PERSEPHONE ─ INFORMATION GUIDE

LOKI

LOKI

Loki, in Norse mythology, was a cunning trickster who had the ability to change his shape and sex. Although his father was the giant Fárbauti, he was included among the Æsir (a tribe of gods). Loki was represented as the companion of the great gods Odin and Thor, helping them with his clever plans but sometimes causing embarrassment and difficulty for them and himself. He also appeared as the enemy of the gods, entering their banquet uninvited and demanding their drink. He was the principal cause of the death of the god Baldur.

Baldur was one of the most beloved of all the gods. He was the son of Odin, chief of the gods, and the benevolent sorceress goddess Frigg. Baldur was a generous, joyful, and courageous character who gladdened the hearts of all who spent time with him. When, he began to have ominous dreams of some grave misfortune befalling him, the fearful gods appointed Odin to discover their meaning.

Odin traveled to the underworld to speak to a dead seeress, only to find that the halls were arrayed in splendor, as if some magnificent feast were about to occur. Odin found the seeress and questioned her concerning this festivity, and she responded that it was for the soon-to-be dead guest, Baldur.

When Odin returned to Asgard, he told his wife Frigg of all he had learned. In hope to protect her son, she went to every entity in the cosmos, living or nonliving, and obtained oaths to not harm Baldur.

After these oaths were secured, the gods made a sport out of the situation. They threw sticks, rocks, and anything else on hand at Baldur, and everyone laughed as these things bounced off and left the shining god unharmed.

The wily and disloyal Loki sensed an opportunity for mischief.

In disguise, he went to Frigg and asked her, "Did all things swear oaths to spare Baldur from harm?" "Oh, yes," the goddess had replied, "everything except the mistletoe. But the mistletoe is so small and innocent a thing that I felt it superfluous to ask it for an oath. What harm could it do to my son?" Immediately upon hearing this, Loki departed, located the mistletoe, carved a spear out of it, and brought it to where the gods were playing their new favorite game.

He approached the blind god Hodr and talked of how he must feel left out, having to sit back here away from the merriment, not being given a chance to show Baldur the honor of proving his invincibility. The blind god agreed, and Loki, being the generous god he was (not really), offered to point Hodr's hand in the direction where Baldur stood so he could throw the mistletoe branch at him. Hodr unknowingly threw it. It pierced Baldur straight through, and he fell dead on the spot.

When the gods found out Loki was the true cause of Baldur's death, they were furious. Once it was known the Baldur could never return from the underworld, they decided the abuse was too much and sought out to capture him.

Loki ran away from Asgard,and at the peak of a high mountain, he built for himself a house with four doors so that he could watch for his pursuers from all directions. By day he turned himself into a salmon and hid beneath a nearby waterfall. By night he sat by his fire and weaved a net for fishing for his food.

The far-seeing Odin perceived where Loki now dwelt, and the gods went after him. When Loki saw his former friends approaching, he threw the net in the fire and hid himself in the stream in his salmon form so as to leave no traces of himself or his activities. When the gods arrived and saw the net smoldering in the fire, they surmised that the wily shapeshifter had changed himself into the likeness of those he intended to catch for himself. The gods took up the twine Loki had been using and crafted their own net, then made their way to the stream. Several times they cast their net into the stream, and each time the salmon barely eluded them. At last, the fish made a bold leap downstream to swim to the sea, and while in the air he was caught by Thor. The salmon writhed in the war-god's grasp, but Thor held him fast by his tail fins. This is why, to this day, the salmon has a slender tail.

Loki was then taken, in his regular form, to a cave. The gods then brought in Loki's two sons and turned one into a wolf, who promptly killed his brother, strewing his entrails across the cave floor. Loki was then fastened to three rocks in the cave with the entrails of his slain son, which the gods had turned into iron chains. Skadi (goddess of winter) placed a poisonous snake on a rock above his head, where it dripped venom onto his face. But Loki's faithful wife, Sigyn, sat by his side with a bowl that she held up to the snake's mouth to catch the poison. But every so often, the bowl became full, and Sigyn would have to leave her husband's side to dispose of its contents, at which point the drops that fell onto the unrepentant god's face would cause him to shake violently, which brought about earthquakes in Midgard, the world of humanity. And this was the lot of Loki and Sigyn until, as fated, Loki will break free from his chains at Ragnarok to assist the giants in destroying the cosmos.