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Loki: Friend of Othinn
| Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | Snorri tells the tall of Baldr's death this way. One night
Baldr had terrible dreams of his death. He told the Aesir about these dreams
and council was held as to what should be done. Balder's mother, Frigg, decided
that she would ask that everything that could remotely harm him give an oath
to never cause him harm. So she asked iron, stones and all manner of things
that they give an oath to never harm him. Fire, water and all manner of plants
she asked and from them all she received an oath to not harm them. So it was
that the Aesir took great sport in doing things to Baldr at the Thing
(3), that would kill anyone else normally. They threw
great stones at him. They struck at him with swords and other weapons but none
so much as harmed one hair on his head. Now Loki saw that nothing would harm
Baldr and took the form of a woman and went to Frigg's abode at Fensalir. Frigg
saw her and asked how things went at the Thing. The woman told her how everyone
made sport of striking at Baldr to show how nothing could harm him and asked
Frigg if there was really nothing left that would harm him. Frigg said that
she had gotten oaths from everything that they would never harm Baldr. The woman
asked again, there is not one thing left? Frigg said that there was one thing
she had not gotten an oath from because it was such a harmless thing it could
never harm anyone. So she had not asked the oath of mistletoe. Loki left straight
away after finding this out and obtained some mistletoe and fashioned a dart
from it. When he returned to the thing he saw that Hothr did not take part in
the amusements and went up to him to ask him why. Hothr said that he could not
because he was blind and could not see where to aim and that besides he had
no weapon. Loki offered to aim for him so he placed the dart he had fashioned
in Hothr's hand and aimed it for him. Hothr threw the dart and it passed through
Baldr and he died. Everyone froze and could not believe what they had seen.
When they realized that Baldr had died a great mourning went up throughout the
land. But none grieved more than Othinn and Frigg. It is said that Vali when
he was one day old avenged his brother Baldr by killing Hothr. The full story
of Vali I will save for another time. Baldr had a wonderful boat called Hringhorni and they placed
his body along with his belongings on it. They took his horse also and laid
it to rest on the boat. Othinn came close and laid the ring, Draupnir, that
was so special it dropped out eight more rings just like it every ninth night,
on Baldr and whispered something in his ear. What it is that he whispered are
known only to Othinn and Baldr himself. It is said that Nanna, Baldr's wife,
died of a broken heart and she was placed there on the ship as well. It is said
that many tribes from many lands sent representatives to that funeral. Freyja,
Freyr, Heimdallr and all the Aesir and Vanir came. Even Hill Giants and Ice
Giants came to pay their respects. When they tried to move the boat no one could
move it to cast it off. Finally a giantess called Hyrrokkin was called. She
came riding on a great wolf using snakes for reigns. Othinn had Berserkers watch
the wolf but the only way they could control it was by knocking it down and
holding it there. When Thorr saw the giantess he raised his hammer to bash her
head in but the Aesir kept him from killing her. So they lit the ship afire
and Hyrrokkin gave a mighty shove and the ship was launched out to sea. There
was a Dwarf named Litr who was before Thorr and in his anger Thorr kicked the
dwarf so that he landed in the fire and was burned up. Now after Baldr's funeral, Frigg asked who would fare to
Hel and ransome for Baldr. Immediately, Hermothr spoke up and said that he would
go. So Othinn gave him Sleipnir, his eight legged horse, to take on the ride.
So Hermothr left right away and it took him nine nights and nine days to get
to Hel. Once there he was met by the bridge kepper, a woman called Gjoll. Gjoll
looked at Hermothr and asked him what he was doing there as he appeared to have
a healthy hue about him and did not appear dead at all. Hermothr said that he
was there to talk with Hel. Hermothr was allowed to pass and he rode to Hel's
abode and dismounted to enter her hall. There he saw Baldr sitting in the high
seat and spent the night in Hell's hall. In the morning Hermothr arose and pleaded
with Hel that Baldr might be allowed to return with him. Hel said that she would
allow him to return only if it was proved that Baldr was as beloved as everyone
said. If everything weeped for him then she would let him return but if one
thing refused to weep, then he would stay in Hel. So Baldr accompanied Hermothr
to the gate and gave him Draupnir to give back to his father Othinn and Nanna
gave gifts for Frigg and Fulla. So Hermothr rode back and gave the Aesir the news of his
journey. They sent out messengers far and wide and bade that all weep for Baldr
so that he might return from Hel. And everything quick and dead did weep for
Baldr until the messengers came upon a giantess in a certain cave named Hlokk.
She refused to weep for Baldr and therefore Baldr was not allowed to leave Hel.
It was said by some that Hlokk was actually Loki in disguise. Now when Loki perceived the anger over his role in Baldr's
death he left and built a house on a mountain that had four doors, one facing
in each direction so that he could look in any direction and see if the Aesir
were coming after him. He would some times turn himself into a salmon and swim
in a certain waterfall pool nearby. When he was not swimming he weaved the first
net. So it is that Loki invented the net. So one day he saw that the Aesir were
coming for him because Othinn had seen him from his high seat Hlithskjalf, from
which he could see anywhere in the nine worlds. When he saw them coming for
him, he quickly threw the net in the fire and jumped in the waterfall pool.
Kvasir, the wisest of all men, had come with the Aesir and he saw the pattern
of the ashes from the burnt fish net. From that he deduced how to make a fish
net and had one made. They came back with the net and cast it in an attempt
to try to catch Loki. But Loki swam down between two rocks and the net passed
over him. So the Aesir took the net and attached a heavy stone to it so that
nothing could pass under it. When they cast the net, they moved closer and closer
to the sea. Loki saw that he was being forced closer and closer to the sea and
knew it would be very dangerous for him to be in the sea so he jumped the net
and hid among the falls. Next the Aesir did as before except this time Thorr
got behind them in mid-stream. So they began to as before and once again Loki
found himself being forced closer and closer to the sea. He had two choices.
One was to allow himself to be forced into the sea but he knew that the danger
would be too great. So he took the second choice and jumped over the net again.
But this time Thorr was ready and he caught him. Loki slipped out of Thorr's
hand but he was able to grab him by his tail before he got away gain and so
Loki was caught. They took Loki to a certain cave and took three great stones
and turned them on their end and drilled a hole in each one. They called Loki's
sons, Vali and Narfi to the cave and turned Vali into a wolf so that he killed
his brother Narfi. They took the entrails of Narfi and used them to bind Loki
to the three stones. Skathi took a venomous serpent and fastened above Loki
so that it dripped venom down upon his face. His wife Sigyn stands with a bowl
catching the venom but every so often she must empty the bowl and when she does
some times a drop of venom will fall on Loki's face and he writhes with such
force that the earth shakes and it is said that this is the origin of earthquakes.
This poem that is left out of most versions of the Poetic
Edda is undoubtedly the most enigmatic piece of lore we have. There have been
some scholars who have argued, erroneously, that it is a forgery and a fake.
Basically due to the opinion of a Christian apologist, Bugge, it has since been
left out of most versions of the Poetic Edda. Thorpe was the last person to
include it and it can be found at the Northvegr Félag web site. The poem
seems to be about Idunn who has been abducted and held in Hel after she had
fallen from the world tree to the underworld. Three gods are then sent to arrange
for her return, Bragi, Heimdallr and Loki. They are unsuccessful and the poem
ends with the blowing of the Gjallarhorn after which Ragnarok comes. This poem
seems to also be about Ragnarok and the attempt to avert it. In this view it
is very interesting to note that Loki and the person he is said to be mortal
enemies with, Heimdallr are together here on a common mission. It has been put
forth that Loki here is actually working with Heimdallr and Braggi to prevent
the oncoming of Ragnarok or find a way to do so. 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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