| “ | There is always a blind spot. If you can take advantage of it, you can even kill the light god who supposedly could not be killed. | „ |
| ~ Loki about killing Baldr |
| “ | You should know that deception is my greatest weapon. | „ |
| ~ Loki |
Loki was the trickster son of Fárbauti, a jötunn (giant), and Laufey, a lesser known goddess and is the blood-brother of Odin.
Overview
His mischievous nature was such that he even managed to slither his way into becoming one of the Norse deities, and Loki was known to be a god of mischief, magic and fire as well. His jötunn heritage does aid in explaining the complexity of his character, as the jötunns once went to war against the Aesir and are considered, in many ways, their enemies.
The trickster god also, interestingly enough, is the mother of Odin's great eight-legged steed Sleipnir, as Loki mated with a powerful male stallion while disguised as a mare. As his parentage and his progeny are all outside the normal state of affairs even in the godly world, scholars believe that there must have been pertinence to his connection to so many dark and powerful figures in the Norse pantheon.
Description
Being a shapeshifter, Loki is naturally able to assume any form he pleases to where he could even outright change his gender at a whim. Loki is described as being tall, slender, and standing as a "snake ready to pounce at one's gullibility". His figure is also somewhat feminine and his face is slightly pronounced in terms of masculinity. Loki's most defining feature is perhaps his hair as it is described as "burning like vibrant fire in the auburn season".
Loki's garments include the typical garb worn by the gods but in his case it is less appealing as it mainly involves dull mint green shirt with furry overcoat. On several occasions Loki does not even bother to wear clothing only being left with a skirt or pants. After the deal between him and the dwarves, Loki now sports puncture wounds around his lips from being sewn shut by the Ivaldi brothers.
History
Origins
Loki was born as the son of the giant Fárbauti and the goddess Laufey. Because of his mixed heritage he straddles the two warring factions, a trait which plagues his character throughout his mythology. At an unspecified point in time he marries the minor goddess Sigyn, but has many affairs. It is also revealed that Loki and Odin made an oath where they would be bound together as "blood brothers". The reasons for this are unexplored but it is likely that Odin was so impressed by Loki's conniving wit and intellect that he would be an invaluable ally and member of the gods.
In addition, it is speculated that Loki agreed to Odin's terms of the blood oath where he would endure the blame of the gods' misfortunes and illicit acts, becoming something of a scapegoat to the gods. This explains as to why Loki is called on by the Aesir/Vanir to find a solution to their dilemmas. The Aesir/Vanir are not always depicted as being benevolent as they actually perform many misdeeds only to turn around and blame Loki for it or they make him fix it for them there by absolving themselves of the consequences.
Children of Loki
Together with the jötunn Angrboða, Loki sired three children: Jörmungandr, Fenrir, and Hel. Soon after their birth, when the gods noticed that Asgard had been peaceful without Loki's mischief for too long to be normal, they took the children from their mother's hall in the woods and were taken before Odin. With his prophetic powers, Odin noticed that the three would one day became the banes of the Norse gods, and thus decided to separate them for the better. He ordered Thor to throw Jörmungandr into the Earth's ocean and used magic ensure that the jötunn was bound there, forever stuck within the form of a sea serpent, and never return to his parents' side.
Fenrir, Odin's fated bane, was given to Týr for raising until a proper prison could be crafted, though Odin had secretly wished to find a way to make him loyal to him, similar to his older brother Sleipnir. This wish of him, however, turned out to be fruitless, as outside of Tyr, Baldr, and Höðr, he would be violent and vicious to any other god, especially Odin. According to the words of Fenrir himself, it was because outside of these three gods, none of them ever saw him more than a violent beast, and thus he had no intention to be anything else before them. He would too later be imprisoned on the island of Lyngvi and bound by the silken fetter Gleipnir.
And finally, with Hel, he ordered Heimdallr to take the young girl to the realm of Helheim where the "unworthy" dead dwells, a realm filled with freezing winds and baneful curses. Unlike her older brothers, she was the only one that Loki was able to save, though when he arrived, half of her body had already turned rotten because of the realm's deadly cold.
Short Völuspa
According to the two stanzas in Völuspá hin skamma, found within the poem Hyndluljóð, one day, Loki found a half-cooked heart of an unknown woman, presumedly an ogress, roasted on a linden-wood fire, and ate it. Afterward, he was impregnated by the woman's wickedness and later on gave birth to the "evils that plague men".
Scapegoat of the Gods
This tale happens "right at the beginning of the gods' settlement, when the gods at established Midgard and built Val-Hall". It involves an unnamed builder who has offered to build a fortification for the gods that will keep out invaders in exchange for the goddess Freyja, the sun, and the moon. After some debate, the gods agree to these conditions, but place a number of restrictions on the builder, including that he must complete the work within three seasons without the help of any man. The builder makes a single request; that he may have help from his stallion Svaðilfari, and due to Loki's influence, this is allowed. The stallion Svaðilfari performs twice the deeds of strength as the builder, and hauls enormous rocks—to the surprise of the gods. The builder, with Svaðilfari, makes fast progress on the wall, and three days before the deadline of summer, the builder is nearly at the entrance to the fortification. The gods convene, and figure out who is responsible, resulting in a unanimous agreement that, along with most trouble, Loki is to blame.
The gods declare that Loki deserves a horrible death if he cannot find a scheme that will cause the builder to forfeit his payment, and threaten to attack him. Loki, afraid, swears oaths that he will devise a scheme to cause the builder to forfeit the payment, whatever it may cost himself. That night, the builder drives out to fetch stone with his stallion Svaðilfari, and out from a wood runs a mare. The mare neighs at Svaðilfari, and "realizing what kind of horse it was", Svaðilfari becomes frantic, neighs, tears apart his tackle, and runs towards the mare. The mare runs to the wood, Svaðilfari follows, and the builder chases after. The two horses run around all night, causing the building to be halted and the builder is then unable to regain the previous momentum of his work.
The builder goes into a rage, and when the Æsir realize that the builder is a hrimthurs, they disregard their previous oaths with the builder, and call for Thor. Thor arrives, and subsequently kills the builder by smashing the builder's skull into shards with the hammer Mjöllnir. However, Loki "had such dealings" with Svaðilfari that "somewhat later" Loki gives birth to a gray foal with eight legs; the horse Sleipnir—"the best horse among gods and men."
Death of Baldr
His tricks came to an end after causing the death of Baldr. After drunkenly revealing that he was the cause for Baldr's death, the gods chased Loki with a terrible vengeance. After Loki left the hall, he disguised himself as a salmon and hid in the waterfall of Franangrsfors, where the Æsir caught him. His wife Sigyn, and his two sons, Narfi and Váli, were led to a cavern under a "grove of hot springs", where he would be imprisoned for his crime of killing Baldr.
Odin then turned Váli into a vicious wolf and ordered him to rip his brother, Narfi, apart, all the while forcing Loki and Sigyn to watch one their son kill the other. Afterward, Váli killed the wolf and with his and Narfi's entrails, the gods bound Loki to a smooth slab of stone where Loki would never be able to use his wits to escape from. Skadi then fastened a venomous serpent over his face, and from it.
A serpent drips venom from above him that his wife Sigyn collects into a bowl. However, Sigyn must empty the bowl when it is full, and the venom that drips in the meantime causes Loki to writhe in pain, thereby causing earthquakes. With the onset of Ragnarök, Loki is foretold to slip free from his bonds and to fight against the gods among the forces of the jötnar, at which time he will encounter the god Heimdallr and the two will slay each other.
Personality
Loki is portrayed as a scheming coward who cares only for shallow pleasures and self-preservation. He is known to be playful, malicious, and helpful, but in the end is always irreverent and nihilistic, while always teasing and jeering at anyone for his own amusement. Although, Loki can also be quite useful and is appointed or sought out as aid when it came to matters that even the gods cannot handle. While he helps them with his clever plans, he sometimes causes embarrassment and difficulty for them and himself.
He also appeared as the enemy of the gods, entering their banquet uninvited and demanding their drink. However, Loki is capable of showing other emotions, most surprising of which is compassion. For he has showed such a thing towards his children, most notably his daughter Hel. Loki has even managed to form a close companionship with the thunder god, Thor. This is evident in where Loki accompanies Thor on his adventures, sharing meals, and even aiding each other through situations that one of them can solve whilst the other cannot. Although they constantly frustrate one another, they enjoy each other's company.
Interestingly, despite his cruel disposition, Loki is capable of displaying compassion as said before. He deeply cares for and loves his children although he would not outright admit when in the presence of others. Whenever talking about them, he becomes visibly upset and grieves over the predicaments they have to suffer due to Odin's paranoia which not only ignited his animosity towards the Æsir and the Vanir but increased with time. His affection towards his children, and his grievance over their fates, would result in cruel acts of retaliation towards the gods with the most prominent being the death of Baldr. This also shows that Loki's anger can cloud his manipulative way of thinking for while he knew the gods would punish him for it he did not account for his sons Narfi and Vali to pay the price as well.
Powers and Abilities
While not as powerful as the likes of Thor, Odin, and other Nordic gods, Loki is still a very powerful being. Unlike most gods, he prefers to use his wits and cunning to combat his way out of a confrontation although when provoked he would resort to using magic which usually consists of fire given that he is a fire jötunn.
One of his greatest assets are his shapeshifting abilities as Loki could shapeshift into practically almost anyone or anything; at one point he assumed the form of Thor and another a giant troll that would not weep for Baldr's death. While changing his sex also changes as well, evident in when he was pregnant with Sleipnir, as such he likely does not have a specific gender.
Though Loki is nowhere near as strong as Thor in the physical department, his strength is still highly impressive. Loki's strength is so vast that when he was imprisoned by the Æsir and the snake's venom dripped into his eye, his violent writhing from the pain created strong earthquakes. Moreover, when Thor discovered that his hammer was missing he immediately targeted Loki, suspecting him of taking the hammer, this implies that even Loki is strong enough to wield Mjölnir.
