Well…I don’t. So this week Revi and I are gonna talk about the different aspects of Loki, some of which we interact with regularly. Today we’re gonna focus on Loki as a gift-giver, which is an aspect of Him that we both see often.
Revi:
Over the years, Loki has gotten a bit of a bad rap, being equated sometimes as the Norse Satan, and at other times as a ne’er do well trickster. The Christian influence on Norse myth may play a strong role in this perception, but it is important to look back further. Even in sometimes christianized source material, we get a glimpse of Loki the Gift Giver. Rarely are his gifts gained for nothing; he often sacrifices for the greater good. Some will argue that his own tricks have him groveling to the gods with gifts, but those who have worked closely with the Gift Bringer know this is not always the case, that instead, Loki is often waiting and angling for the best deal. Loki, like anyone, also values his own life, and his survival instinct is strong. But when He must perform acts deemed unworthy of a god, he makes up for them from his own free will.
Me:
I’ll get out my lore-beating stick and start with the creation of mankind, mentioned in the Voluspa. According to Dronke’s translation,
18. “Breath they had not,
spirit they had not,
no film of flesh nor cry of voice,
nor comely hues.
Breath Óðinn gave,
spirit Hœnir gave,
film of flesh Lóðurr gave
and comely hues.”
There’s a common theory that Lóðurr is another name for Loki, which is correlated in the Háleygjatal and Íslendingadrápa where “Lóðurr’s friend” is a kenning for Odin. So at the very beginning of mankind, we have Loki bestowing the gifts of flesh and blood (also sometimes translation as passion) to humanity.
Taking this back to UPG for a moment, Loki demands passion from his followers. I don’t mean simply pure physical passion, but a lust for life in general, for self-knowledge and the ambition to get what you want out of life instead of just floating along contently. “Contentment is not joy,” He told me when He first claimed me, and I didn’t really know what He meant, but I do now.
Revi:
I had a similar experience; the lesson he gave me was that hope has to be experienced passionately. Without passion, it is merely a daydream. Passion creates potential, drives us to practice, or to put forth energy, or just to hold onto that last barest scrap through even the hardest times. When hope is passionate, it hurts more to see something fail, but it gives us the strength to keep that hope even when something doesn’t work out. Passionate hope is the hope that makes the risk of failure worthwhile.
Me:
So Loki gives these tremendous gifts to humanity, and He also gives the Gods their most precious gifts. The very wall that surrounds Asgard would not be there if it weren’t for Loki. Every time I see someone harp on Loki as utgard (not of the tribe), I want to twitch, because there wouldn’t be a wall or a safe tribe without Him.
Revi:
We as humans seem to take most gifts for granted. At the same time, we often let people get away with not helping us see to our needs. We prefer comfort over true satisfaction, sense of safety over capability. This sometimes makes it hard for us to recognize when the Gods are gifting us with things, so occasionally, they may break out harsher methods to get our attention at first.
Don’t think that just because you are getting Prankster Loki attempting to get your attention that it means you will never encounter the Gift Bringer.
Me:
The thing is, if all you expect of Him is a hurricane in a bottle, you’re gonna get chaos and mayhem, because that’s His in – He will manifest the way that you expect Him to, and if you can only envision Him as the Father of Strife, well guess who’s coming over to your place? As a friend of mine put it recently, “The picture that (comes) to mind is the story of the 3 little pigs. Let the wolf in, and he won’t eat you. He’ll share a drink with you. Refuse and the house gets blown down…And with Loki, there is no such thing as an impenetrable brick house.”
So I would gentle encourage our readers to think of Himself as a multi-faceted God, because He is, and if He comes tumbling into your life and starts making a clean sweep, you may well find that He’s taken all the old, broken crap away and replaced it with much better gifts.
Revi:
Loki’s gifts are often in the form of tools in the Lore. Similarly, His gifts to those He pays attention to are often things that improve us, tools we can use to better ourselves, things of value that enable us to create ourselves as more valuable beings, or, rather, as beings that can aspire to our full potential.
Me:
Indeed, many of the Gods’ most precious gifts came through Loki’s hands. Sleipnir – Odin’s steed, the finest in the Nine Worlds, Gungnir – Odin’s spear, Draupnir – the gold ring that makes more gold rings, how awesome is that?, Mjolnir – Thor’s hammer, Gullinbursti – Freyr’s golden boar and Skíðblaðnir, Freyr’s ship, all passed through Loki’s hands. And He put His own life and head on the line to get them; none of Them intervened when Brokkr wanted to take Loki’s head as payment. His own cleverness saved Him, and only His lips were sewn shut temporarily.
Gifts do come at a price, and whether or not the Gods really compensated Him for His pain is a debate for another day.
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