Musings on Loki

I had a lot of thoughts on Loki today that I wanted to journal about.

I was reading D. Jason Cooper's book "Esoteric Rune Magic" today, and in the section on the Perdhro rune he wrote that this is the rune associated with Loki, and that invoking Loki was good only for lies, trickery, deception, destruction and all kinds of vile, nasty things.

I think this shows a tremendous amount of shortsightedness on the part of Mr. Cooper to write such things, esp. when I consider that he included in his listings for further reading the very Poetic Edda itself.

Many Pagans have a very unfair view of Loki. Most people in general, if they are familiar with the Norse Gods at all, assume Loki is evil and bad and basically the Norse version of the devil.

This He is not. He is, in fact, blood brother to Odin Allfather -- and Odin Himself willingly entered into such a relationship with Loki, knowing exactly what Loki was and what He was like.

Odin and Loki are not blood brothers as we humans usually understand that word, meaning two people with the same parents. There is a specific oath Odin swore, that ale would never pass His lips unless Loki was also served at the same time; this underscores the importance the Northern people put on hospitality as one of the highest of virtues. It rather reminds me of what Christ said when He said it's easy to love your friends and family, but loving your enemies was a whole other story...and yes, Loki can be tough to love sometimes, but not impossible. Abe Lincoln said he got rid of his enemies by making them into his friends, and I think this is the sentiment behind Odin's vow about never drinking without Loki present and also being served.

And bear in mind that Odin is the Lord of Asgard. He is the big cheese, as it were.

Anyway, Loki was not born one of the Aesir. Loki is a Jotun, a fire giant from Muspellheim. It's interesting that Odin swore an oath of blood brotherhood with one of the beings that is usually inimical to the human race and to the Aesir; I'm sure Odin thought that He could put Loki's talents to use on behalf of the Aesir, and if nothing else Odin knew He couldn't just turn His back on an entire race of beings, esp. considering that at the Ragnarok the Aesir and Jotun will fight and all the World Tree, the Yggdrasil, will be utterly destroyed. Odin will fall to Fenris-wolf, as the wolf falls to Odin. Heimdall goes head to head with Loki, and they destroy each other.

Of course, there is a happy ending to all this; from the ashes of the old world rises a whole new world, with new deities and new opportunities. Even many Heathens forget about this part of the story.

Not all of what Loki does leads to bad things, but He does often resort to questionable means to get to it, and He really challenges people to think about whether or not the ends justify the means. If nothing else, His blood-brotherhood with Odin (the God that can be said to represent sheer awareness and consciousness itself) suggests that Loki and the chaotic nature He is given to is just part of the territory of the human mind. With awareness comes the ability to trick and play games.

Some of the beneficial things that Loki has turned up include Odin's magical arm-ring, Draupnir. This arm-ring, every 9th night, produces 8 new rings exactly like itself. This ring is what Odin laid on the funeral pyre of His son Balder, and I have a sneaking feeling that what this is all about is Odin giving Balder the power of regeneration; Odin did also whisper a rune or "mystery" into Balder's ear before setting the pyre aflame. Balder later emerges from Helaheim after the Ragnarok arm-in-arm with His brother Hodr, the blind God of Fate who, along with Loki Himself, had slain Balder. There is a theme of reunion and forgiveness there.

Something else that Loki gifted the Aesir with was His own son, Sleipnir, Odin's 8-legged horse.



Loki had shape-shifted into a mare so as to seduce Svadilfari, the magnificent stallion that was helping one of the Jotun rebuild the wall around Asgard that had been damaged during the war between the Aesir and Vanir. This Jotun (whose name escapes me right now) said if he could complete repairs of the wall in a given amount of time, he wanted the Moon and Sun for his own, as well as Freyja as his wife. Loki agreed to this, and the Aesir were pissed with Him for that. But Loki said, "Oh there's no way he can get it done." But he almost did, and so Loki had to do something to put a stop to it. It was His idea to let the Jotun work on the wall, after all. So He turned into a mare, seduced Svadilfari, the job wasn't completed in time, and Freyja didn't have to marry the Jotun. The colt born of the union between Loki and Svadilfari was Sleipnir.

Personally, I find it significant that Loki actually worked to undermine another Jotun, on behalf of the Aesir. That to me suggests and least a certain amount of loyalty from Loki.

Freyr's magnificent golden boar Gullinborsti, as well as Thor's hammer Mjollnir, Sif's long golden hair, and Freyr's magical ship Skidbladnir which could be folded to pocket-size were also some of the wonders that Loki acquired for the Aesir. Loki can be generous.

Loki is an agent of change, sometimes beneficial, sometimes not. That's not exactly demonic, but most people fear change. I know I'm not always comfortable with it. Especially when I don't know what is on the other side of that change.

I can see why Loki is also a fire etin/jotun. ("Etin" is a Germanic term, if memory serves -- "jotun" is old Norse, but they both refer to basically the same kind of being.) Fire is an element of transformation, and is dangerous to handle.

I wouldn't take Uncle Fox too lightly, though. (Uncle Fox is one of Loki's nicknames.) He can be pissy. Read in the Poetic Edda the story "Loki's Flyting" also called the Lokasenna. It's a poem that reminds me a LOT of Eris not being invited to the wedding banquet of a certain king and his new queen. Eris created trouble for the guests by rolling a golden apple into the hall, upon which was inscribed "Kallisti" meaning "For the fairest."

Loki was cast out of Odin's hall from a feast, and He was very upset, and He returned to remind Odin of the oath He had sworn. He then began a ritualized insulting of every last one of the Gods and Goddesses there, speaking very openly about all the scandal He could drag up about each one there. It got ugly. After that He went away, and began plotting how to get back at the Aesir. He found a way -- He destroyed Balder and instigated the Ragnarok.

I think the stories of Eris and the Lokasenna both remind people that it's very dangerous not to be open to the forces of change, chaotic as they can be. Hubris is often the downfall of kings and nations in a lot of myths and stories.

Something else that got my attention about D. Jason Cooper's book was that he thinks that Idunna's apples are apples of immortality. This they are not. The Gods consume Idunna's apples because they keep them perpetually youthful, but not immortal.

If the Gods were immortal then there would have been no point behind Frigga going through the Nine Worlds to extract promises from everything to not harm Baldur, and the entire Ragnarok could not possibly occur. And if the Ragnarok can't occur, then there's no point to have Loki trussed up on a rock with the guts of His own son as his bindings, the venom of a snake dripping from above into His face (courtesy another jotun, Skadhi), and Fenris-wolf (another of Loki's offspring, along with Hela Herself) also trussed up with a sword holding his jaws open.

No, the Gods are definitely mortal.

I have to wonder if on some level or another, Loki knows that the change He brings is often very necessary to spiritual growth, to maturity, to learning. That's why He does what He does, and sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it will bring one screaming to one's knees in utter agony. But it's life.

What would life be if everything stayed the same all the time? Boring as hell. And not very challenging.

That would be life without Loki Laufeyson. He can be hard to get along with, He can be barrels of fun. There's just no telling what will happen next with Him.