The Trickster
Loki is the cunning, ambiguous trickster of Norse myth — a shape-shifter of giant ancestry who lives among the Aesir as Odin's blood-brother. He is neither wholly god nor wholly enemy, by turns helping the gods out of disasters he himself has caused and dragging them toward ruin.
The origin of his name is uncertain. Scholars have linked it to a root meaning "knot" or "tangle," or to logi, "flame," a fitting image for a figure who is slippery, unpredictable, and dangerous. He is also called Loptr, "air," reflecting his airy elusiveness.
Loki's schemes drive many of the great myths. He cuts off the goddess Sif's hair and must replace it, triggering the dwarves' forging of the gods' greatest treasures, including Thor's hammer Mjolnir. But his cruelest act is engineering the death of Baldr, guiding the blind god Höðr to throw the fatal mistletoe.
For that crime the gods bind Loki beneath the earth with a serpent dripping venom onto his face, his writhing said to cause earthquakes. At Ragnarok he breaks free to lead the giants against the gods, and falls in mutual slaughter with the watchman Heimdall.
Recovers stolen treasures, aids Thor's adventures, and wins the gods their finest gifts.
Plots Baldr's death and ultimately leads the forces of chaos against Asgard at Ragnarok.
Common Questions
Is Loki a god or a giant?
Both, in a sense. Loki is of giant (jötunn) descent but is counted among the Aesir and treated as a god, embodying his in-between, boundary-crossing nature.
