Sunday, December 4, 2011

Gods And Goddesses: Loki

Loki is the son of Farbauti and Laufey, having two siblings, Helblindi and Byleistr. Later on in life, Loki gets pregnant himself and gave birth to the eight legged horse Sleipnir. Loki is one whom at times helps the gods, while at other times doesn’t.

A trickster god, Loki has three wives and has the ability to transform into many forms. Although he has three wives, Loki takes whatever opportunity to take advantage of any goddess he could. Loki notably is currently being punished for eternity for causing the death of Baldur, at least until Ragnarok occurs.

The three wives of Loki are Glut (who bore the daughters Einmyria and Eisa), Angrobda (who bore the wolf Fenrir, the serpent Jormungand and the goddess Hel) and Sigyn (who bore the sons Narvi and Vali).

A story of Loki often told is how he caused the death of the peace god Baldur. It was Loki whom upon learning Baldur’s weakness (mistletoe), got the blind god Hod to shoot Baldur with mistletoe, killing the god. If all earthly things mourned the death of Baldur he would be brought back to life, to the misfortune of Baldur an old hag refused to mourn his death. This old hag turned out to be Loki in disguise.

While Loki is in bonds as punishment for what he did to Baldur, his wife Sigyn collects venom that falls from a serpent. When the bowl is full it is emptied, with whatever venom that drips on Loki in the meantime causing Loki to writhe in pain and cause earthquakes. When Ragnarok comes, Loki is to slip free from his bonds and fight against the gods, where he and Heimdallr shall kill each other.

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