Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Mythology Explained. In today’s video-
we’re going to be discussing Loki- the wily trickster of Norse Mythology.
More specifically- this video is going to cover the one time Loki wasn’t able to talk himself out
of a predicament. In this particular scenario, his trickery finally and truly went too far, bringing
about terminal, world-ending consequences. This video will include no less than a god
whose impervious to all harm-except for mistletoe, a magical eight-legged horse that charges down the
roots of the world tree, and lastly- someone tied down by the entrails of their own son with caustic
venom dripping down on their face...I wonder who that last person could be? Let’s get into it.
This tale begins with Balder, who is loved by all and is a shining beacon amongst the
gods. He starts to have ominous and portentous dreams about his own death. In an effort to
forestall Balder from being gripped by the claws of death, Frigg, Balder’s mother and wife to Odin,
approaches everything in all the nine realms, literally everything, and secures oaths from
all the things of creation to not harm her son. That is, everything except for mistletoe,
something the gods deliberately overlooked for they deemed it too young and innocuous
to be worth bothering with. Of course, this would be a decision they would come to rue,
for Loki, mischievous and troublesome as ever, tricks the blind god Hodr into shooting a twig
of mistletoe at Balder. This shot, unlike all the others, pierces Balder and comes out his back,
killing him. You see, since Balder had become virtually impervious to harm, the gods had
made sport of trying to inflict harm upon him knowing it to be futile. They would throw rocks,
shoot arrows, and strike blows. Each attempt was repelled, and Balder never suffered any injury,
which was the fun of it. This is all to say that, ostensibly,
Loki was just trying to include the blind god in the fun, which is why Hodr was so easily duped.
Balder’s death left Odin the most distraught of all the gods, for he understood what a
baleful loss this was as Balder’s death was a signal that Ragnarock was nye.
Following Balder’s death, Hermod, another of Odin’s sons, rides Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged
horse, to travel down the roots of the world tree, to Hel, which is ruled by a goddess whose name is
also Hel. Hermod beseeches Hel to let Balder return to the land of the living. Hel agrees
to do this, but only if everything in the world weeps for Balder. The gods come tantalizingly
close to satisfying Hel’s condition, but they are ultimately thwarted by an obdurate giantess,
named Thokk, who refuses to weep. (This giantess is generally accepted to be Loki in disguise.)
Balder stays dead and Loki goes on the run because, by this time, he’s known to have
orchestrated Balder’s death and to have then prevented Balder’s resurrection. Eventually,
Loki is caught, but the gods elect not to end his life; for Loki’s transgressions were so egregious
that it was decided he must be made to suffer; an opportunity for the gods to invoke their
more sadistic, diabolical sides. Loki is taken into the cave that will serve as his prison.
The gods capture two of Loki’s sons, turn one into a wolf, and then set the wolf loose on the
other brother, who is ripped to shreds by gnashing teeth and razor-sharp claws. The entrails of the
dead son are then salvaged from the destroyed corpse and fashioned into an unbreakable cord
that is used to bond Loki. A poisonous serpent, from whose mouth continuously drips venom, is then
placed above Loki. Signy, Loki’s wife, remains loyal to him despite all the transgressions he
perpetrated. To show her support, Signy holds a bowl above Loki’s face to capture the poison
that drips down. However, every so often, the bowl becomes full which means that it must be emptied.
While the bowl is emptied, Loki’s face ceases to be shielded, and the caustic venom
drips upon his face. These intermittent moments of anguish wrack Loki in pain,
and the ground shakes with his trashings, which is what was thought to cause earthquakes.
Loki stays bound in this perpetual torment until his release during Ragnarok.
And that’s it for today’s video.
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Until next time
Seldom do those who are silent make mistakes.