He’s by turns playful, malicious, and helpful, but he’s always irreverent and nihilistic.įor example, in the tale of The Kidnapping of Idun, Loki, by his recklessness, ends up in the hands of a furious giant, Thiazi, who threatens to kill Loki unless he brings him the goddess Idun. In the tales, Loki is portrayed as a scheming coward who cares only for shallow pleasures and self-preservation. Loki often runs afoul not only of societal expectations, but also of what we might call “the laws of nature.” In addition to the progeny listed above, Loki is also the mother – yes, the mother – of Sleipnir, Odin’s shamanic horse, whom Loki gave birth to after shapeshifting into a mare and courting the stallion Svadilfari, as is recounted in the tale of The Fortification of Asgard. With his proper wife Sigyn (“Friend of Victory” ), he also has a son named Nari or Narfi, whose name might mean “Corpse.” As we’ll see below, Loki demonstrates a complete lack of concern for the well-being of his fellow gods, a trait which could be discerned, in vague outline, merely by considering these offspring of his. Loki is the father, by the giantess Angrboda ( Angrboða, “Anguish-Boding”), of Hel, the goddess of the underworld Jormungand, the great serpent who slays Thor during Ragnarok and Fenrir, the wolf who bites off one of the hands of Tyr and who kills Odin during Ragnarok – hardly a reputable brood, to say the least. Laufey/Nal could be a goddess, a giantess, or something else entirely – the surviving sources are silent on this point. His mother is Laufey (the meaning of which is unknown) or Nal ( Nál, “Needle” ). ![]() His father is the giant Farbauti (Old Norse Fárbauti, “Cruel Striker” ). While treated as a nominal member of the gods, Loki occupies a highly ambivalent and ultimately unique position among the gods, giants, and the other kinds of spiritual beings that populate the pre-Christian Norse religion. Loki (pronounced “LOAK-ee ” Old Norse Loki, the meaning of which will be discussed below) is the wily trickster god of Norse mythology. Book Review: Neil Price’s The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age ScandinaviaĪn anonymous painting of Loki from an Icelandic illuminated manuscript. ![]()
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