So before someone else claims that Loki is Odin’s adopted son learn a couple of facts about the actual Loki.ġ. I like marvel comics, but insisting that they are more true that the actual norse myths is insulting and a sign of great ignorance. People, Norse Loki and Marvel Loki are two absolutely different stories!!!ĭO NOT DARE TO THINK THAT MARVEL IS TELLING THE ACTUAL MYTHS!!! This is the Norse religion, far older than Christianity, written in runes so long ago and translated by very knowing people into what is called “The Eddas” My facepalm during the comments was permanent… Loki and Logi actually met at one point and had an eating contest, it was weird. The two got combined when Christianity started influencing the myths and Loki went from trouble-maker who made bad decisions and went insane (has anyone ever noticed how often he gets tortured/his children taken away from him, I don’t blame the guy) to the equivelent of the Devil. He’s not the God of Fire though, that would be Logi (a fire giant). Being the son of one of the Gods would account for both his size and appearance – otherwise he’s just got a really lucky birth defect. Being the son of two gaints, Loki himself should be a giant… except he’s not, and the fact that all male giants seem to be, well, really ugly whereas the women are quite attractive (possibly to allow for cross-species relationships? A human-sized female probably wouldn’t survive getting with a giant, but a giantess would have no trouble with a human-sized male) – Loki is apparantly quite a good-looking dude, and occasionally a good-looking woman. I think one of the reasons people seem to like the idea of him being Odin’s son (other than the Marvel Comics) is because the descriptions of Loki don’t match what is said about the giants. The most likely scenario is that he is the child of the giants Laufey and Farbauti and then was taken in by Odin (whether he became Odin’s brother or Thor’s brother depends on what you read). One of the reasons that Loki’s heritage is unlcear/confusing is because unlike the other Gods who have counterparts in other religions, Loki really just appeared out of nowhere. And when he breaks loose at Ragnarok, Loki reveals his true colors he is no less evil than his three appalling children, the serpent Jormungand, the wolf Fenrir and the half-dead, half-alive Hel ( Myth 7), and he leads the giants and monsters into battle against the gods and heros. He is an agent of destruction causing earthquakes. His accusations against the gods at Aegir’s feast (Myth 30) are vicious. He not only guides the mistletoe dart that kills Balder but stands in his way on his return from Hel (the citadel of Niflheim). He has been compared to a number of European and other mythological figures, most notably the Trickster of Native American mythology.Īs the myths play out, the playful Loki gives way to a cruel predator, hostile to the gods. It is now generally accepted that he is not a late invention of the Norse poets but an ancient figure descended from a common Indo-European prototype and as such, Loki’s origins are particularly complex. His other children include the goddess Hel (Hella, Holle), and Sleipnir, Odin’s 8-legged horse. He helps the Gods and gets them out of predicaments, but spawns the worst monsters ever seen on the face of the Earth: Fenrir, Jormungand, the Midgard Wyrm. In Myth 8 his deceit leads to the loss of the golden apples of youth… but he retrieves them again. In Myth 10 he shears Sif’s hair which is more mischievous than evil, but he makes amends in the end. He is responsible for a wager with a giant which puts Freyja into peril ( Myth 3) but by changing both shape and sex (characteristics he has in common with Odin) he bails her out. Without the exciting, unstable, flawed figure Loki, there would be no change in the fixed order of things, no quickening pulse, and no Ragnarok. He is dynamic and unpredictable and because of that he is both the catalyst in many of the myths and the most fascinating character in the entire mythology. Loki embodies the ambiguous and darkening relationship between the gods and the giants. Neither an Aesir or a Vanir, he is the son of two giants and yet the foster-brother of Odin. He was continually involving the Aesir in great difficulties and he often helped them out again by guile. He excelled all men in the art of cunning, and he always cheats. Is handsome and fair of face, but has an evil disposition and is very changeable of mood. In the Prose Edda Snorri Sturluson writes that Loki: Loki, the Trickster, challenges the structure and order of the Gods which is necessary in bringing about needed change.
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