Hey there. I'm Mike Rugnetta. This is crash course Mythology, and today we're continuing with Tricksters
We're going to look at the trickster as a culture hero
Meaning someone whose creativity adds to the culture of the mythological world they inhabit
We're going to focus on Europe in this episode looking specifically at Hermes the greek version of Thoth here and also
Loki- who in today's myth actually somehow isn't the worst
...Sorta- I mean he does disguise himself as a biting fly so he's definitely not like the best
We haven't talked much about Hermes because there aren't too many myths where he's a main character – usually he's a messenger
More than a central focus, but hey, fun fact, he has a big presence in statuary
Hermes was a phallic God and all around Greece
You could find square pillars topped with a bust of his head and featuring a
male member
These are called herms and were frequently placed at crossroads
Since Hermes was also the God of travelers and rode maybe these herms were meant to
...Point travelers in the right direction?
Tricksters like Hermes are often associated with extreme sexual appetites and also with
Creativity a connection which makes a lot of sense when we think back to our stories about the creation of the world
But instead of getting into all that
Let's explore one of the most famous myths about Hermes which begins when he was just a wee little baby trickster
Okay, so, baby Hermes sneaks out of his cradle and killed a tortoise. I don't know what you were expecting
We're talking about Tricksters anyway
He turns the tortoise shell into a lyre which he starts to play inventing lyrics to accompany his music; pretty creative for a baby
He probably went to a montessori school. Then Hermes gets hungry, but not for milk: he wants some meat
So he runs to Pieria where his brother Apollo keeps his sacred cattle –Hermes steals
50 cows and hides them in a nearby cave. To get them into the cave
He makes them walk backwards so their footprints would be difficult to follow. He also invents some backwards
Sandals that hide his own tracks- again, clever baby
Hermes whips up a fire, kills two of the cows and roasts them
But doesn't eat them, which is kind of strange since he's supposedly so hungry, instead
He hides the meat and cowskins in the cave, throws his sandals in the river and covers over the fire. Then he just
strolls on back to his cradle. Apollo soon learns that some of his cattle are missing and he is furious
Despite all of Hermes' stealth efforts Apollo figures it all out and threatens to throw him into Tartarus
Hermes defends himself saying he's only a baby how could he steal 50 cows?
Apollo doesn't care how old his brother is but he can't punish Hermes without some judgment from their dad
Zeus listens to Hermes' denials but doesn't believe him
And orders the baby to bring back all those poor cows
Afterward Hermes and Apollo make up and they exchange gifts
Apollo gives Hermes a whip as a symbol of cattle tending and the caduceus as a symbol of heraldry
Indicating Hermes' position as messenger of the Gods
Hermes gives Apollo the lyre he had invented and this becomes Apollo's symbol as a god of music
Although many Tricksters seem more human or more animal than divine
Hermes is definitely supernatural
There's obviously something pretty special about this baby
Who's not only an able thief, but a smooth talker, and a tortoise murderer to boot
As David Leeming observes in this myth, "Hermes has the trickster qualities of
deceitfulness, trickery, childishness,
amorality, humor, extreme inventiveness and great charm."
It's his inventiveness that makes him a culture hero, though- his creation of the lyre is incredibly important
It becomes Apollo's main instrument and one of the symbols of his divine attributes
It's also significant because songs are one of the ways stories like this one were passed down in the ancient Greek world
And there's also something interesting about Hermes having to kill an animal to create the lyre. Perhaps
it's a reminder that creation is often the flipside of
Destruction that the two sometimes require each other; either way in this story, Hermes' mischief is
Basically harmless unless you're a cow or that poor tortoise
So I guess not really harmless, just harmless by like normal deity standards.
And it ultimately brings about something positive for all involved
Again, except the cows and the tortoise
it also explains the origin of a mythical artifact that defines the character of the God Apollo and the
Greek culture that worshiped him
For our second story, we have another myth
where the trickster's mischief impacts a whole culture; as with many Norse myths it begins and ends with
Loki who is the worst; one morning Thor wakes up next to his beautiful wife Sif and sees that something is missing
Her beautiful blonde hair. Sif is understandably upset, and she begs her husband to fix the problem. Thor has a sneaking suspicion
And heads off to see Loki- at first Loki denies doing anything
But when Thor threatens to break every bone in Loki's body, Loki admits that yes, he'd stolen Sif's hair
He'd been hitting the mead got to thinking wouldn't it be funny. You know
disappearing hair?
Hilarious.
Unsurprisingly, Thor doesn't appreciate the humor and threatens him again with a most Norse undoing
So Loki offers to fix the problem saying that he can get Sif even better hair
Thor agrees and lets Loki venture to the land of the dwarves
What is it with Tricksters and dwarves? After that Anansi story from the last episode
I have a bad feeling about this- his first stop the sons of Ivaldi, three dwarves known for their ability at the forge
Loki says that the gods of asgard know of their great ability
But that really they're only the second best craftsmen among the dwarves
Behind the brothers Brokk and Eitri. The sons of Ivaldi declared that they will not be outdone and
Promised to make three treasures for the Gods- one of which Loki says must be magical golden hair
Then loki goes off to see Brokk and Eitri- you can probably see where this is headed, he tells them about what the sons
of Ivaldi are going to do and Brokk the talker says that he and his brother can outdo those Ivaldis, no problem.
Loki bets him he can't and Brokk takes the bet but says that if the gods like his and Eitri's treasures best
Brokk gets to take Loki's head; Loki accepts.
Eitri, the master craftsmen amongst the two brothers, tells Brokk to man the bellows and to keep
pumping no matter what, so the temperature of their forge remains constant. Brokk keeps up his pumping for the first two treasures
despite being bitten on the hand and then the neck by a large
pesky fly who is, of course, Loki.
By the time Eitri is working on the third project, Loki the fly is
really beginning to worry that he might lose the bet, so he starts biting Brokk's eyebrows.
At one point Brokk brushes the blood from his eyes and
just for a second breaks his rhythm. When Eitri finishes making the treasure he chastises his brother for the
imperfections caused by his erratic
oxygenating, but says that his gift will have to do. Loki brings the Ivaldis
treasures back to Asgard, Brokk brings his and his brother's- Loki reveals his treasures first
And we reveal the thought-bubble to see who wins
The first treasure is Sif's new head of hair made from gold. When she puts the wig it fuses
with her scalp and behaves like real hair. She is ecstatic, the gods are impressed. Next, Loki presents
Odin with a spear- Gugnir- when thrown, it always hits its mark, useful for an old one-eyed
God with suspect aim; also, any oath sworn on Gugnir is unbreakable.
Odin is pleased but not effusive in his praise –
classic Dad move – the final treasure is for Freyr, brother of Freya we've discussed in the past. This treasure looks like a handkerchief
but when unfolded it becomes Skidbladnir, a magic boat big enough to carry all of the Aesir
and it will always have a fair wind, pretty great for a seagoing people.
Loki is pleased but Brokk is still confident that his gifts will be better. First
he unveils a golden Bristle Boar, Gullinbursti. It glows in the dark, pulls
Freyr's chariot, runs over water, and goes faster than any horse; Freyr is pleased
but Loki says it's nothing compared to a folding ship which is just I mean come on
It's a glowing chariot boar- the next gift is a Golden armband
called Draupnir which Odin wears. Draupnir multiplies itself- every night eight identical rings drip from it greatly
enriching its owner. Why gods need gold is a bit beyond me, frankly,
but hey, Odin? Psyched. The last gift is Eitri's third project, the one erratically oxygenated.
It's a hammer and even Brokk has to admit that the handle is a little too short,
but that doesn't really matter once Thor gets his hands on it. This is Mjolnir,
an unbreakable hammer- it always hits its mark and always comes back to the hand that throws it and for Thor,
it's love at first sight- the rest of the Aesir agree because with Mjolnir, Thor will always be able to protect them from Giants.
The Aesir announced that Brokk and Eitri's gifts are the best and they're all happy,
except for Loki who totally dumped on himself.
Thanks thought bubble!
Now that he's lost the bet, Loki starts sweating and making excuses to Brokk, but Brokk only pulls out his knife and starts talking about
all the stuff he and his brother are going to make out of Loki's head.
Increasingly desperate, Loki starts looking to the other gods for help
but no one's buying it- a bet's a bet and Loki lost- even after cheating, Loki thinks quick:
He's got one more trick up his sleeve.
Loki explains that yes, Brokk does have a right to his head,
but that the bet didn't include any part of his neck, so he's welcome to the head,
but only if he can get it without cutting the neck. Brokk calls shenanigans and appeals directly to Odin,
but in perhaps the earliest example of getting off on a technicality, the one-eyed all-father
agrees with Loki and Brokk has to go home with his own head in his hands
instead of Loki's. Classic Trickster stories like these often involve serious
transgressions against society. In this case it's stealing and not just from humans but from other gods. Neither
Loki nor Hermes has a good reason for their thefts either- in fact their excuses are downright immature:
I was drunk, and I'm a baby. Though to be fair, both do end up presenting important gifts to their fellow
Gods, ones that become foundations of the stories told about them for millennia.
Loki in particular shows us that while tricksters often get away with their tricks, the result is not always a foregone conclusion.
Despite his best efforts, Loki is set to pay a stiff price for stealing Sif's hair- first at Thor's hands
and then at Brokk's- in both cases it's only his wit that saves him. Like Anansi,
Loki can talk his way out of a pickle and in this way provide a model for human behavior that other gods who rely on
their supernatural gifts simply can't. Most of us don't have super strength or magic hammers
but we all have brains and the ability to solve
problems even if we're the ones who made those problems for ourselves in the first place.
Just don't go trying to grift any rubes. You might not get lucky like Loki and you could end up losing a little bit
too much off the top.
Thanks for watching, we'll see you next time. Check out our Crash Course Mythology Thoth tote bag and poster available now at dftba.com.
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Thanks for watching and if I were Brokk and Eitri,
I would have given Loki's head to Samson. That's a man who knows how to use the jawbone of an ass.