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Loki: Friend of Othinn
By Alfta Svanni Lothursdottir © 2003 Page 1 | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | There are few subjects that will create a fire storm of
debate (if one wants to be nice and call it “debate”) among Northmen and Northwomen
like the subject of Loki. There are likewise few characters in our lore that
are more enigmatic than he. In this article I hope to examine the major stories
Loki participates and more importantly some of the theories regarding him. First let us take a general biographical look at Loki. Loki
is said to be the son of the giantess, Laufey and the giant Farbauti. He was
father to the Fenris Wolf (Fenrir), Jormungandr (The World Serpent) and Hel
the mistress of the world of the dead by the giantess Angrbotha. He is Othinn's
Blood-brother and husband of the goddess Sigyn and frequent travel companion
of Thorr. He is said by Snorri to be the instigator of Baldr's murder and to
fight on the side of the giants at Ragnarok. In Grimnismal 42 is the story of how Othinn's eight-legged
horse Sleipnir came to be and the walls of Asgarthr were built. Early on, when
Vallholl was first built there came a giant disguised as a builder who promised
to build walls that were strong enough to repel any attack made by the giants
and do it in three seasons. He asked for his payment the hand of the goddess
Freyja, and the sun and moon. The gods countered his proposal saying he could
indeed have the demanded payment but only if he finished the wall in one winter
and if one stone were left out on the first day of summer then he would forfeit
he wages. The builder asked if he could have his horse called Svathilfari to
help in his work. Loki advised the gods that they accept this condition and
so the builder agreed to the conditions. The gods were pleased because they
thought it impossible for him to complete the wall in such a short time. So
on the first day of winter, the builder set to work with his great horse hauling
great stones and doing more work than the builder himself did. When the end
of Winter was close at hand they saw that the builder would indeed complete
the wall on time and this caused them great concern because the price the would
be forced to pay. When the 1st day of Summer was only three days
away, the gods took council on what could be done to avert the catastrophe that
would be, if they were forced to pay the builder his wages. Loki swore that
he would do whatever it took to avert the disaster. So he changed himself into
the form of a mare in heat and ran to the edge of a forest opposite where the
great stallion Svathilfari was working and whinnied. Svathilfari bounded off
in pursuit of the mare which ran for day and a night. The builder took off in
pursuit of the stallion and because of it he lost a full days work and because
of this he could no longer finish the wall in time. When he realized that he
could no longer finish the wall the builder became wrathful and revealed his
true giant self. When the gods saw this they considered their oath to him as
not valid since it was given under false pretenses. The immediately called on
Thorr who came straight away and bashed the giants head in with his hammer,
Mjollnir. Later on Loki returned with the gray eight-legged horse, Sleipnir,
which he had given birth to when he was in the form of a mare after having had
relations with the stallion Svathilfari. Loki gave Sleipnir to Othinn and there
never was nor is a better or faster horse. In Thrymskvitha there is the story of the theft and return
of Thorr's hammer. One day Thorr awoke to find his great hammer Mjollnir was
missing. As Mjollnir was considered the god's greatest treasure and it was Thorr's
main weapon in his battles with the giants there was great concern at it being
missing. So Thorr told Loki of the theft and Loki went to Freyja to ask if he
could borrow her falcon cloak so that he might go looking for the hammer. Freyja
agreed and Loki was off in Freyja's falcon cloak. Loki looked far and wide and
finally came upon the giant Thrym sitting on a mound with his dogs. Loki told
him of the ill tidings and asked him if he had stolen the hammer. Thrym admitted
that he had. He said that he had hidden the hammer eight miles underneath ground
and that no one would have the hammer unless he had Freyja as his wife. So Loki
flew back to Asgarthr with this news. He told the gods of the news and then
went to Freyja to ask her to agree to go to the land of the giants and wed Thrym
so that they could get Mjollnir back. Freyja became so angry, that they would
even think of asking her to wed the giant, that her wrath shook Asgarthr and
her wonderful necklace Brisingamen was burst apart. So the gods held council
on what should be done to get Thorr's hammer back. Heimdallr came up with the
plan that was decided upon. The would dress mighty Thorr up in bridal gowns
so that he appeared to be Freyja. So Freyja's necklace Brisingamen was given
to Thorr to complete the ruse and Loki went along dressed as a maid-servant.
So together they set out for the land of the giants to the wedding feast that
Thrym the king of the giants had prepared. Thorr ate and drank mightily as was
his way and Thrym became suspicious saying, “How is it that Freyja comes to
eat and drink so much? Never have I seen a bride with such an appetite.” But
Loki had the answer. He said that such was Freyja's desire to wed the king that
she had fasted for eight nights. So Thrym came close and lifted the veil so
as to kiss the bride and jumped back at the site of Thorr's eyes. “Never have
I seen eyes to fearful. Fire burns from the eyes of Freyja!” But Loki was ready
with an answer here as well. He said, “So much was her longing for you, she
did not sleep for those eight nights either.” Then Thrym's sister came and demanded
bridal fee of red gold in exchange for her good will. It was then that Thrym
called for the hammer to be brought forth as it was tradition to lay the hammer
on the brides lap. When the hammer was laid on Thorr's lap he grasped it and
began to laugh. He lept up and slew Thrym and then the rest of the giants there.
Thrym's sister got a stroke of the hammer instead of the red gold she craved
that day. In Skaldskaparmal 1 we find the story of how Idunn was kidnapped
and her golden apples stolen. One day Othinn, Loki and Hoenir set out traveling
over the mountains and waste lands. They soon found that food was very scarce
and hard to come by. After a while they came to a dale where they found a heard
of Oxen. They immediately killed one and began to cook it. After a while they
thought that the meat must surely be done so they scattered the fire but found
that it was not cooked. So they built another fire and after a time, in which
they were sure the meat should have been cooked, they scattered the fire again
but it was the same as before. The meat was not cooked. So they took council
on what they should do. Suddenly they heard a voice from high up in a nearby
oak tree call to them. They looked up to see a very large eagle in the tree.
The eagle, who was Thjazi in disguise, said that if they would allow him to
have a fair portion of the ox then the fire would cook the meat. So Othinn,
Loki and Hoenir agreed and the meat cooked this time. The eagle came down and
instead of eating his fair share, ate much more. Loki became angry and snatched
up a great pole and thrust it at the eagle knocking it back violently. The pole,
however became stuck to the eagle and likewise, Loki's hands became stuck to
the pole. The eagle flew up dragging Loki with him high enough to where Loki's
feet knocked against the tops of the trees. So violent was the flight that Loki
thought his arms would wrenched from their sockets. Loki begged for truce with
the Eagle but he refused saying that he would never let him go unless he swore
an oath to bring Idunn with her golden apples outside the walls of Asgarthr
at an appointed time. Loki swore the oath, thinking he had no other choice and
the eagle let him go. Othinn, Loki and Hoenir continued on their journey and
after a time eventually returned home to Asgarthr. Later the appointed time came for when Loki was to bring Idunn
and her golden apples outside the walls. Loki went to Idunn and said that he
had found a tree in a certain wood that had the most wonderful apples and that
he wished for her to bring her apples so that she might compare them to see
which were better. Idunn agreed and true to his oath, Loki brought her to the
wood where Thjazi came in the form of an eagle again and snatched her and her
apples up, taking her to his home, Thrymheimr. The gods and goddesses of Asgarthr immediately felt her absense
and began to grow old. Alarmed they held council as to what should be done.
It was told that the last that was seen of Idunn was when she was outside the
walls of Asgarthr with Loki. So Loki was brought to the Thing and threatened
with torture and death if he did not bring Idunn back. Loki said that he would
do so if Freyja would loan him her Falcon cloak. She did so and Loki was off
to Thrymheimr. Thjazi was out to see when Loki arrived so Loki turned Idunn
into an acorn and grasped her in his claw and took off straight away back to
Asgarthr. Now Thjazi arrived back at Thrymheimr shortly after Loki had left
and found that Idunn was not there. He immediately took on the form of an eagle
and gave chase. Back at Asgarthr the gods and goddesses saw a long way off, a
Falcon coming and an eagle close behind pursuing. They quickly built a large
fire. When Loki swooped in, they stoked the fire very high and Thjazi was unable
to stop in time and his feathers were singed and he fell to the ground just
inside the gates of Asgarthr. The Aesir quickly killed him and with Idunn back
they returned to the normal youthful selves. Learn more about the Northern Way on Northvegr Forums or join the Northvegr Félag Mailing List. © 2004-2007 Northvegr. Most of the material on this site is in the public domain. However, many people have worked very hard to bring these texts to you so if you do use the work, we would appreciate it if you could give credit to both the Northvegr site and to the individuals who worked to bring you these texts. A small number of texts are copyrighted and cannot be used without the author's permission. Any text that is copyrighted will have a clear notation of such on the main index page for that text. Inquiries can be sent to info@northvegr.org. Northvegr™ and the Northvegr symbol are trademarks and service marks of the Northvegr Foundation. |
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