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Will the Real Loki Please Stand Up?
by Magdalen Vertes
Has Loki, the Norse 'Trickster' god, been misrepresented as an evil,
scheming character, who was even considered by early Christians to be another
face of the Devil? Or does Loki have his roots as a much more ancient god,
concerned with the balance of nature? It seems that Loki has all the
attributes to suggest the latter. First, Loki's name may have been derived
from the Sanskrit 'Loka', meaning a spirit undergoing karma - spiritual
advancement through repeated reincarnation. Loki, depicted as a handsome,
agile little man, with a pointed laughing face, piercing blue eyes, and
voluminous flame-red hair in curly locks, possesses sky shoes in which he can
travel, with great speed, over land, sea and air - suggesting that he is
connected with spirit flight (also being called the Sky Traveller) - and
therefore has shamanic roots. Also, Loki is the most prominent shapeshifter
in the mythological cycle - yet another shamanic trait. Loki does not
shapeshift in any evolutionary order - which may disprove the theory that
earthly evolution is a material representation of karma - a belief common among
many ancient peoples (such as the Hindus and Druids). Despite their lack of
science and technology, the non-classical peoples were in fact, as can be
seen by their religious theories and practices, much more perceptive about
their environment, both in worldly and other-worldly matters, than is often
believed.
What can be deduced in general from this information , therefore, is
that Loki's true form presides over and represents the true and pure spirit
form - the other form he takes, the bodies the spirit resides in on earth
during karma - for the only way that one can shape-shift in reality is by
reincarnation. As Loki is depicted as shapeshifting into a specific form for
a specific purpose in every case, this could show that, originally, Odinists
believed that spirits could return to Earth in any form for any purpose
according to fate, rather than in evolutionary order. As can be seen from
the myth 'The Well of Asgard', Loki changes into a mare in order to lure away
a stallion, as a result, becoming pregnant with Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged
horse. Therefore Loki has the power to change sex as well as shape, and can
become a father or a mother. This alone represents two things: the first
that we all have within each of us, both a masculine and feminine aspect of
the spirit, and can express either one irrespective of the sex of the
physical body. The second is that through its several incarnations, the
spirit can exist in both male and female bodies. Thus if it should exist
first in a female body, and then is reborn in a male body, the state of being
female in a previous life could still have an influence in the present life
as a male. Both these things can provide an explanation for homosexuality
and transvesticism.
Loki is also associated with natural phenomena outside living things,
and the reason for his being labelled 'The Trickster' is the fact that
natural forces, whether inside or outside living things are unpredictable and
can be most destructive. In Norse myth Loki's parents are two fire giants.
Giants are living things and they are led by Utgard Loki, a giant who is
identical to Loki in every way, save that he is much larger.
In 'Thor's Journey to Utgard', Thor and his friends visit Utgard to
discover that all Utgard Loki's subjects each represent a particular force of
nature, after being defeated in several contests with them. This story
bearing the message that man can never have complete control over the forces
of nature. 'The Binding of Loki' has the same meaning, as even when bound,
Loki causes earthquakes when he struggles to break free. Loki's
unpredictable side is represented in the myth 'Sif's Hair', in which Loki,
apparently for no reason, cuts off the long golden hair of Sif, a harvest
goddess, whilst she lies sleeping and unsuspecting of him. Loki then
compensates for his deed by going to the dwarfs to ask them to make a magical
wig of spun gold, which, when placed on Sif's head, grows as her original
hair did. So Sif's hair represents a field of ripe corn and Loki a fire
would could suddenly destroy it; but if new corn is planted in the place of
the original it will naturally grow again, represented by Sif's new wig
produced by Loki's instigation, and suggesting, therefore, that Loki replaces
all he destroys and so presides over the continuing cycle in nature.
Speaking of cycles, Loki is also connected with the seasonal cycle. In
the myth 'Idunna's Golden Apples', a giant called Thiazzi, persuades Loki to
deliver the youth goddess Idunna to him, together with her apples of eternal
life. So after Loki lures Idunna out of her apple orchard in Asgard for her
to be abducted by Thiazzi, the gods grow old because they no longer have the
apples of youth. This represents the state of the earth in winter when
nothing can grow and everything seems withered and old or dead. Loki then
rescues Idunna and returns her and the apples to the gods who then regain
their normal youth and vigour, thus spring comes again.
In another myth, Skadi, Thiazzi's daughter and a winter goddess,
confronts the gods to demand a sacrifice before she will allow spring to
come, appearing so hard and cold that they decide to yield to her. So Loki
offers himself on his own initiative, by tying himself to a goat by his
genitals and engaging in a tug of war with the goat until his genitals give
way, whereupon he falls into Skadi's lap and soaks her with his blood. This
pleases Skadi and she relents for spring to follow.
Although Loki eventually brings about the Ragnarok or end of the world,
by killing Balder, the sun god, the result after the imminent claustrophobic
effects is a brand new world, rising from the remains of the original one. So
Loki has the power to destroy and recreate no matter how large or small the
scale at which the events take place. Aiding Loki in bringing about the end
of the old world are his three strange children by his giantess love,
Angurboda. The first of these, Fenris, is a huge wolf who is bound by the
gods to prolong the orderly state which they created in the universe as
Fenris represents chaos, the original disordered state of affairs before the
earth was formed. The second, Jormangandr, is a huge sea serpent who
encircles the whole earth to hold his tail in his mouth, so that he appears
to have no beginning and no end, in this way representing the continuity of
time and of the cycle, and so being a reminded to Odin that nothing is
permanent, even his rule. So Odin banishes the serpent to earth, as earthly
beings are those who are more likely to be aware of time - as it often works
against them as they only have a limited amount of time while on Earth. The
third, Hela, is of course the Queen of the Dead, the ruler of the lower
spirit world who provides a resting place for spirits between earthly
existences whilst they are still undergoing karma. Since Loki is the father
of such influential beings, this suggests that he could even be the original
primeval all-powerful force which is the route of all other forces -
Angurboda being his female counterpart - or even the female side of him as he
is, as previously stated, seen to be bisexual. So, as much as Ymir and
Audumbla are the primeval Earth, Loki and Angurboda could be the primeval
spirits, and, upon Odin replacing Ymir and Audumbla to begin his orderly
rule, produce these children in order to secure their primeval influence and
control, being as the original primeval force is both the beginning and the
end. In reference to her bearing the children, Angurboda's name is derived
from the old Norse word meaning 'Distress Bringer' as the children represent
forces over which no other being can have complete control, like all natural
forces, and so they appear distressing. Although in most myths Angurboda is
depicted as Hela's mother, in others Hela and the winter goddess Skadi are
depicted as Angurboda herself, simply taking different names in order to take
different roles associated with death. So, as Skadi, she presides over the
earthly death-state of winter; as Hela, presiding over the death of
individuals rather than death in the universal sense, as of winter.
Therefore, this suggests that all other gods and goddesses too, may just
simply be the different faces of either Loki or Angurboda, if these two
deities are the original primeval forces of either Loki or Angurboda, and the
root of all else - these different faces sometimes having to oppose each
other in accordance with the balance of nature. Often, when Loki is
mentioned, just one word springs to mind - cunning, as he is referred to as
the Trickster because of his role. But, as we are all given, together with
our aspects, free will, cunning need not be used for evil ends, the fault
does not lie with Loki but with the user who would in fact be abusing Loki's
gift to him/her. Therefore, the conclusion is the Loki and his kin were
diabolized by early Christians, because their roles as described here proved
incompatible to their ideology of Christianity.