Biography

There are many different versions of myths throughout the centuries of the stories told from the past. We seek to give you a mix of different versions of stories combined to give a clear, interesting and exciting understanding of mythology

 

Loki is the ancient Norse god of trickery, mischief and chaos also associated with fire. He is often depicted as attractive, but there is not much described about his appearance. Loki does not have one specific look that is actually known but it is widely accepted that he does have red hair and is attractive to both genders, the view is totally up to the reader because there is not enough information given about how he should look. Loki is a prominent figure in Norse mythology but there is no record of Loki being worshipped by humans. This may be because of the characteristics associated with Loki, depending on the myth one decides to believe, and maybe the ancient Norse people believed that they were forbidden to worship Loki. The word Loki means “tangled” or “knot” in Norse language probably because of Loki’s confusing nature could be the personification of an elaborate knot to the Norse people. Loki’s most favorable attribute throughout the myths is his ability to shapeshift as shapeshifting can be seen as one of the most manipulative and misleading powers one could have. Even though Loki is seen as the main antagonist of the Norse myths he is still treated as a high status god in Asgard. He is also the blood brother of Odin, the king of the gods, who always promised to share a cup with Loki. Loki is also credited with discovering many inventions and innovative ways to help the gods. Throughout the myths Loki mostly gets himself into trouble with the gods of Asgard having to find his way out and back in good graces due to his trickster activities until they all must meet their prophesied fate.

 

 

Loki’s Birth

Loki’s birth story is a quite confusing one. Loki’s father is the Giant or Jotunn Farbauti, meaning “Cruel or Violent Striker”, and his mother’s origin of species is not widely agreed upon some say that she was one of the Aesir and others claim that she was a Jotunn but either way her name was Laufey, a meaning for the word “Leafy” in Norse language. Some researchers have come to believe that this represents lightning striking a pile of leaves in the forest creating the god Loki giving way to his beautiful but also violent nature. There is not any information given about Loki’s childhood.

 

 

Tales of Loki the Trickster

Loki often finds himself in trouble due to his trickster activities, but in the end he seems to always find a solution. The gods often threaten Loki with death due to the crisis that he causes among the Aesir. While reading these myths it may seem that Loki is somewhat of an adrenaline junky due to him being the cause of his own troubles. The question you may often ask yourself is why does Loki do these things to himself, yet alone to others knowing the consequences of his actions. Ragnarok is the destruction of the old world giving way to the rebirth of a new world in Norse mythology. The gods face off against their sworn enemies the jotunn or giants, and the prime antagonist Loki and his children according to the myth. The gods and Loki are aware of this prophecy, knowing that they are unable to change their fates, so they live on until the prophecy is fulfilled. 

 

These are the myths of Loki, the tales have no specific order of arrangement to truth. I have assembled these tales from the order of my perspective, but in all order can be left to one's own perspective.

Loki’s Presents for The Gods / Retrieval of Sifs Hair

In some myths Eitri is presented under the name Sindri

One morning Sif, Thor’s wife, awoke to her beautiful long golden hair missing in this crisis she hid herself only to be found by Thor in his return to Asgard from his journey. Sif insisted that she leave Asgard to live among the dwarves in shame due to the loss of her hair. Her distress enraged Thor and he promised to return Sif’s hair, so Thor marched to the council of Asgard and accused Loki of this wrongdoing in which most of the gods agreed. Thor sought vengeance from Loki with death, but Odin put a halt to this declaring that no blood should be spilled in Asgard. Instead Odin ordered Loki to return Sif’s hair immediately andLoki took off to Nidevalir, the realm of the dwarves, realizing the severity of the situation he had caused upon himself. Once he arrived he headed to the forge of the sons of Ivaldi and stroked their pride and ego, hence them agreeing to create hair for Sif, but not only did they create hair for Sif they also created the best ship to grace the gods which could be folded up like a handkerchief and it was called “Skidblanir”. They also created a great spear that would always hit its mark called “ Gungnir”. Loki wasn’t done yet even though he had already retrieved Sif’s hair he still had the urge for more mischief, so he went to the forge of Brokkr and Eitri. Once he made it to the forge he started to boast about the craftsmanship of the sons of Ivaldi saying that no one was better than those two at crafting and decided to bet his head that Brokkr and Eitri could not craft anything better. Brokkr and Eitri took on this bet from Loki, but Loki would try his best to interrupt the process by transforming into a fly and biting Brokkr above the eye causing blood to impair his vision. As Eitri worked the forge he informed Brokkr to pump the bellows non stop and maintain a consistent heat to ensure success. First they crafted the golden boar that could rival any stallion and brighten the night, it was called “Gullinbursti”. Next, they created the golden ring “Draupnir” which produced eight new golden rings every ninth night. Lastly, they created the famous hammer “Mjolnir”, which was able to revive, wield lightning and thunder also the hammer always promised to return to its owner if thrown. But due to Loki’s mischief Brokkr stopped to wipe blood from his eye after being bitten by Loki causing the handle to only be long enough to be wielded with one hand. Nevertheless, Brokkr and Eitri were still confident that they would win this bet with Loki. So, they traveled to Asgard to present their gifts to the gods. First Loki presented Sif with her new hair and then Freyr with Skidblanir lastly Odin with Gungnir. Then, Brokkr and Eitri presented their gifts. First they presented Freyr with the golden boar Gullinbursti and then Odin with the golden ring Draupnir lastly they presented Thor with the famous hammer Mjolnir which Thor was ecstatic about. The gods deemed Brokkr and Eitri to have crafted the best of the gifts they had received. This meant that Loki lost the bet, but when Brokkr and Eitri approached to take the head of Loki as their reward Loki expressed that to cut off his head they would also have to take his neck and his neck was not a part of the bet. The trickster Loki made a convincing argument to the gods and the dwarves, so Brokkr and Eitri settled for sewing Loki’s lips shut to silence him and returned to their forge.

 

 

Loki and The Master Builder

For context the Aesir are the gods we focus on that reside in Asgard they are more warlike; The Vanir residing in Vanaheim are associated with fertility and magic.

After the war between the Aesir and Vanir, the walls of Asgard had been reduced down to rubble and the gods knew that it would not be too long before the Jotunn would realize and come barging in. One day a builder approached and offered to rebuild the walls even stronger than before within three seasons, but the price would be for him to receive the sun, moon and for Freyja to be his bride. Odin and the gods would not dare to agree to such terms until Loki halted their denial and requested a meeting to share his bright idea. Loki brought forth his plan and persuaded Odin and the gods to take up the builder's offer with a different set of terms. And these terms would be for the builder to build the walls in a span of only one season with no help or the deal was off and the gods agreed. So, the gods returned to the builder and gave their terms, but the builder knew he could not possibly get the job done in that timeframe. So, he demanded that he would need his stallion Svaldifari to help him to even come near completion in that amount of time. The gods denied this request until Loki spoke out again implying that if the builder used his stallion it would not affect the fact that he could not possibly finish the job within the one season that he was given and so he persuaded the gods to agree to the builder's request. The builder started work immediately while Svaldifari, his stallion, hauled the stones by night the builder would smash them and set them in place by day. Three days before the final day the builder would have to complete the job the gods looked over and saw that only the entrance was left to be completed and by this point the gods had little doubt that this builder must be a jotunn or giant. The council of Asgard came together to discuss what must be done and came to the conclusion that since this was Loki’s idea he would either fix it or his punishment would be death. Loki quickly came up with an idea. As Svaldifari was hauling stones Loki disguised himself as a female mare and lured him into the woods. The builder realized without his stallion’s help the job would not be completed on time and fell into a fury cursing the gods for their trickery and emerged from his disguise back into his Jotunn form. The gods now knew that the builder was a giant in disguise which they suspected all along and sent for Thor’s return, who was off fighting in another battle, and when Thor returned he smashed the giant’s head in with his hammer Mjolnir. Months passed before Loki’s return, but when he did return he came back followed by a young colt which was the result of his frolic with Svaldifari. Loki had bored a gray, eight legged mare himself named Sleipnir which was the best horse among the entire world. Loki gave Sleipnir to Odin and Odin thanked Loki with great spirits.  

 

 

Loki and The Kidnapping of Idunn

Idunn’s apples are the reason for the gods' immortality and eternal youth. (Apple is a vague term for any kind of fruit throughout old English vocabulary).

Thrymheim is located in Jotunheim land of the Jotunn. 

Skadi the jotunness became accepted in Asgard after her marriage to Njord even though the marriage didn’t last for much time she was still accepted by the gods. 

Loki, Odin and Hoenir were on a journey far away from Asgard and found themselves hungry after treading so far. Food was scarce in the part of the world they were located, but soon they came across a herd of oxen and slaughtered one for food. The three lit a fire and proceeded to place the oxen on to cook, but soon realized that the oxen would not cook no matter how long they left it there. A large eagle perched on a tree above them revealed that it was him who would not allow the meat to cook by using his magic and explained that he would only release the spell if he was allowed to have a portion of the meat. The annoyed gods agreed to this request, so the eagle swooped down and started to take the heftiest portions which left Loki angry and believing that the eagle had gone further than the agreed terms. So Loki picked up a sturdy tree branch and hurled it at the eagle with all of his strength, but the eagle latched on to the branch and swooped back into the air quickly with Loki still holding on to the other end. The eagle flew so high that Loki knew letting go would be his demise. So he yelled and pleaded with the eagle to end this quarrel between them in peace. But, the large eagle revealed that he was none other than the Jotunn Thjazi who would only agree to put Loki down safely if he swore an oath to lure Idunn out of Asgard along with her golden apples. Loki agreed and returned to Odin and Hoenir and the three made their way back to Asgard. Once they returned Loki went to find Idunn to tell her that he had seen fruits even more magnificent than hers inside of a forest outside the walls of Asgard. Idunn followed Loki outside the walls and when they reached the woods outside of the walls Thjazi swooped down in his eagle form and took off with Idunn away to his fortress in Thrymheim far up in the icy mountains. With Idunn missing the gods and goddesses of Asgard felt time sneaking up on them very quickly as their skin became soft and wrinkly and their hair became grey. So, they all came to counsel to figure out what had happened to Idunn because without her they would surely perish. It had been communicated throughout the counsel that Idunn had last been seen with Loki so, they took hold of Loki and threatened him with death if he did not find Idunn and return her back to Asgard. Loki asked Freyja to loan him her hawk feathers, which she did, and Loki turned into a hawk and flew off to Thrymheim to retrieve Idunn. Once Loki made it to Thrymheim just in his luck, Thjazi was out fishing and had left Idunn all alone. With no time to waste Loki turned Idunn into a nut, picked her up and flew off back toward Asgard. When Thjazi returned and saw that Idunn was missing he changed into his eagle form and took off behind Loki toward Asgard. As Loki came closer to reaching Asgard he realized that Thjazi was hot on his trail. The gods of Asgard also noticed this and built a pile of brush around the entrance of their fortress. Once Loki crossed through they lit the fire and sent Thjazi up in flames. Idunn returned and handed her apples out to the gods so that they would regain their strength. While the gods were celebrating the return of Idunn and the death of Thjazi. Skadi the jotunness daughter of Thjazi had shown up in Asgard armed and ready to avenge her father, but the gods convinced Skadi to accept indemnification instead of vengeance for the death of her father Thjazi. Skadi accepted and Odin took the eyes of Thjazi and cast them into the night sky to become two stars, second Loki made Skadi laugh by tying one end of a rope to a goat and the other end to his testicles and lastly Skadi was given freedom to marry any god of her choosing, but she could only choose by the sight of their legs and feet. Skadi chose the best looking legs and feet with the intention for them to belong to Baldur, the god of light and beauty, but she ended up choosing Njord the god of the sea. They tried to work things out but neither Skadi or Njord could not come to a conclusion on who’s realm to live in, so they eventually parted ways. Either way Skadi still held status and respect among the gods of Asgard, unlike the rest of the jotun. 

 

 

Loki Helps Thor Get Mjolnir Back

Mjolnir is the famous hammer in which Thor wields. Mjolnir is the main weapon of protection against the jotunn or giants. Without Mjolnir Thor seems to be powerless. 

In some myths Thrym is described as a jotunn king.

Thor awoke one morning to his hammer Mjolnir missing. Frantically he started to search for it until his intuition told him that this situation had the trickster Loki written all over it. Thor approached Loki with rage, but Loki protested that he didn’t take Mjolnir. Thor had no idea what to do about the loss of his precious Mjolnir, so Loki offered to help Thor get back Mjolnir. Seeming that giants were prime candidates to be victims of Mjolnir he immediately suspected that it must have been a jotunn who took Thor’s hammer. Loki and Thor went to Freyja and asked to borrow her feathered cloak to retrieve Thor’s hammer realizing the severity of the situation she agreed. So, Loki took off in the form of a bird to Jotunheim and flew to the jotunn Thrym. Once Loki arrived he accused Thrym of stealing Mjolnir and Thrym did not deny this accusation. Thrym told Loki he buried Thor’s hammer eight miles below the earth and would only return Mjolnir if Freyja would marry him. Loki returned to Asgard with Thrym’s demands and Thor agreed that Freyja should marry Thrym to settle this. Freyja refused with disgust and told Thor that he would have to figure it out if he wanted his precious hammer back. Thor knew that he was not the brightest of the gods and assembled them all to find a solution. Heimdall, the god of foresight, came up with the idea to dress Thor up as a bride in place of Freyja. Thor protested this idea but every god agreed that this was surely the only way. So, they dressed Thor in a wedding gown and veil and Loki transformed himself into a bridesmaid and they headed off to Thrym’s home. Once they arrived Thrym could not tell the difference between Thor and a womanly Freyja and was ecstatic, so he laid out a large feast and celebrated the arrival of his bride. Thrym started to become suspicious of his bride when saw the appetite in which Thor had. Thor had eaten one whole ox, eight salmon and drank a whole barrel of mead. Loki in bridesmaid form stepped in and reassured Thrym that his bride had not eaten in days anticipating the day that she would get to marry him. Thrym was flattered and leaned to his bride for a kiss, but quickly backed away once he saw the fierce look on his bride’s face. Loki stepped in again to reassure Thrym that she also had not slept in days due to the anticipation of the wedding henceforth why she looks the way does. Thrym was satisfied and ordered his servants to bring Mjolnir and placed it in his bride's lap. Once Thor had his hammer he tore off his bride outfit and swung his hammer right at Thrym killing him with one blow and then proceeded to kill the rest of the jotunn Thrym had invited to the wedding.

 

 

Loki’s Illegitimate Children

Jormungandr is the giant world serpent so big that he circles the whole realm of Midgard.

Fenrir is the giant wolf prophesied to be Odin's sworn enemy at Ragnarok.

Hel is the queen of Niflheim, the realm of cold and darkness, and Helheim, the realm of the dead which is located in Nifelheim. Hel is half dead and half alive (half blue-black, half skin and flesh) 

Ragnarok is the end of the old world and the beginning of the new world in Norse mythology. During Ragnarok Loki, his children and the jotunn will fight a fierce battle with Odin, Thor and the rest of  the gods of Asgard ending in death to them all.

Loki had been spending more and more time away from Asgard which made the gods suspicious. Loki had found a new lover in Jotunheim, a jotunn named Angrboda, aside from his wife Sigyn who he had already bore their two sons Narfi and Vali with. Loki and Angrboda had three children which were Jormungandr, Fenrir, and Hel. Once Odin found out that Loki had bore three illegitimate children he took action to try and keep the foretold prophecy of Rangarok at bay by sending his fellow gods to capture the three. Soon the gods returned from Jotunheim with Loki’s children. Odin immediately cast Jormungandr to the Midgard sea where he grew so big that he wrapped around the land forcing him to bite his own tail. Next, Odin cast Hel to Niflheim and gave her power over the whole realm in which this is where the dead should go when they have not died in battle. Last, Odin saw that the giant wolf Fenrir should stay and be raised by the gods in Asgard. Tyr, the god of heroic deeds and justice, took on the role of caretaker to Fenrir but when the gods saw that Fenrir grew larger everyday they started to fear that the prophecy could not be changed in their favor. So, they tried to bind Fenrir with different varieties of fetter or chains. Gambling him to prove his strength. The first restraint in which the gods called “Laedingr” was no match for Fenrir so they brought out the second fetter “Dromi”. Fenrir was suspicious of “Dromi”, seeming that it was much stronger than “Laedingr”, but the gods convinced him that he would become famous for his strength if he managed to break through “Dromi”. Fenrir accepted the challenge thinking that he would need to put himself in danger to become famous for his strength. So he lashed out, fiercely struggling with it until “Dromi” was shattered. The gods feared that nothing would be able to bind Fenrir, but Odin sent Freyr’s messenger, Skirnir, to the land of the black elves to fashion a restraint that would surely hold. This fetter was named “Gleipnir” and it was made of six things. The footsteps of a cat, the beard of a woman, the roots of a rock, the sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish and the spittle of a bird. The fetter “Gleipnir” was described to be as soft and smooth as a silk ribbon and soon it was brought to the Aesir. The Aesir showed Fenrir the ribbon claiming that it is stronger than it looks, each of the gods passed it around and gave it a tug, but Fenrir saw that he would not get any glory for snapping such a weak restraint and started to feel as if this was a trap and told the gods that if the fetter should bind him he has a feeling that they would not come to his rescue. Fenrir initially did not trust the gods so as a pledge of good faith he asked that one of them lay their hand in his mouth. None of the Aesir were willing to do this action until Tyr stuck out his hand and laid it in the wolf’s mouth. When Fenrir lashed out the ribbon became hardened and the more he struggled the tighter it became which resulted in him biting off Tyr’s hand. All of the gods laughed and teased Fenrir . When Fenrir was fully bound the gods took the chain or fetter called “Gelgja” and wrapped it around Fenrir for extra support and stuck a sword facing upward in his jaws as a gag. 

 

 

Loki’s Hand In The Death of Baldur

Hodr is the god of winter and darkness also known as the blind god. Hodr is the son of Odin and Frigg. Hodr is seen as a helpless god unable to fend for himself because of his blindness. 

Baldur is the most loved god in Asgard whose death is the leading cause of Ragnarok.

Vali is the son of Odin who is only born to slay Hodr.

Baldur, the god of light and joy, was the most beloved god in all of Asgard. Baldur was the son of Odin and Frigg, light followed him wherever he went. One day Baldur awoke from a nightmare that an unfortunate event would come upon him and this frightened the gods, so Odin mounted Sleipnir disguised himself and traveled to the underworld to speak to a dead seeress about Baldur’s fate. When Odin in disguise arrived he saw that a great feast was being prepared, so Odin woke the seeress and asked why the feast was being prepared and she answered that their guest of honor was to soon show which was to be none other than Baldur. The seeress went on to prophesize how Baldur would soon meet his fate until the seeress realized the disguised being was none other than Odin the allfather himself and ceased to continue speaking about the unfortunate fate of Baldur. Odin returned to Asgard and told the rest of the gods what he had been told. Frigg couldn’t bear the news so she went to every living and nonliving being and thing to acquire oaths from them to never cause any harm to Baldur. The gods saw Frigg’s actions as a reason to celebrate and made games out of the situation. Loki had no joy for the lengths that the gods would go to protect Baldur, so he disguised himself as one of Frigg’s handmaidens and asked Frigg if she obtained oaths from everything. Frigg responded saying that she did obtain oaths from everything except the mistletoe because mistletoe could not possibly cause harm to anything. Loki left to find mistletoe then crafted a spear and went to Hodr, the blind god and brother of Baldur. Loki approached and asked Hodr why he was not participating in the games to throw things at Baldur expressing his sorrow that Hodr was being left out and Hodr agreed. So, Loki put the spear with mistletoe on the tip in Hodr’s hand and pointed him in the direction of Baldur telling him to throw. Hodr threw the spear with mistletoe on the tip and it pierced Baldur through the chest resulting in Baldur falling to his death. The gods were shocked and saddened from losing their beloved Baldur, also knowing that this event would lead to the prophecy of Ragnarok. Odin went to the giantess and Rindr conceived with her a son named “Vali” who became fully grown in one day with only one sole purpose and that was to slay Hodr in which he did. After Frigg was able to gather her composure she asked the gods if any of them were brave enough to travel to Hel or the underworld to ask for Baldur’s ransom. Hemrod, an unclear son of Odin, offered to take on this task and Odin instructed Sleipnir to be his steed and guide him to the realm of the underworld. While Hemrod took off to the underworld the gods put together the most beautiful funeral for Baldur. The gods turned Baldur’s ship, Hringhorni, into a pyre fit for a king but they could not launch the ship into the sea, seeming that it had gotten stuck in the sand. A giantess named Hyrrokkin was called to help move the ship because the gods could not get it to budge and she did with one strong push. As Baldur’s body was being carried to the ship his wife, Nanna, died where she stood from grief and she was also placed on the pyre next to Baldur. The fire was set to Hringhorni and Odin laid his ring Draupnir along with Baldur’s horse on to the pyre and all beings from the nine worlds who attended the funeral mourned as the burning ship vanished into the sea. Hemrod journeyed for nine nights on his mission to rescue the part of Baldur that was sent to Hel and when he came to the river Gjoll a giantess named Modgud asked for his name and purpose for coming, Hemrod gave a satisfactory answer and she allowed him to pass over into Hel’s realm. Once Hemrod arrived he noticed Hel and a pale Baldur sitting next to her in the seat of honor. Hel allowed Hemrod to spend the night and in the morning he pleaded and begged for Hel to release Baldur, telling her how everything was mourning his death, Hel responded that if everything in the cosmos weeps for Baldur then she will allow him to return to the living, but if anything refuses he will remain. Hemrod returned to Asgard and relayed the words he had gotten from Hel. The gods sent messengers throughout the realms to spread the news to all things and everything did weep for Baldur except one giantess named “Tokk” who was Loki in disguise and she told the messenger “let Hel hold what she has”. And so Baldur was damned to remain in Hel never again to walk among the living. 

 

 

Loki’s Flyting

A summary has been given for the portion of Loki’s insults, to read the full poem please refer to searching for the “Lokasenna”.

Aegir is a Jotunn and personification of the sea in Norse mythology.

Fimafeng and Eldir are servants of Aegir.

Flyting is an exchange of insults in Norse tradition.

A while after the death of Baldur the gods were invited to Aegir’s hall on the island of Hlesey for a feast. Aegir brewed tons of ale for the gods in the cauldron that Thor retrieved. Aegir’s hall was filled with happy gods, dwarves and guests from the nine realms until Loki, who could not stand how Fimafeng was being praised by the gods and guests, rushed Fimafeng with his knife and killed him. This action enraged the Aesir and they chased Loki out of the hall into the forest and went back to the Ageir’s hall and continued to be merry and feast. Loki soon returned and met Eldir at the entrance of the hall, Loki threatened Eldir to reveal what the gods were discussing and Eldir told Loki that he would find no good will for himself in the hall. Loki moved Eldir out of his way and barged into the hall and all of the gods and guests fell silent, setting their gaze upon Loki. Loki asked for someone to bring him a cup of ale and no one moved a muscle with silence still filling the air. Loki asked why they all were so silent and to either give him a place at the feast or tell him that he is not welcome. Bragi, the god of poetry and music, responded to Loki telling him that he will no longer hold any place among the Aesir. Loki looked to Odin and reminded him of his promise to always share a cup with him. Odin concurred and asked the gods to make room for Loki to put a cease to his troublemaking. Loki sat and a horn of ale was brought to him, Loki took a sip and began his flyting. Loki’s first insult started with Bragi accusing him of being a coward and hiding behind his shield when battles take place, Bragi responded threatening to kill Loki if they were not in Aegir’s hall and Loki responded by proving his point saying if Bragi was so angry why doesn’t he get up and fight. Idunn soon interrupted and persuaded her husband Bragi to stop the back and forth with Loki but Loki was not done he went on to accuse Freyja of being a whore, Frigg and Sif of committing adultery, Heimdall of being a servant, Freyr of killing his own wife, Njord of letting Hymir’s daughters piss in his mouth, he claimed to have slept with Tyr’s wife, Thor of being a coward and Odin of letting the weaker man snatch victory in battle and also accused him of roaming through Midgard as a witch in womanly form. All of the gods responded by flyting insults of their own back at Loki but it seemed that Loki had won the success of the malevolence he was in search of by getting far more under the god’s skin than they had his. Thor was filled with anger and threatened to send Loki straight to Hel. Loki decided that he would take his leave knowing he was no match for Thor’s strength, but before he left he turned to Aegir and thanked him for the ale informing him that he would never host another feast like this again because soon his hall would be destroyed and his body would be burned in fire, this statement Loki made was in reference to Ragnarok. Loki left and for a long time the gods and the guest sat and stared into their cups of ale silently and lifted from their seats and left as silent as they sat. 

 

 

The Binding of Loki

Narfi and Vali are the legitimate children of Loki, They are the offspring of Loki and his wife Sigyn. 

This is the end of Loki until the beginning of Ragnarok.

After Loki’s hand in the death of Baldur and his flyting of insults at Aegir’s feast he knew that his time in Asgard had come to an end. So, Loki ran away to a deserted part of Midgard in the mountains near the sea and built a small house for one. Loki knew that the gods would soon come searching for him seeking to punish him for his actions, so he disguised himself as a salmon by day. One day while Loki was in the midst of creating his new invention to catch fish, which we now call the fishing net, he heard voices near his encampment and Loki was sure that these were the gods finally coming to capture him. So, Loki tossed the net he had crafted into the fire he had kept to keep warm, shapeshifted into his salmon form and leapt into the stream. Odin had the ability of foresight, so there was no escaping Odin’s sight for Loki. Odin had sent a party of gods to bring Loki back to face his punishment. Once the gods arrived at Loki’s encampment, Loki was nowhere to be found, Kvasir the god of wisdom noticed the ash pattern that was left from the burned fishing net and instantly realized what this device was used for, bringing him to the conclusion that Loki must have changed himself into a fish. The gods decided to make a net of the same likeliness and once they were finished they cast the net into the stream with hopes to catch the trickster Loki. Loki managed to evade the net for sometime by leaping over the lines, but soon Thor caught Loki in the midst of leaping and squeezed so hard that he changed the shape of all salmon to have a thinned out back. Loki was finally captured and the gods took him to a certain cave. The gods brought Loki’s two sons Narfi (Nari) and Vali (Vili) into the cave also and Loki was forced to watch his son Vali who was changed into a wolf by the Aesir rip out the insides of his other son Narfi. The gods then took the entrails of Narfi and bound Loki to the stones in the cave. Skadi, the jotuness, took a venomous serpent and placed it above Loki so that venom would drip onto his face, but his faithful wife Sigyn stood near him holding a bowl to catch as much venom as she could until the bowl became full, forcing her to pour, and leaving the agonizing venom to drop onto Loki. When the venom drops onto Loki this forces Loki to contort with such force that it causes earthquakes. Loki will remain bound to the cave until Ragnarok begins.

Research by Jameek Braggs