The Spirit of Evil
Besides the hideous giant Utgard-Loki, the personification of mischief
and evil, whom Thor and his companions visited in Jötun-heim, the
ancient Northern nations had another type of sin, whom they called
Loki also, and whom we have already seen under many different aspects.
In the beginning, Loki was merely the personification of the hearth
fire and of the spirit of life. At first a god, he gradually becomes
"god and devil combined," and ends in being held in general detestation
as an exact counterpart of the mediæval Lucifer, the prince of lies,
"the originator of deceit, and the back-biter" of the Æsir.
By some authorities Loki was said to be the brother of Odin, but
others assert that the two were not related, but had merely gone
through the form of swearing blood brotherhood common in the North.
"Odin! dost thou remember
When we in early days
Blended our blood together?
When to taste beer
Thou did'st constantly refuse
Unless to both 'twas offered?"
Sæmund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).
Loki's Character
While Thor is the embodiment of Northern activity, Loki represents
recreation, and the close companionship early established between
these two gods shows very plainly how soon our ancestors realised that
both were necessary to the welfare of mankind. Thor is ever busy and
ever in earnest, but Loki makes fun of everything, until at last his
love of mischief leads him entirely astray, and he loses all love
for goodness and becomes utterly selfish and malevolent.
He represents evil in the seductive and seemingly beautiful form
in which it parades through the world. Because of this deceptive
appearance the gods did not at first avoid him, but treated him as one
of themselves in all good-fellowship, taking him with them wherever
they went, and admitting him not only to their merry-makings, but also
to their council hall, where, unfortunately, they too often listened
to his advice.
As we have already seen, Loki played a prominent part in the creation
of man, endowing him with the power of motion, and causing the blood
to circulate freely through his veins, whereby he was inspired with
passions. As personification of fire as well as of mischief, Loki
(lightning) is often seen with Thor (thunder), whom he accompanies
to Jötun-heim to recover his hammer, to Utgard-Loki's castle, and
to Geirrod's house. It is he who steals Freya's necklace and Sif's
hair, and betrays Idun into the power of Thiassi; and although he
sometimes gives the gods good advice and affords them real help,
it is only to extricate them from some predicament into which he has
rashly inveigled them.
Some authorities declare that, instead of making part of the creative
trilogy (Odin, Hoenir, and Lodur or Loki), this god originally
belonged to a pre-Odinic race of deities, and was the son of the
great giant Fornjotnr (Ymir), his brothers being Kari (air) and Hler
(water), and his sister Ran, the terrible goddess of the sea. Other
mythologists, however, make him the son of the giant Farbauti, who
has been identified with Bergelmir, the sole survivor of the deluge,
and of Laufeia (leafy isle) or Nal (vessel), his mother, thus stating
that his connection with Odin was only that of the Northern oath
of good-fellowship.
Loki (fire) first married Glut (glow), who bore him two daughters,
Eisa (embers) and Einmyria (ashes); it is therefore very evident
that Norsemen considered him emblematic of the hearth-fire, and when
the flaming wood crackles on the hearth the goodwives in the North
are still wont to say that Loki is beating his children. Besides
this wife, Loki is also said to have wedded the giantess Angur-boda
(the anguish-boding), who dwelt in Jötun-heim, and who, as we have
already seen, bore him the three monsters: Hel, goddess of death,
the Midgard snake Iörmungandr, and the grim wolf Fenris.
"Loki begat the wolf
With Angur-boda."
Sæmund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).
Sigyn
Loki's third marriage was with Sigyn, who proved a most loving and
devoted wife, and bore him two sons, Narve and Vali, the latter a
namesake of the god who avenged Balder. Sigyn was always faithful
to her husband, and did not forsake him even after he had definitely
been cast out of Asgard and confined in the bowels of the earth.
As Loki was the embodiment of evil in the minds of the Northern races,
they entertained nothing but fear of him, built no temples to his
honour, offered no sacrifices to him, and designated the most noxious
weeds by his name. The quivering, overheated atmosphere of summer was
supposed to betoken his presence, for the people were then wont to
remark that Loki was sowing his wild oats, and when the sun appeared
to be drawing water they said Loki was drinking.
The story of Loki is so inextricably woven with that of the other
gods that most of the myths relating to him have already been told,
and there remain but two episodes of his life to relate, one showing
his better side before he had degenerated into the arch deceiver,
and the other illustrating how he finally induced the gods to defile
their peace-steads by wilful murder.
Skrymsli and the Peasant's Child
A giant and a peasant were playing a game together one day (probably a
game of chess, which was a favourite winter pastime with the Northern
vikings). They of course had determined to play for certain stakes,
and the giant, being victorious, won the peasant's only son, whom he
said he would come and claim on the morrow unless the parents could
hide him so cleverly that he could not be found.
Knowing that such a feat would be impossible for them to perform,
the parents fervently prayed to Odin to help them, and in answer to
their entreaties the god came down to earth, and changed the boy into
a tiny grain of wheat, which he hid in an ear of grain in the midst
of a large field, declaring that the giant would not be able to find
him. The giant Skrymsli, however, possessed wisdom far beyond what
Odin imagined, and, failing to find the child at home, he strode
off immediately to the field with his scythe, and mowing the wheat
he selected the particular ear where the boy was hidden. Counting
over the grains of wheat he was about to lay his hand upon the right
one when Odin, hearing the child's cry of distress, snatched the
kernel out of the giant's hand, and restored the boy to his parents,
telling them that he had done all in his power to help them. But as
the giant vowed he had been cheated, and would again claim the boy
on the morrow unless the parents could outwit him, the unfortunate
peasants now turned to Hoenir for aid. The god heard them graciously
and changed the boy into a fluff of down, which he hid in the breast
of a swan swimming in a pond close by. Now when, a few minutes later,
Skrymsli came up, he guessed what had occurred, and seizing the swan,
he bit off its neck, and would have swallowed the down had not Hoenir
wafted it away from his lips and out of reach, restoring the boy safe
and sound to his parents, but telling them that he could not further
aid them.
Skrymsli warned the parents that he would make a third attempt to
secure the child, whereupon they applied in their despair to Loki,
who carried the boy out to sea, and concealed him, as a tiny egg,
in the roe of a flounder. Returning from his expedition, Loki
encountered the giant near the shore, and seeing that he was bent
upon a fishing excursion, he insisted upon accompanying him. He felt
somewhat uneasy lest the terrible giant should have seen through his
device, and therefore thought it would be well for him to be on the
spot in case of need. Skrymsli baited his hook, and was more or less
successful in his angling, when suddenly he drew up the identical
flounder in which Loki had concealed his little charge. Opening the
fish upon his knee, the giant proceeded to minutely examine the roe,
until he found the egg which he was seeking.
The plight of the boy was certainly perilous, but Loki, watching his
chance, snatched the egg out of the giant's grasp, and transforming it
again into the child, he instructed him secretly to run home, passing
through the boathouse on his way and closing the door behind him. The
terrified boy did as he was told immediately he found himself on land,
and the giant, quick to observe his flight, dashed after him into
the boathouse. Now Loki had cunningly placed a sharp spike in such a
position that the great head of the giant ran full tilt against it,
and he sank to the ground with a groan, whereupon Loki, seeing him
helpless, cut off one of his legs. Imagine the god's dismay, however,
when he saw the pieces join and immediately knit together. But Loki
was a master of guile, and recognising this as the work of magic, he
cut off the other leg, promptly throwing flint and steel between the
severed limb and trunk, and thereby hindering any further sorcery. The
peasants were immensely relieved to find that their enemy was slain,
and ever after they considered Loki the mightiest of all the heavenly
council, for he had delivered them effectually from their foe, while
the other gods had lent only temporary aid.
The Giant Architect
Notwithstanding their wonderful bridge Bifröst, the tremulous way,
and the watchfulness of Heimdall, the gods could not feel entirely
secure in Asgard, and were often fearful lest the frost giants should
make their way into Asgard. To obviate this possibility, they finally
decided to build an impregnable fortress; and while they were planning
how this could be done, an unknown architect came with an offer to
undertake the construction, provided the gods would give him sun, moon,
and Freya, goddess of youth and beauty, as reward. The gods were wroth
at so presumptuous an offer, but when they would have indignantly
driven the stranger from their presence, Loki urged them to make a
bargain which it would be impossible for the stranger to keep, and
so they finally told the architect that the guerdon should be his,
provided the fortress were finished in the course of a single winter,
and that he accomplished the work with no other assistance than that
of his horse Svadilfare.
"To Asgard came an architect,
And castle offered to erect,--
A castle high
Which should defy
Deep Jotun guile and giant raid;
And this most wily compact made:
Fair Freya, with the Moon and Sun,
As price the fortress being done."
Valhalla (J.C. Jones).
The unknown architect agreed to these seemingly impossible conditions,
and immediately set to work, hauling ponderous blocks of stone by
night, building during the day, and progressing so rapidly that
the gods began to feel somewhat anxious. Ere long they noticed that
more than half the labour was accomplished by the wonderful steed
Svadilfare, and when they saw, near the end of winter, that the work
was finished save only one portal, which they knew the architect
could easily erect during the night:
"Horror and fear the gods beset;
Finished almost the castle stood!
In three days more
The work be o'er;
Then must they make their contract good,
And pay the awful debt."
Valhalla (J. C. Jones).
Terrified lest they should be called upon to part, not only with the
sun and moon, but also with Freya, the personification of the youth
and beauty of the world, the gods turned upon Loki, and threatened
to kill him unless he devised some means of hindering the architect
from finishing the work within the specified time.
Loki's cunning proved once more equal to the situation. He waited until
nightfall of the final day, when, as Svadilfare passed the fringe of a
forest, painfully dragging one of the great blocks of stone required
for the termination of the work, he rushed out from a dark glade
in the guise of a mare, and neighed so invitingly that, in a trice,
the horse kicked himself free of his harness and ran after the mare,
closely pursued by his angry master. The mare galloped swiftly on,
artfully luring horse and master deeper and deeper into the forest
shades, until the night was nearly gone, and it was no longer possible
to finish the work. The architect was none other than a redoubtable
Hrim-thurs, in disguise, and he now returned to Asgard in a towering
rage at the fraud which had been practised upon him. Assuming his
wonted proportions, he would have annihilated the gods had not Thor
suddenly returned from a journey and slain him with his magic hammer
Miölnir, which he hurled with terrific force full in his face.
The gods had saved themselves on this occasion only by fraud and by
the violent deed of Thor, and these were destined to bring great sorrow
upon them, and eventually to secure their downfall, and to hasten the
coming of Ragnarok. Loki, however, felt no remorse for his part, and
in due time, it is said, he became the parent of an eight-footed steed
called Sleipnir, which, as we have seen, was Odin's favourite mount.
"But Sleipnir he begat
With Svadilfari."
Lay of Hyndla (Thorpe's tr.).
Loki performed so many evil deeds during his career that he richly
deserved the title of "arch deceiver" which was given him. He was
generally hated for his subtle malicious ways, and for an inveterate
habit of prevarication which won for him also the title of "prince
of lies."
Loki's last Crime
Loki's last crime, and the one which filled his measure of iniquity,
was to induce Hodur to throw the fatal mistletoe at Balder, whom he
hated merely on account of his immaculate purity. Perhaps even this
crime might have been condoned had it not been for his obduracy when,
in the disguise of the old woman Thok, he was called upon to shed a
tear for Balder. His action on this occasion convinced the gods that
nothing but evil remained within him, and they pronounced unanimously
upon him the sentence of perpetual banishment from Asgard.
Ægir's Banquet
To divert the gods' sadness and make them, for a short time, forget
the treachery of Loki and the loss of Balder, Ægir, god of the sea,
invited them to partake of a banquet in his coral caves at the bottom
of the sea.
"Now, to assuage the high gods' grief
And bring their mourning some relief,
From coral caves
'Neath ocean waves,
Mighty King Ægir
Invited the Æsir
To festival
In Hlesey's hall;
That, tho' for Baldur every guest
Was grieving yet,
He might forget
Awhile his woe in friendly feast."
Valhalla (J. C. Jones).
The gods gladly accepted the invitation, and clad in their richest
garb, and with festive smiles, they appeared in the coral caves at
the appointed time. None were absent save the radiant Balder, for
whom many a regretful sigh was heaved, and the evil Loki, whom none
could regret. In the course of the feast, however, this last-named
god appeared in their midst like a dark shadow, and when bidden to
depart, he gave vent to his evil passions in a torrent of invective
against the gods.
"Of the Æsir and the Alfar
That are here within
Not one has a friendly word for thee."
Ægir's Compotation, or Loki's Altercation (Thorpe's tr.).
Then, jealous of the praises which Funfeng, Ægir's servant, had won
for the dexterity with which he waited upon his master's guests,
Loki suddenly turned upon him and slew him. At this wanton crime,
the gods in fierce wrath drove Loki away once more, threatening him
with dire punishment should he ever appear before them again.
Scarcely had the Æsir recovered from this disagreeable interruption
to their feast, and resumed their places at the board, when Loki
came creeping in once more, resuming his slanders with venomous
tongue, and taunting the gods with their weaknesses or shortcomings,
dwelling maliciously upon their physical imperfections, and deriding
them for their mistakes. In vain the gods tried to stem his abuse;
his voice rose louder and louder, and he was just giving utterance to
some base slander about Sif, when he was suddenly cut short by the
sight of Thor's hammer, angrily brandished by an arm whose power he
knew full well, and he fled incontinently.
"Silence, thou impure being!
My mighty hammer, Miöllnir,
Shall stop thy prating.
I will thy head
From thy neck strike;
Then will thy life be ended."
Ægir's Compotation, or Loki's Altercation (Thorpe's tr.).
The Pursuit of Loki
Knowing that he could now have no hope of being admitted into Asgard
again, and that sooner or later the gods, seeing the effect of his
evil deeds, would regret having permitted him to roam the world, and
would try either to bind or slay him, Loki withdrew to the mountains,
where he built himself a hut, with four doors which he always left
wide open to permit of a hasty escape. Carefully laying his plans,
he decided that if the gods should come in search of him he would
rush down to the neighbouring cataract, according to tradition the
Fraananger force or stream, and, changing himself into a salmon,
would thus evade his pursuers. He reasoned, however, that although
he could easily avoid any hook, it might be difficult for him to
effect his escape if the gods should fashion a net like that of the
sea-goddess Ran.
Haunted by this fear, he decided to test the possibility of making
such a mesh, and started to make one out of twine. He was still
engaged upon the task when Odin, Kvasir, and Thor suddenly appeared
in the distance; and knowing that they had discovered his retreat,
Loki threw his half-finished net into the fire, and, rushing through
one of his ever-open doors, he leaped into the waterfall, where, in the
shape of a salmon, he hid among some stones in the bed of the stream.
The gods, finding the hut empty, were about to depart, when Kvasir
perceived the remains of the burnt net on the hearth. After some
thought an inspiration came to him, and he advised the gods to weave
a similar implement and use it in searching for their foe in the
neighbouring stream, since it would be like Loki to choose such a
method of baffling their pursuit. This advice seemed good and was
immediately followed, and, the net finished, the gods proceeded to
drag the stream. Loki eluded the net at its first cast by hiding
at the bottom of the river between two stones; and when the gods
weighted the mesh and tried a second time, he effected his escape by
jumping up stream. A third attempt to secure him proved successful,
however, for, as he once more tried to get away by a sudden leap,
Thor caught him in mid-air and held him so fast, that he could not
escape. The salmon, whose slipperiness is proverbial in the North,
is noted for its remarkably slim tail, and Norsemen attribute this
to Thor's tight grasp upon his foe.
Loki's Punishment
Loki now sullenly resumed his wonted shape, and his captors dragged
him down into a cavern, where they made him fast, using as bonds the
entrails of his son Narve, who had been torn to pieces by Vali, his
brother, whom the gods had changed into a wolf for the purpose. One
of these fetters was passed under Loki's shoulders, and one under
his loins, thereby securing him firmly hand and foot; but the gods,
not feeling quite satisfied that the strips, tough and enduring though
they were, would not give way, changed them into adamant or iron.
"Thee, on a rock's point,
With the entrails of thy ice-cold son,
The gods will bind."
Sæmund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).
Skadi, the giantess, a personification of the cold mountain stream,
who had joyfully watched the fettering of her foe (subterranean
fire), now fastened a serpent directly over his head, so that its
venom would fall, drop by drop, upon his upturned face. But Sigyn,
Loki's faithful wife, hurried with a cup to his side, and until the
day of Ragnarok she remained by him, catching the drops as they fell,
and never leaving her post except when her vessel was full, and she was
obliged to empty it. Only during her short absences could the drops
of venom fall upon Loki's face, and then they caused such intense
pain that he writhed with anguish, his efforts to get free shaking
the earth and producing the earthquakes which so frighten mortals.
"Ere they left him in his anguish,
O'er his treacherous brow, ungrateful,
Skadi hung a serpent hateful,
Venom drops for aye distilling,
Every nerve with torment filling;
Thus shall he in horror languish.
By him, still unwearied kneeling,
Sigyn at his tortured side,--
Faithful wife! with beaker stealing
Drops of venom as they fall,--
Agonising poison all!
Sleepless, changeless, ever dealing
Comfort, will she still abide;
Only when the cup's o'erflowing
Must fresh pain and smarting cause,
Swift, to void the beaker going,
Shall she in her watching pause.
Then doth Loki
Loudly cry;
Shrieks of terror,
Groans of horror,
Breaking forth in thunder peals
With his writhings scared Earth reels.
Trembling and quaking,
E'en high Heav'n shaking!
So wears he out his awful doom,
Until dread Ragnarok be come."
Valhalla (J. C. Jones).
In this painful position Loki was destined to remain until the twilight
of the gods, when his bonds would be loosed, and he would take part
in the fatal conflict on the battlefield of Vigrid, falling at last
by the hand of Heimdall, who would be slain at the same time.
As we have seen, the venom-dropping snake in this myth is the
cold mountain stream, whose waters, falling from time to time
upon subterranean fire, evaporate in steam, which escapes through
fissures, and causes earthquakes and geysers, phenomena with which
the inhabitants of Iceland, for instance, were very familiar.
Loki's Day
When the gods were reduced to the rank of demons by the introduction of
Christianity, Loki was confounded with Saturn, who had also been shorn
of his divine attributes, and both were considered the prototypes of
Satan. The last day of the week, which was held sacred to Loki, was
known in the Norse as Laugardag, or wash-day, but in English it was
changed to Saturday, and was said to owe its name not to Saturn but
to Sataere, the thief in ambush, and the Teutonic god of agriculture,
who is supposed to be merely another personification of Loki.