Loki

Loki

One of the more well-known gods of the Northern traditions Loki has garnered much attention within recent years due to modern media.  A trickster god of Norse mythology Loki stands alone among the Northern gods as a figure who did not adequately belong to any particular group.  Although generally perceived to be a God of the Aesir, his origins are rather vague.  His father was the giant Farbauti, but although we know that his mother’s name was Laufey these is little agreement as to what she was, be it giantess, goddess or something else.  Mythology talks of his association and interaction with the gods and yet he was never really one of them.Loki himself is a father to several offspring and even a mother to one.  With his wife Angrboda, a giantess, he fathered the goddess Hel, the wolf Fenrir (who would bite off one of the hands of Tyr and kill Odin during Ragnarok) and the world serpent Jormungandr (who is curled around the tree of life).  With his wife Sigyn he produced Narfi and Vali.  Finally, having shape shifted into a mare to distract the Stallion Svadilfari Loki gives birth to the eight-legged horse Sleipnir who is linked to Odin as one of his shamanic spirits. 
He is a shape shifter and a trickster god and depending on the myth sometimes helps and sometimes hinders the gods.  Which side he chooses depends on which will serve him better.  For example in the Kidnapping of Idun, Loki originally assists the giant Thiazi in kidnapping the goddess Idun in order to preserve his life.  When the gods threaten his life if she isn’t returned he then assists them by transforming into a falcon and bringing her back to the gods in order to save his own hide.  When he played a role in the death of Baldur however, Loki loses all positive relations he had with the gods.After the death and failed resurrection of the god Baldur, Loki is bound by the gods and a serpent is placed above him that drips poison into a bowl above him.  When the bowl must be emptied, by his wife Sigyn, the poison drips on Loki instead and his consequent writhing in pain is said to be what causes earthquakes.  Loki stays locked in this torture until he manages to break free at Ragnarok.  During Ragnarok Loki sides with the giants, not surprising given his break of all ties with the gods, and it is said that he and the god Heimdall mortally wound each other in the fighting.The relationship between Loki and the gods of the Aesir and Vanir was always an interesting one.  Never really being a part of the gods and yet being among them Loki served as his own master.  He was a true wily trickster who answered only to himself and worked in ways that ensured his own benefit.