sense of honor and is amoral. His behavior was so abominable that he was chained with ten chains and will stay that way until the Twilight of the Gods, when he will break loose and destroy everything.

(THE RITES OF ODIN, ED FITCH)

LOKI: The trickster of Valhalla became its chief villain toward the end of the legend cycle, and set forth the events that brought the realm of the gods to its end. Yet it is thought that in doing so he was acting as an agent for that which was fated to happen. Loki is a very real personage and a very real god, and whatever is said by those who comment on the Eddas, he is still very real today. The legends should be viewed as giving not only his good features of humor, wit, questioning, pranks and parodies, but the darker side of the se aspects as well -- an object lesson of what can happen when these go wrong. The darkness that slowly rose in Loki’s personality can happen very actually in the soul and spirit of any human being, and can eventually have similarly destructive consequences. He is like the child portion in each and all of us: either fun loving of destructive.

Also, he can be a personification of a sometime dark aspect of the Great Goddess know in the most ancient legends of all peoples and all lands, named in northern Europe as Erda, Erca or Hulda, and along the rim of the Mediterranean as Eurynome. There are times when destruction is needed and inevitable, to clear the way the decadence of the past. Robert Graves most aptly wrote her words:

When the water stinks
I break the dam
In love I break it.

Loki would not want to mention love, but he would break the dam anyway.

Loki is Thor’s half-brother, being born from the Elder Gods who held sway before Valhalla. The legends state that Odin, Thor and Loki went on many adventures together, and accomplished many great deeds.

He has domain over fire, and is a master magician and conjurer as well as a shape-changer. bearing always in mind Loki’s dark side as well as his good one, he is most valuable as a witty, entertaining acquaintance, and someone to call upon when his positive aspects are needed. Additionally, his cleverness and sharp wit are most useful in dealing with the deceptiveness and decadence of a world which has lost the old ways.

Loki represents both our divine intelligence and also the free-will whereby we can choose for good or ill, and if we make a mistake, to correct it. He typifies the human mind: on one hand clever, foolish immature. On the other hand, he personifies the elevating, aspiring traits of human intelligence.



(TEUTONIC RELIGION, KVELDULF GUNDARSSON)

LOKI: Oh, the Great gods of Asgard are noble and free,
They are upright and forthright (as Great Gods should be.)
But there’s one in their midst doesn’t follow the rule-
That sly mischief maker, that Loki the fool.
He lies and he pilfers, tells jokes that are crude,
He’s raucous, he’s ribald, he’s rowdy, he’s rude;
He tricks and he teases, though he’s not really cruel--
(just don’t turn your back on that Loki the Fool).
Alice Karlsdottir, “Loki the fool”

Loki appears only in the Scandinavian sources. He is not, properly speaking, one of the gods, but rather an etin with whom Wodan swore the oath of blood-brotherhood. He is, however, one of the most vivid and unforgettable characters in Norse Myth, though he presents certain problems to the practice of Ásatrú.

Traditionally, Loki is understood as a wight of fire -- the embodiment of that element, which, as Loki is, in an untrustworthy servant, a deadly master, and an indispensable companion. He has also been identified as Lódurr, who, together with Wodan and his brother Hoenir, gives life to humankind. The gifts of Lódurr are physical appearance and vital warmth; Loki himself is described as being handsome and fine to look at, and as a fire-being, he quite naturally would be the giver of bodily warmth. According to Snorri, the gifts given by Lódurr were “appearance, speech and hearing and sight” - the bodily senses.

In the myths, Loki is shown as tricky and untrustworthy. He gets the god/esses into trouble almost continually, playing a constant game of double-agency between the god/esses and the giants in which he is always betraying one side to the other. He delights in malicious practical jokes and the giving of deceptive redes; yet when forced to make reparations, he has been the source of many of the best treasures possessed by the god/esses--Wodan’s horse Sleipnir and the ring Draupnir, Thunar’s Hammer, Fro Ing’s boar and ship. In all things, he embodies the force of change--sometimes for good, sometime for ill. As Snorri says “Time and again he has brought the gods into great trouble, but often rescued them by his wiles.”

Loki is the son of the etin Farbauti (“Cruel Striker”) and a female named Laufey (“Leafy Island”). He is usually referred to as “Laufey’s son,” which may imply that he is a bastard, since the Norse “surnames’ were normally derived from the father. He ahs a brother named Byleist about whom nothing is known; the name given to Odhinn in the list of Loki’s kindred is Helblindi, “Death Blind,” which my reflect back upon the Balder episode. He is often called “Loptr,” “he who flies aloft,” and in “Thrymskvidha” he borrows the Frowe’s cloak of falcon-feathers to fly of Etin-Home and find Thunar’s stolen hammer.

Loki also has a darker side: he is the father of the wolf Fenrir, who will slay Wodan at Ragnarok, and of the Middle-Garth’s Wyrm, Jormungandr, against whom Thunar will fall. He fathered these tow wights on the giantess Angrbodha, “Distress-Bringer.” Some of the Scandinavian sources, most notably Snorri, also identify Hella as Loki’s daughter; but this is more likely to be a consequence of Christian contamination than a genuine tradition. In Völuspá hin skamma,” it is said that Loki ate an evil woman’s half-burned heart and thus became pregnant, giving birth to every female monster in the world. He forged the sword Lævateinn, “Guileful Twig,” with runes beneath the gates of Hel. As discussed above, he is the immediate cause of Balder’s death. Eventually the gods bind him with the guts of his son Nari, while his son Narfi is turned into a wolf. Skadhi hangs a wyrm above him to drip venom into his face -- a scene which appears on a Viking age stone cross in Cumbria. His wife Sigyn stand by with a cup to catch it, but when she turns away to empty it, the venom falls upon him and then his struggles of agony cause great earthquakes. At the beginning of Ragnarök, he will break free and steer the ship Naglfar ( a ship made from dead men’s nails) from the east with a crew of dead men and Muspilli (the fire-etins of destruction).
The theme of ergi (passive homosexuality/cowardice) is strong in many of the portrayals of Loki. To get the god/esses out of the bargain they had made with the mason who was building the walls of the Ases’ Garth, he turned in to a mare and lured the mason’s stallion away; from this union, Loki bore Wodan’s horse Sleipnir. Since the worst insult that could be given to a Germanic man was to call him a mare, this can be fairly taken to show a certain defectiveness in Loki’s person. The pregnancy mentioned above also falls into the category of ergi, as does Wodan’s accusation (in Lokasenna”) that Loki had been a milkmaid beneath the earth for nine-winters and had born children. He also borrows Freyja’s falcon-skin at least twice so that he can fare to Etin-Home, which can to be taken as metaphysical cross-dressing, since the falcon-hide is usually worn by goddesses.

Despite this, Loki also appears as a figure of masculine potency; he boasts of having enjoyed the favors of many of the goddesses of the Ases’ Garth, including Sif, Skadhi, and Tyr’s wife. It is he how, by tying one end of a rope to his testicles and the other to a goat’s beard, gets the wintry goddess Skadhi to laugh after the gods have killed her father. Perhaps the best commentary on Loki’s sexual adventures was made by Alice Karlsdottir in her song on this god:

They say he’s corrupted and wicked indeed,
Because he mothered the Allfather’s whimsical steed;
It’s not he’s perverted or easily led--
Let’s just say he’s not very choosy in bed.
He tried to enliven sedate Asgard’s halls,
By tying the beard of a goat to his balls;
And they say that his tongue’s his most effective tool,
And that’s why all the ladies love Loki the fool!)

Of all the gods, Loki is most closely associated with Wodan. It has been said before that Loki often seems to act as the agent of Wodan’s will, wither when expressed overtly--as when Wodan orders him to steal the Frowe’s necklace-- or when the command is hidden, as in the case of the death of Baldr. Part of the oath of blood-brotherhood which Wodan and Loki swore was that for every horn of drink given to Wodan, Loki should have a horn also. In a very real sense, Loki is Wodan’s shadow--though, paradoxically enough, he also seems to embody the sense of humor and lightness of being which is largely missing from most portrayals of Wodan.

Loki also appears in several of the myths as the travel-companion of Thunar; his swift wits often serve to the stronger god out of tight situations. As Thunar’s friend, Loki represents the traditional companion of the hero--the comic, practical “Sancho Panza” figure. As Karlsdottir points out in her article on Loki, both Loki and Thorr are agents of change and even of destruction in their own way--as mentioned above Thunar does not hesitate to bread the standard codes of behavior when he sees the need, even to attacking a guest. Thus, she suggests, the distinction which many moderns seem to draw between Thórr--good/Loki--evil is an artificial line through a very blurred territory. Nevertheless, when Loki goes too far, it is Thunar’s might which forces him to make amends; it seems that Thunar is the only one of the god/esses whom Loki really respects, as his speech at the end of “Lokasenna,” when Thórr at last comes into the hall, shows. “I’ve said before Ases and before Ases’ sons/whatever whets my thoughts;/before you alone I shall go out,/for I wit that you will strike.” Thus, when Loki’s presence in your life becomes unwelcome, it is good to call upon Thunar to hold him back.

Although the change Loki embodies is often destructive, it is also, quite literally, the source of comic relief in both the myths and the cosmos as a whole. To quote Karlsdottir again:

To the end of all time he’ll run free through the land,
And all things stir and change at the touch of his hand,
And when the world’s old and no fun’s left in store
He’ll blow it all up and start over once more.
Now scholars and such say he’s captured and bound,
But just look at the worlds, you’ll see he’s still around,
For to live here without him would be just too cruel
Oh, Loki we love you, dear Loki the fool!

She also mentions that he may be called upon when a complete change in your life is needed, though urges much caution in this--whatever happens may not be enjoyable at all, though at least it won’t be boring!

In modern times, Loki has been presented in two different ways: firstly, as the light hearted jester in many of the myths; secondly, as a sort of “Nordic Satan.” neither of these is true by itself; Loki’s fiery light cannot be separated the shadows it cast. Since he can fairly be neither diabolized nor made holy, this offers a certain problem in dealing with him within the religion. There is no evidence for any worship given to Loki, though he plays a part in many Scandinavian folk-tales which is similar to the comic devil-tales found throughout Europe; he is the bringer of fleas, the sower of weeds, the deceiver who is himself deceived in the end. Nevertheless, because of his mythic prominence and his close ties to Wodan, it is impossible to ignore him, though experience has shown that drinking to him at symbel results in minor disasters within the evening (one toaster’s glasses fell into the campfire and melted; another, at a later event, broke his carven staff in the very course of making the toast). It is best to call upon him, if you must, together with Thunar and Wodan; or else to call him by the name Lódurr, which speaks of his most helpful and “godly” side--and always remember that you cannot give a horn to Wodan without, at least implicitly, giving one to Loki as well. Remember the wicked fairy of Germanic children’s stories, who was enraged by not being invited to the feast--the same thing happens with Loki in “Lokasenna” (Gunnora Hallakarva suggests pouring a few drops of each horn drunk to Wodan into the fire so that Loki will know that he hasn’t been forgotten).

The only creatures associated with Loki are the spider (in Scandinavian folk-tradition) and the fly, which is a shape he takes at least twice in the myths.

(TEUTONIC MAGIC, KVELDULF GUNDARSSON)

LOKI: Loki was never worshipped, blessings were not made to him and his minne was not drunk. As the most destructive and counter social side of Odin’s being, he was viewed with little favor. In the myths he was sometimes helpful and sometimes unhelpful. It is possible that the influence of Christianity may have diabolized him somewhat, creating the wholly baleful being of the later parts of the Norse cycle. At his best, Loki shows the more fallible and humorous sides of the Trickster; at his worst, he is betrayal and raw chaos. In secret lore, he brings forth those sides of Odhinn’s being which were seen as unfitting for the All-Father: his sexual ambiguity and the externalization of “Loki’s children,” the Fenris wolf and Midgardhr’s wyrm, both acknowledged as the antitheses to the weal-working powers of the gods, and both being beasts associated with the cult of Odhinn and necessary for the transformation of Ragnarok. Loki is a fire-spirit. He is never counted among the gods by anyone, but he is the blood-brother of Odhinn--a part of Odhinn, as all the beings identified as his “brothers” are, who carries out his will in ways that may either be clear to see or hidden behind the veil of poetic drama.


(NORTHERN MYSTERIES AND MAGIC, FREYA ASWYNN)

LOKI:

Names: Loki (Norse), Loge (German)
Main elements: wild-fire
Color: red
Totem animals: salmon, seal, fox
Invoked for: trickery, destruction
Runes to use: Dagaz

Loki is one of the most mysterious figures among the gods. He seems to be very ancient, predating the Aesir and Vanir. He might even go back as far as the Stone age as the original god of fire. If that were the case, the originally beneficial Loki would have been of giant stock. This idea has been preserved in the Northern myths, in which his parents are named Laufey and Farbauti, both giants. Loki was credited in later times with more evil characteristics; this happened to most of the giants who were once the elder gods. Loki seems to be related to two other elemental giants or gods: Kari, whose element is air and Hler, who has been identified as Aegir, another giant ruling the sea with his wife Ran. The element relating to Hler is of course water. All of these figures go back to the oldest Northern tradition. Loki has been credited with much evil. However, although he is a trickster and a catalyst, I consider his evil aspects to be a Christian development. When the Christians turned Balder into a Northern equivalent of a “weeping Jesus” figure, and saddled Odin with the characteristics of Jehova, they also needed a “devil.” Thus the much maligned Loki was cast in this role.

By careful study of the myths it is possible to discern some positive values in Loki’s character. For instance, during his exploits with the swartaflar, when he brought back as gifts Thor’s hammer, Odin’s spear, and Frey’s magical ship, it is clear that his actions are praiseworthy, as he does not keep any of the gifts for himself but instead hands them to the Aesir. Thus he is not attached to anything; he is a catalyst who induces change without himself being affected by it. Nevertheless, I do not encourage the practice of invoking Loki, although similar warnings have been given about Odin which never deterred me.

Loki fathers the three monsters Fenris, Jormungand, and Hella. Hella seems to be a corrupted version of Holda. On the other hand, Loki is also the parent of Sleipnir, Odin’s steed. Sleipnir is the only horse that can traverse between the nine worlds. Incidentally, when Loki gives birth to Sleipnir he adopts the shape of a mare and so acts out a mother’s role. His other offspring were engendered through his unions with Angrboda, and in this he took the male role. He is therefore a shape shifter and a sex-changer. In his later, evil form Loki is the instigator of Balder’s death and through this act initiates the Ragnarok, with its tale of total destruction, is a relatively late development, and that the original story had it that it was the giants who were bound. This is precisely what is said to have happened to Loki. He was captured and bound to a rock, where a poisonous snake continuously spat its venom into his eyes.

Loki’s element is fire in its uncontrolled state. His color is bright red. In modern terms, Loki represents nuclear energy. In psychological terms Loki is the impulsive, destructive, immature aspect in human nature. Loki has been said to have sworn blood-brotherhood with Odin, and we can view Loki as the “shadow” side of Odin. Both are considered to be tricky customers.


(PUTNAM’S CONCISE MYTHOLOGICAL DICTIONARY, JOSEPH KASTER)

LOKI: in Norse myth, one of the major deities. By race a giant and considered one of the Aesir, although actually their enemy. He is handsome, but crafty and malicious. He is also connected with fire and magic, and by the giantess Angerboda begot the evil creatures Fenrir, Jormungand and Hel.


(MYTHS OF THE NORSEMEN, H. A. GUERBER)

LOKI: The seeds of evil

Besides the hideous giant Utgard-Loki, the personification of mischief and evil whom Thor and his companions visited in Jötun-heim, the ancient northern nations had another type of sin, whom they called Loki also, and whom we have already seen under many different aspects.

In the beginning, Loki was merely the personification of the hearth fire and of the spirit of life. At first a god, he gradually becomes “god and devil combined,” and ends in being held in general detestation as an exact counterpart of the medieval Lucifer, the prince of lies, “the originator of deceit, and the backbiter” of the Æsir.

By some authorities Loki was aid to be the brother of Odin, but others assert that the two were not related, but had merely gone through the form of swearing blood brotherhood common in the north.

“Odin! Dost thou remember
When we in early days
Blended out blood together?
When to taste beer
Thou did’st constantly refuse
Unless to both ‘twas offered?”
Sæmund’s Edda (Thorp’s tr.)


Loki’s character: While Thor is the embodiment of Northern activity, Loki represents recreation, and the close companionship early established between these two gods shows very plainly how soon our ancestors realized that both were necessary to the welfare of mankind. Thor is ever busy and ever in earnest, but Loki makes fun of everything, until at last his love of mischief leads him entirely astray, and he loses all love for goodness and becomes utterly selfish and malevolent.

He represents evil in the seductive and seemingly beautiful form in which it parades through the world. Because of this deceptive appearance the gods did not at first avoid him, but treated him as one of themselves in all good-fellowship, taking him with them wherever they went, and admitting him not only to their merry-makings, but also to their council hall, where, unfortunately, they too often listened to his advice.

As we have already seen, Loki played a prominent part in the creation of man, endowing him with the power of motion, and causing the blood to circulate freely through his veins, whereby he was inspired with passions. As personification of fire as well as of mischief Loki (lightning) is often seen with Thor (thunder), whom he accompanies to Jötun-heim to recover his hammer, to Utgard-Loki’s castle, and to Geirrod’s house. It is he who steals Freya’s necklace and Sif’s hair, and betrays Idun to the power of Thiassi; and although he sometimes gives the gods good advice and affords them real help, it is only to extricate them from some predicament into which he has rashly inveigled them.

Some authorities declare that, instead of making part of the creative trilogy (Odin, Hoenir and Lodur or Loki), this god originally belonged to a pre-Odinic race of deities and was the son of the great Fornjotnr (Ymir), his brothers being Kari (air) and Hler (water), and his sister Ran, the terrible goddess of the sea. Other mythologies, however make him the son of the giant Farbauti, who has been identified with Bergelmir, the sole survivor of the deluge, and of Laufeia (leafy isle) or Nal (vessel), his mother, thus stating that his connection with Odin was only that of the Northern oath of good-fellowship.

Loki (fire) first married Glut (glow), who bore him tow daughters, Eisa (embers) and Einmyria (ashes); it is therefore very evident that Norsemen considered him emblematic of the hearth-fire, and when the flaming wood crackles on the hearth the goodwives in the North are still wont to say the Loki is beating his children. Besides this wife, Loki is also said to have wedded the giantess Angur-boda (the anguish-boding), who dwelt in Jötun-heim, and who as we have already seen, bore him three monsters: Hel, goddess of death, the Midgard Snake Iörmungandr, and the grim wolf Fenris.

“Loki begat the wolf
With Angur-boda.”
Sæmund’s Edda (Thorp’s tr.)

Sigyn: Loki’s third marriage was with Sigyn, who proved a most loving and devoted wife, and bore him two sons, Narve and Vali, the latter a namesake of the god who avenged Balder. Sigyn was always faithful to her husband, and did not forsake him even after he had defiantly been cast out of Asgard and confined in the bowels of the earth.

As Loki was the embodiment of evil in the minds of the Northern races, they entertained nothing but fear of him, built no temples to his honour, offered no sacrifices to him, and designated the most noxious weeds by his name. the quivering, overheated atmosphere of summer was supposed to betoken his presence, for the people were then wont to remark that Loki was sowing his wild oats, and when the sun appeared to be drawing water they said Loki was drinking.

The story of Loki is so inextricably woven with that of the other gods that most of the myths relating to him have already been told, and there remain but two episodes of his life to relate, one showing his better side before he had degenerated into the arch deceiver, and the other illustrating how he finally induced the gods to defile their peace-steads by willful murder.

Skrymsli and the peasant’s child: a giant and a peasant were playing a game together one day (probably chess, which was a favourite winter pastime with the Northern Vikings. They of course had determined to play for certain stakes, and the giant, being victorious, won the peasants only son, whom he said he would come and claim on the morrow unless the parents could hide him so cleverly that he could not be found.

Knowing that such a feat would be impossible for them to perform. The parents fervently prayed to Odin to help them, and in answer to their entreaties the god came down to earth, and changed the boy into a tiny grain of wheat, which he hid in an ear of grain in the midst of a large field, declaring that the giant would not be able to find him. The giant Skrymsli, however, possessed wisdom far beyond what Odin imagined, and, failing to find the child at home, he strode off immediately to the field with his scythe, and mowing the wheat he selected the [particular ear where the boy was hidden. Counting over the grains of wheat he was about to lay his hands upon the right one when Odin, hearing the child’s cry of distress, snatched the kernel out of the giants hand, and restored the boy to his parents telling them that he had done all in his power to help them. But as the giant vowed he had been cheated, and would again claim the boy on the morrow unless the parents could outwit him, the unfortunate peasants now turned to Hoenir for aid. The god heard them graciously and changed the boy into a fluff of down, which he hid in the breast of a swan swimming in a pond close by. Now, when, a few minutes later, Skrymsli came up, he guessed what had occurred, and seizing the swan, he bit off its neck, and could have swallowed the down had not Hoenir wafted it away from his lips and out of reach, restoring the boy safe and sound to his parents, but telling them that he could not further aid them.

Skrymsli warned the parents that he would make a third attempt to secure the child, whereupon they applied in their despair to Loki, who carried the boy out to sea, and concealed him, as a tiny egg, in the roe of a flounder. Returning from his expedition, Loki encountered the giant near the shore and seeing that he was bent upon a fishing excursion, he insisted upon accompanying him. He felt somewhat uneasy lest the terrible giant should have seen through his device, and therefore thought it would be well for him to be on the spot in case of need. Skrymsli baited his hook, and was more or less successful in his angling, when suddenly he drew up the identical flounder in which Loki had concealed his little charge. Opening the fish upon his knee, the giant proceeded to minutely examine the roe, until he found the egg which he was seeking.

The plight of the boy was certainly perilous, but Loki, watching his chance, snatched the egg out of the giant’s grasp, and transforming it again into the child, he instructed him secretly to rune home, passing through the boathouse on his way and closing the door behind him. The terrified boy did as he was told immediately he found himself on land, and the giant, quick to observe his flight, dashed after him into the boathouse. Now Loki had cunningly placed a sharp spike in such a position that the great head of the giant ran full tilt against it, and he sank to the ground with a groan, whereupon Loki, seeing him helpless, cut off his legs. Imagine the god’s dismay, however, when he saw the pieces join and immediately knit together. But Loki was a master of guile, and recognizing this as the work of magic, he cut off the other leg, promptly throwing flint and steel between the severed limb and trunk, and thereby hindering any further sorcery. The peasants were immensely relieved to find that their enemy was slain, and ever after they considered Loki the mightiest of all the heavenly council, for he had delivered them effectually from their foe, while the other gods had lent only temporary aid.

The giant architect: Notwithstanding their wonderful bridge Bifrost, the tremulous way, and the watchfulness of Heimdall, the gods could not feel entirely secure in Asgard, and were often fearful lest the frost giants should make their way into Asgard. To obviate this possibility, they finally decided to build an impregnable fortress; and while they were planning how this could be don, an unknown architect came with an offer to undertake the construction, provided the gods would give him sun, moon and Freya, goddess of youth and beauty, as reward. The gods were wroth at so presumptuous an offer, but when they would have indignantly driven the stranger from their presence, Loki urged them to make a bargain which it would be impossible for the stranger to keep, and so they finally told the architect that that guerdon should be his, provided the fortress were finished in the course of a single winter. And that he accomplished the work with no other assistance than that of his horse Svadilfare.

“To Asgard came an architect,
And castle offered to erect,--
A castle high
Which should defy
Deep Jotun guile and giant raid;
And this most wily compact made:
Fair Freya, with the moon and sun,
As price the fortress being done.”
Valhalla (J. C. Jones)

The unknown architect agreed to these seemingly impossible conditions, and immediately set to work, hauling ponderous blocks of stone by night, building during the day, and progressing so rapidly that the gods began to feel somewhat anxious. Ere long they noticed that more than half the labour was accomplished by the wonderful steed Svadilfare, and when they saw, near the end of winter, that the work was finished save one portal, which they knew the architect could easily erect during the night:

“Horror and fear the gods beset;
Finished almost the castle stood!
In three days more
The work be o’er;
Then must they make their contract good,
And pay the awful debt.”
Valhalla (J.C. Jones)

Terrified lest they should be called upon to part, not only with the sun and the moon, but also with Freya, the personification of youth and beauty of the world, the gods turned to Loki, and threatened to kill him unless he devised some means of hindering the architect from finishing the work within the specified time.

Loki’s cunning proved once more equal to the situation. He waited until nightfall of the final day, when, as Svadilfare passed the fringe of a forest, painfully dragging one of the great blocks of stone required for the termination of the work, he rushed from a dark glade in the guise of a mare, and neighed so invitingly that, in a trice, the horse kicked himself free of his harness and ran after the mare, closely pursued by his angry master. The mare galloped swiftly on, artfully luring horse and master deeper and deeper into the forest shades, until the night was nearly gone, and it was no longer possible to finish the work. The architect was none other than a redoubtable Hrim-thurs, in disguise, and he now returned to Asgard in a towering rage at the fraud which had been practiced upon him. Assuming his wonted proportions, he would have annihilated the gods had not Thor suddenly returned from a journey and slain him with his magic hammer, Mjolnir, which he hurled with terrific force full in his face.

The gods had saved themselves on the occasions only by fraud and by the violent deed of Thor, and these were destined to bring great sorrow upon them, and eventually to secure their downfall, and to hasten the coming of Ragnarok. Loki, however, felt no remorse for his part, and in due time, it is said, he became the parent of an eight-footed steed called Sleipnir, which as we have seen, was Odin’s favourite mount.

“But Sleipnir he begat
With Svadilfare.”
Lay of Hyndla (Thorpe’s tr.).

Loki performed so many evil deeds during his career that he richly deserved the title of “arch deceiver” which was given him. He was generally hated for his subtle malicious ways, and for an inveterate habit of prevarication which won for him also the title of “prince of lies.”

Loki’s last crime: Loki’s last crime, and the one which filled his measure of iniquity, was to induce Hodur to throw the fatal mistletoe at Balder, whom he hated merely on account of is immaculate purity. Perhaps even this crime might have been condoned had it not been for his obduracy when, in the disguise of the old woman Thok, he was called upon to shed a tear for Balder. His action on this occasion convinced the gods that nothing but evil remained within him, and the pronounced unanimously upon him the sentence of perpetual banishment form Asgard.

Ægir’s banquet: To divert the gods’ sadness and make them, for a short time forget the treachery of Loki and the loss of Balder, Ægir, god of the sea, invited them to partake of a banquet in his coral caves at the bottom of the sea.


“Now, to assuage the high gods’ grief
And bring their mourning some relief,
From coral caves
‘Neath ocean waves,
Mighty King Ægir
Invited the Æsir
To festival
In Hlesey’s hall;
That, tho’ for Balder every guest
Was grieving yet,
He might forget
Awhile his woe in friendly feast.”
Valhalla (J. C. Jones)

The gods gladly accepted the invitation, and clad in their richest garb, and with festive smiles, the appeared in the coral caves a the appointed time. None were absent save the radiant Balder, for whom many a regretful sigh was heaved, and the evil Loki, whom none could regret. In the course of the feast, however, this last-named god appeared in their midst like a dark shadow, and when bidden to depart, he gave vent to his evil passions in a torrent of invective against the gods.

“Of the Æsir and the Alfar
That are here within
Not one has a friendly word for thee.”
Ægir’s compotation, or Loki’s altercation (Thorpe’s tr.)

Then, jealous of the praises which Funfeng, Ægir’s servant, had won for the dexterity with which he waited upon his masters guests, Loki suddenly turned upon him and slew him. At this wanton crime, the gods in fierce wrath drove Loki away once more, threatening him with dire punishment should he ever appear before them again.

Scarcely had the Æsir recovered from this disagreeable interruption to their feast, and resumed their places at the board, when Loki came creeping in once more, resuming his slanders with venomous tongue, and taunting the gods with their weaknesses or shortcomings, dwelling maliciously upon their physical imperfections, and deriding them for their mistakes. In vain the gods tried to stem his abuse; his voice rose louder and louder, and he was just giving utterance to some base slander about Sif, when he was suddenly cut short by the sight of Thor’s hammer, angrily brandished by an arm whose power he knew full well, and he fled incontinently.

“Silence, thou impure being!
My mighty hammer, Miöllnir,
Shall stop the prating.
I will thy head
From they neck strike;
Then will thy life be ended.”

Ægir’s compotation, or Loki’s altercation (Thorpe’s tr.)

The pursuit of Loki: Knowing that he could now have no hope of being admitted into Asgard again, and that sooner of later the gods, seeing the effect of his evil deeds, would regret having permitted him to roam the world, and would try either to bind or slay him, Loki withdrew to the mountains, where he built himself a hut, with four doors which he always left wide open to permit of a hasty escape. Carefully laying his plans, he decided that if the gods should come in search of him he would rush down to the neighboring cataract, according to tradition the Fraananger force or stream, and, changing himself into a salmon, would thus evade his pursuers. He reasoned, however, that although he could easily avoid any hook, it might be difficult for him to effect his escape if the gods should fashion a net like that of the sea-goddess Ran.

Haunted by this fear, he decided to test the possibility of making such a mesh, and started to make one out of twine. He was still engaged upon the task when Odin, Kvasir and Thor suddenly appeared in the distance; and knowing that they had discovered his retreat, Loki threw his half finished net into the fire, and, rushing through one of his ever open doors, he leaped into the waterfall, where, in the shape of a salmon, he hid among some stones in the bed of the stream.

The gods, finding the hut empty, were about to depart, when Kvasir perceived the remains of the burnt net on the hearth. After some thought an inspiration came to him, and he advised the gods to weave a similar implement and use it in searching for their foe in the neighboring stream, since it would be like Loki to choose such a method of baffling their pursuit. This advice seemed good and was immediately followed, and , the net finished, the gods proceeded to drag the stream. Loki eluded the net at it’s first cast by hiding at the river between two stones; and when the gods weighted the mesh and tried a second time, he effected his escape by jumping up stream. A third attempt to secure him proved successful, however, for, as he once more tried to get away with a sudden leap, Thor caught him in mid-air and held him so fast, that he could not escape. The salmon, whose slipperiness is proverbial in the north, is noted for it’s remarkable slim tail, and Norsemen attribute this to Thor’s tight grasp upon his foe.

Loki’s punishment: Loki now suddenly resumed his wonted shape, and his captors dragged him down into a cavern, where they made him fast, using as bonds the entrails of his son Narve, who had been torn to pieces by Vali, his brother, whom the gods had changed into a wolf for the purpose. One of these fetters was passed under Loki’s shoulders, and one under his loins, thereby securing him firmly hand and foot; but the gods, not feeling quite satisfied that the strips, though as enduring though they were, would not give way, changed them into adamant or iron.

“Thee, on a rock’s point,
With the entrails of the ice-cold son,
The gods will bind.”
Sæmund’s Edda (Thorpe’s tr.).

Skadi, the giantess, a personification of the cold mountain stream, who had joyfully watched the fettering of he foe (subterranean fire), now fastened a serpent directly over his head, so that its venom would fall, drop by drop, upon his upturned face. But Sigyn, Loki’s faithful wife, hurried with a cup to his side, and until the day of Ragnarok, she remained by him, catching the drops as the fell, and never leaving her post except when her vessel was full, and she was obliged to empty it. Only during her short absences could the drops of venom fall upon Loki’s face, and then they caused such intense pain that he writhed with anguish, his efforts to get free shaking the earth and producing the earthquakes which so frighten mortals.

“Ere they left him in his anguish,
O’er his treacherous brow, ungrateful,
Skadi hung a serpent hateful,
Venom drops for aye distilling,
Every nerve with torment filling;
Thus shall he in horror languish.
By him, still unwearied kneeling,
Sigyn at his tortured side,--
Faithful wife! With beaker stealing
Drops of venom as the fall,--
Agonizing poison all!
Sleepless, changeless, ever dealing
Comfort, will she still abide;
Only when the cup’s o’er flowing
Must fresh pain and smarting cause,
Swift, to void the beaker going,
Shall she in her watching pause,
Then doth Loki
Loudly cry;
Shrieks of terror,
Groans of horror,
Breaking forth in thunder peals
With his writhings scared Earth reels.
Trembling and quaking,
E’en high heav’n shaking!
So wears he our his awful doom,
Until dread Ragnarok he come.”
Valhalla (J. C. Jones)

In this painful position Loki was destined to remain until the twilight of the gods, when his bonds would be loosed, and he would take part in the fatal conflict on the battlefield of Vigrid, falling at last by the hand of Heimdall, who would be slain at the same time.

As we have seen, the venom-dripping snake in this myth is the cold mountain stream, whose waters, falling from time to time upon subterranean fire, evaporate in steam, which escapes through fissures, and causes earthquakes and geysers, phenomena with which the inhabitants of Iceland, for instance, were very familiar.

Loki’s day: When the gods were reduced to the rank of demons by the introduction of Christianity, Loki was confounded with Saturn, who had also been shorn of his divine attributes, and both were considered the prototypes of Satan. The last day of the week, which was held sacred to Loki, was known in the Norse as Laugardag, or wash-day, but in English it was changed to Saturday, and was said to owe its name not to Saturn but to Sataere, the thief of ambush, and the Teutonic god of agriculture, who is supposed to be merely another personification of Loki.

(GODS AND MYTHS OF NORTHERN EUROPE, H. R. ELLIS DAVIDSON)


LOKI: The place which Loki occupies in the circle as Asgard is as puzzling as that of Heimdall, although he is an even more prominent figure, and plays an important part in most of the well-known myths. Indeed to a reader of Snorri, Loki is perhaps the most outstanding character among the northern gods, the chief actor in the most amusing stories, and the motivating force in a large number of plots. It is he who brings comedy into the realm of the gods, and tragedy into the story of Balder. On the other hand, to a reader of the poems Loki is a vaguer, more powerful and sinister figure. He is evidently an ambivalent character, neither wholly good nor wholly bad, although in Snorri’s tales the bad side predominates. By the late Viking age the wicked and dangerous side of his character seems to have been strengthened by comparison with the Christian Devil. Loki appears in Snorri to have been directly responsible for the death of Balder, but outside Snorri the evidence is slender, and many have thought that the picture of him as Balder’s murderer is a late development die to the gradual blackening of his reputation. This is perhaps the most difficult of the many problems connected with Loki.

A characteristic of Loki, shared by no other gods except Odin and Thor, is his sociability. He has adventures in company with nearly all the important inhabitants of Asgard, Freyr being the exception. He is the companion of Odin and Thor; he fights Heimdall and kills Balder; he plays a part in both the creation and destruction of the world; he helps in the building of Asgard; he is at home among the giants and the monsters as well as the gods. There is no doubt as to his importance in the mythology of the north. Unsuccessful attempts have been made to identify him with the mysterious Lóðurr, who is said to have taken part in the creation of man, but of whom little is known. But it has not been found possible to establish Loki as a major deity who ahs come down in the world of the gods, for there is no evidence of his worship among men, as in the case of Freyr, and Thor, and even Tyr.

Here it is proposed to examine the picture of Loki given in the poems and the myths to see how far it is a consistent one. As to the age and reliability of the various sources in which he is mentioned, more will be said later.

It may be noted that even the Loki of Snorri’s tales is a mischievous rather than a wicked being. Sometimes his actions cause inconvenience and suffering to the gods, as when he helps a giant to steal the apples of immortality, or, in his desire to steal a salmon, kills an otter who has powerful relations to avenge him. Yet on other occasions it is Loki who rescues the gods from serious predicaments, as when he helps to regain Thor’s hammer by dressing him up as a bride. Sometimes Loki acts under compulsion, either because the giants get him into their power or the angry gods insist on his righting some wrong he has done them. There is no doubt however that many of his acts, like the cutting off of Sif’s hair, are the doings of a naughty boy rather than the crimes against the righteous gods. While he is both cunning and ingenious, it may be noted that his plans do not by any means always succeed.

Loki has certain magical powers, and the most outstanding is the ability to change his shape. When the giant was building the walls of Asgard, Loki, turned himself into a mare and lured the away the giants horse which had served him so faithfully. It was while he was in mare’s form, according to Snorri, that Loki gave birth to Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged steed. When he was concerned in the theft of the apples, Loki was in bird form. When he went to look for Thor’s hammer, he was said to borrow the ‘”feather-form” of Freyja, which meant flying in the shape of a bird. To prevent the clever dwarfs from winning their wager, he turned himself into a fly and stung the smith at a crucial moment. He is said to have taken the form of a flea when he wanted to steal Freyja’s necklace. One interpretation of a difficult verse in Haustløng implies that Heimdall and Loki fought in the shape of seals, while at the end of Lokasenna he is said to have become a salmon in the river to escape the anger of the gods. According to Snorri, Loki took the form of an old woman to prevent Balder from coming back to Asgard. Finally, as well as giving birth to Sleipnir, he is said to be the father of monsters, and thus to have been responsible for the creation of the wolf Fenrir and the World Serpent, as well as the terrible goddess Hel, the guardian of the realm of death.

In this way, Loki is connected with the darker elements in the northern mythical world, and this tie is at least as early as the skaldic poets of the ninth century. It has been explained by some scholars as a derivation from medieval works on demonology like those of Isadore Seville. We cannot however rule out the possibility that the kennings which link Loki with the monsters are founded on genuine heathen tradition, even though they have a vague general resemblance to learned speculation on the origin of monsters and devils. The binding of Loki may also be an early tradition, although here again it is difficult to be sure how far there has been influence form learned works. Old English accounts of the Genesis story certainly emphasize the binding of the Devil to a surprising extent, and it was a favourite subject for illustrations in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts of the tenth century. This may have been because the idea of a bound giant was already familiar in heathen times. In northern England there are carved stones form the Viking age showing monstrous bound figures, which could be identified with either Satan or Loki. On the Gosforth Cross in particular we have what seems to be a faithful representation of the story of Loki’s binding as told by Snorri. The bound figure is lying in a position where snakes can drop venom on him from above, while a female figure catches it in a bowl to keep it from his face. At Gosforth we have a cross where heathen motifs concerned with the end of the world -- Heimdall’s horn, the killing of the serpent and so on -- appear to have been deliberately chosen because they can be presented in accordance with Christian teaching also, and interpreted as the victory of Christ over the powers of hell, and the coming of the Last Judgment. The fact that the bound figure is found among these suggests that Loki here is equated with the bound Devil of apocalyptic tradition, and that he was therefore familiar to the early converts. Olrik made a detailed study of folklore concerned with the bound giant of the Caucasus region, and while few now would follow his conclusions all the way, he has shown that the idea of the bound giant is a pre-Christian conception, and seems to have existed independently of ideas about the binding of Satan from Christian sources.

Jan de Vries has made a full analysis of the sources in which Loki is mentioned. Many of these are late, and the stories of Loki’s tricks contained in them are likely therefore to be late additions to his character, told for the sake of entertainment. He came to the conclusion that the chief characteristic of Loki likely to go back to earlier myths is his talent as a thief. Again and again he steals or hides the treasures of the gods: the apples of youth, the belt and gloves of Thor, the necklace of Freyja. This side of Loki’s character was certainly familiar to the early poets, while Dumézil would go even further, and trace the conception of Loki as the master thief back to remote antiquity, among the fundamental mythological concepts of the Indo-European peoples.

Attempts have been made from time to time to see in Loki some link with a fire god, on the grounds of the resemblance between his name and Logi, “fire”. there seems however to be little real evidence to support this. When, in Snorri’s tale of Thor’s journey to Utgard, Loki takes part in an eating contest with Logi, this seems to mean no more than that the Norse storyteller was also aware of the superficial resemblance between the two names. Loki does not behave like a fire-spirit, and indeed seems to be as much at home in the water as on the earth, so that some scholars have even tried to see him as a water spirit. Other theories which try to establish Loki as an early god in the Germanic world have not been very successful. In the nineteenth century a charm was recorded by a clergyman from Lincolnshire, who claimed to remember hearing it spoken by an old country woman when he was a boy:

Thrice I smites with Holy Crock
With this mell, I thrice do knock
One for god, and one for Wod,
And one for Lok.

It is tempting to see this as a folk survival of belief in three heathen gods. Thor of the hammer, Woden, and Loki. And some Danish and German Scholars accepted is as such, and built up elaborate theories accordingly. But this isolated scrap of doggerel, which moreover was recorded in at least three different versions by the clergyman in question, is an extremely fragile foundation on which to base assumptions concerning the beliefs of the Danes in Lincolnshire in the ninth century. A verse claimed to have been heard once in boyhood and not recorded until many years later needs corroborating evidence before it can be generally accepted.

Loki, the thief, the deceiver, and the sharp-tongued scandalmonger who outrages the gods and goddesses by his malicious revelations in Lokasenna, yet who nevertheless seems to be accepted as a dweller in Asgard and a companion of the greatest gods, is hard to comprehend. However, it was in view of these queer contradictions in his character that resemblances were pointed out between Loki and the supreme Trickster who plays a great part in the myth and folklore of a number of North American tribes. The trickster is greedy, selfish, and treacherous; he takes on animal form; he appears in comic and often disgusting situations, and yet he may be regarded as a kind of culture hero, who provides mankind with benefits like sunlight and fire. At times he even appears as a creator. He can take both male and female form, and can give birth to children. He is, in fact, a kind of semi-comic shaman, half way between god and hero, yet with a strong dash of the jester element, foreign to both, thrown in. The figure of the trickster was clearly a popular one among storytellers, and tended to attract to himself all sorts of folk-tales.

There is no doubt that this figure bears a resemblance to that of Loki at many points, and particularly at those points which are most difficult to fit in with any other interpretations of his character. Loki seems to have become the hero of many of folk-tales, told for entertainment purposes only, and many of them are late in date; in these he usually plays a comic role. Sometimes the Indian legends about the trickster contain two creator figures, one good and impassive, and the other, the trickster, appearing as a kind of parody of him: a creator whose schemes frequently go awry. Loki as the ambivalent mischief-maker might similarly seem as a kind of Odin-figure in reverse. It is certainly easier to understand some of the puzzling elements in him if we regard him as a parody of the great creator-gods rather than as consistently in opposition to them. Certain elements in the myths and poems suggest that at one time he was a chthonic figure, connected primarily with the world of the dead, and this would be comprehensible if we see him as a kind of shadow of Odin. Besides his links with Hel, the serpent, and the wolf, and with the horse that carries Odin to the realm of the dead, he appears alongside the giants at Ragnarok, steering the ship that brings them over the sea. In Svipdagsmál he is said to have made the magic weapon Laevateinn, “beneath the doors of the dead.”

It is important to remember that there was also a Loki of the outer-region, Utgard-Loki, who dwelt somewhere to the east of the land of the gods, and was visited on one famous occasion by Thor. This Loki is a giant of tremendous size and power, but his power is not really greater than that of Thor; it depends largely on cunning and his capacity to perform sight-deceiving magic that makes things appear other than they are. The straightforward Thor is taken in and humiliated, whereas Odin, we feel, would have been perfectly at home in this bewildering world of sleight and fantasy. Comic fabrication though this story may be, it perhaps contains an element of truth in the way in which Loki the giant is set up against Thor. In a similar story in Saxo, but one presented very differently, travelers penetrate into the realm of a terrible giant, who is lying bound in the midst of darkness, like Loki. This giant lies in a land of cold, corruption and tainted treasures, in fact, in the realm of death itself.

No estimate of Loki can be complete which does not take into account the grim and terrifying background of death to which Loki seems at times to belong. If he were not originally a giant of the underworld, with skill in deceiving and disguise, it is conceivable that he would gradually develop in later literature into the figure of the agile trickster, stirring up mischief and parodying the more dignified gods, and so have won a place of this kind in Snorri’s Asgard. Continually following Odin and Thor, yet mocking them and the goddesses, heh as turned into the hero of a series of diverting, sometimes unseemly stories. Only at Ragnarok is it clear where Loki’s real allegiance lies, when he seems to relapse again into the figure of a bound and monstrous giant, breaking loose to destroy the world. Then the nimble-witted Thersites of the court of the gods is replaced by a remote and terrible power. Concerning his relations with Balder, there will be more to say.

(NORTHERN MAGIC, EDRED THORSSON)

LOKI: He is not fully a god, as he is of the etin-kin, but he is the “blood-brother” of Ódhinn and is the companion of the Æsir. He rules over beauty and deception, cunning and guile. He is the trickster and mischief maker. Loki is powerful in laughter and humor. It is most likely that Loki is but the “shadow side” of the god Ódhinn.

(NORSE MAGIC, D. J. CONWAY)

LOKI: “Father of lies”; the Trickster; Sky-Traveler; Shape-Changer; giant who is the blood-brother of Odhinn; son of the giant Farbauti (Cruel Smiter); married to Sigyn. He handsome, attractive, and free with the ladies. A dangerous god to invoke as one can never be certain how he will answer. Earthquakes, fire, forest fires, cunning, wit, stealth, deceit, mischief, daring, agility, trickery, thieves, revenge, destruction, lecherousness, death, lies, evil, dark magic.

Answer 2

Actually....he's neither exactly....he was sort of fostered. But he was fostered as an Æsir. His parents are giants I think. Damn you for making me think. I'm gonna have to look stuff up. Some claim he was a foster brother of Odin, some say they were blood brothers. Depends on who and what you read.
Some try to make the Vanir the "bad gods". They weren't. They were the earthier gods, yes. Sex, bounty, fertility, safe passage of ships (money), wealth, etc. The Æsir tend to be more sky bound. But they also over lapped a lot.
Keeping in mind that some people are mis informed on the Vanir, they WOULD try to put Loki as "head of the Vanir".
There is something in the Eddas stating that Loki held a place on the council in the 12 seats that I'll look up in a sec. Three glasses of wine and I can't remember, hehe. This leads us to believe that Loki was indeed Æsir.
There has been no archeological evidence that Loki ever had a following or a cult. Uh...Ellis Davidson states that I think. This can debate on whether Loki was considered a god at all. Whooooole different arguement. Hehe.

edit: Found it. Gylfaginning (Prose Edda)
XXXIII. "Also numbered among the Æsir is he whom some call the mischief-monger of the Æsir, and the first father of falsehoods, and blemish of all gods and men: he is named Loki or Loptr, son of Fárbauti the giant; his mother was Laufey or Nál; his brothers are Býleistr and Helblindi. Loki is beautiful and comely to look upon, evil in spirit., very fickle in habit. He surpassed other men in that wisdom which is called 'sleight,' and had artifices for all occasions; he would ever bring the Æsir into great hardships, and then get them out with crafty counsel. His wife was called Sigyn, their son Nari or Narfi.

edit: No where in the lore does it state that Loki was Odin's son.

Answer 3

Most of what people know about mythology is from comic books. there is not much accuracy in stories from comics and television.

The Vanir appear to have mainly been connected with cultivation and fertility and the Æsir were connected with power and war.

In surviving tales, origin of many of the Æsir are doubtful and unexplained. Originally, there are just three: Odin and his brothers Ve, and Vili. Odin's sons with giantesses are naturally counted as Æsir. Heimdall and Ullr's connection with the Æsir is not clearly mentioned. Loki is a giant with no evidences of being worshipped, and Njord is a Vanir hostage, but they are often ranked among the Æsir. The Æsir goddesses like Gefjon, Sif, Idun, Nanna do not have any background, and some of them do not even have a function. They are maybe just giantesses like Skadi and Gerd and ranked among the Æsir clan simply because they either married the Æsir or served them.

Answer 4

Make an altar for him. Decorate the altar with things associated with him. His favored animals are: Snakes wolves and spiders. Put images of Shooting stars on the altar. You may want to put images of white horses(especially if the picture of the white horse is a mare) because Loki is the Master shape-shifter and his transformation as a white mare was so complete that s/he gave birth to Sleipnir. Odin's eight legged steed. His favored people are: Spies trouble makers Plotters those who are double agents. To call on him, just call on him how you would with any other deity. " I call on Loki for guidance and support." Just one other thing "He may or may not be a reliable patron, because it is said that that he has been chained up until the end of the world happens. So he may not be able to answer you." As for reading blogs, I would take anything they state with a grain of salt. These are written by people who may or may not have gotten a college degree and don't know if they researched a lot about the Norse Mythology. Just saying I would be careful as to what information you get from them, because the internet can lie.

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Answer 5

Most people and books refer to him as a giant and blood brother of Odin. They cut themselves and let their blood flow into each others, this was regarded as a brotherhood stronger than one by birth. Other say that he was Odin's son. He was never really a god,(to those who believed he was a troll, giant, or jotun.) but was as privileged as one and was a constant companion to the gods. (especially Thor.) And lived in Valhalla with them and took sygic, ( who some believe was a former Vanir) as his wife. Because they didn't start writing things down till some time ago, (stories used to be sung by Skalds.) not much is known about this past religion and some gods are only known by names. It really comes down to what you think is the right version.

Answer 6

Everyone has their own version of mythology.

Here's mine

Loki was from the Vanir. The Aesir took him to use him for his skills. Later Loki betrayed the Aesir and followed his nature. The Vanir view him as a traitor for serving the Aesir and the Aesir think he's a backstabber.

Answer 7

It always seemed to me that Loki did his own thing and didn't like labels.

Answer 8

he fights the Aesir and he even becomes Odin's blood brother before murdering Baldr for which the Aesir lock him but then he's freed to fight them, if am not wrong. He is a Vanir.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

I'm a guy, and individually, I don't like long nails. We know a lot of like long, painted nails cause they're "so pretty", but I don't like them.

Answer 11

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