Loki legend collection part 1
Well, the best source and simplest collection of data on the Norse legends around Loki, including the Icelandic tales ishttp://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071104074304AAyEVZz
and I place a dump of the text here for my own delight. Thank you yahoo answerer kveldulf gondlir
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.
Loki from the Avengers and Thor and all those other "Marvellous" films would totally have this cake.
and I place a dump of the text here for my own delight. Thank you yahoo answerer kveldulf gondlir
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.
Loki from the Avengers and Thor and all those other "Marvellous" films would totally have this cake.