Loki is a figure of Old Norse myth whose cleverness helps the gods in some stories and brings disaster in others. Medieval sources do not give him a stable office as god of mischief, and evidence for a pre-Christian cult devoted to him is uncertain.
Loki in the surviving tradition
Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey and lives among the Æsir. Lokasenna calls him Odin’s blood brother. He engineers the recovery of Iðunn, helps obtain treasures including Mjölnir, and solves problems that he often caused. In Þrymskviða he helps Thor recover the hammer. These comic or useful roles coexist with the darker events surrounding Baldr.
Texts, objects, and evidence
Snorri describes Loki as father of Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and Hel by Angrboða, and as mother of Odin’s horse Sleipnir after taking the form of a mare. Following Baldr’s death, the gods bind Loki with the entrails of a son while a serpent drips venom above him. At Ragnarök he fights against the gods and kills Heimdall as Heimdall kills him.
Key points
- Identity: Loki is associated with the jötnar by parentage but is also integrated into the company of the gods.
- Shape-changing: He takes several forms. These transformations serve particular plots rather than a single defined power system.
- Baldr: Sources differ about Loki’s role. Snorri makes him the planner of Baldr’s death, while the eddic poem Baldrs draumar is less explicit.
- Cult evidence: The Snaptun stone may depict Loki with a sewn mouth. Archaeological identification remains cautious.
How to read the material
Modern stories often make Loki Thor’s adopted brother or a ruler with a fixed magical portfolio. Those features are not the relationships described by the Eddas.