The Norse Trickster God Loki
© Linda Casselman
Easily bored, Loki loved playing tricks on the gods and putting them in dangerous situations. Oftentimes though, it was Loki's own quick wit that got the gods out of trouble again.
One time, Loki even put his best companion, the thunder god Thor, at great risk by luring him unarmed into the cave of the frost giant Geirrod. Luckily, the kind frost giantess Gird lent them some weapons thus securing the pair's safety. Why had Loki put his friend at risk? He did so to secure his own release from the hands of the evil giant who wanted Thor under his power in return for Loki's release.
On another occasion, however, Loki demonstrated his cleverness by helping Thor retrieve his mighty hammer. Dwarfs stole Thor's magic hammer and delivered to the frost giant Thrym whom wanted the lovely fertility goddess Freyja as his bride for the hammer's safe return. Loki came up with the clever scheme for Thor to dress up as Freyja and go to Thrym. Thor did so. When Thrym believed that the figure before him was Freyja he took out the hammer. At that moment Thor dropped his disguise and seized his hammer laying waste to every frost giant there present.
Loki was married twice and had five children in all. With his wife the giantess Angrboda he had Jormungand, the feared Fenrir, and Hel the ruler of the underworld. And from his wife Sigyn his children were Vali and Narvi.
Loki wasn't always so villainous, however. In the beginning he was more of just a playful prankster, a jester. But as time wore on his character grew darker and more sinister and twisted until the gods could stand no more. They tolerated him until the day he arrived at Aegir's great feast where he began to taunt and tease and torment everyone present. Finally, the gods lost patience with his insults and sneers. For a time Loki managed to escape thier wrath by changing into a salmon. But from his high position in Asgard, Odin quickly spotted him and called together an expedition to catch him.
Loki was then placed and held in a dark cave. His son Vali was turned into a vicious wolf that immediately set upon his brother Narvi and devoured him. The gods then used Narvi's intestines to bind Loki to a rock under the venemous dripping head of a snake where he would wait out time until the great final battle of Ragnarok where he would meet his end at the hands of Heimdall.
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