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July for Loki using 30 Days of Deity Devotion prompts, Day 7 • Names and epithets
•Loptr: airy one or lofty one, from the Old Norse lopt (air, sky, or heavens). One of my favorite bynames for Loki, it underlines its bond to the element Air and I find it so fascinating!
•Gammleið: Vulture’s-Path, possibly a kenning for Air itself too, but even more intriguing when we think that Vulture is a scavenger animal, and Fire, Loki’s main element, is also a way to the Otherworld through the sacred ritual of cremation. So, is Loki a Death god too? In my experience, he totally is.
•Lóður: some see Lóður as a god on his own, but I agree with Dagulf Loptson’s analysis and think that’s another name of Loki. Lóður, with Óðinn and Hœnir, basically creates humanity: as they were walking together on a beach they came across two fallen trees, Askr (ash) and Embla (elm). Each god blessed them with a gift: Óðinn with önd (breath), Hœnir with óð (spirit or senses), Lóður with lá (blood?) and litu góða (good color). When Loki meets the Jötunn Þrymr, he calls him Lóður
•Vé: in Gylfaginning, Snorri replaces the names Hœnir and Lóður with the even more mysterious names Vili (will) and Vé (shrine). Assuming Lóður and Loki are the same, so should be Vé and Loki.
•Hveðrung, Roarer, probably a reference to his being a god of Fire.
•Inn Bundi Áss: The Bound God, referred to Loki’s punishment of being imprisoned and tied in a cave, waiting for Ragnarök.
•Frumkveða Flærðanna: Father of Lies, which is funny, because though Loki is of course cunning and smart, and more than capable of using lies to get out of trouble, his devotees know him for being, in fact, the god of truth. Harsh truths, too, but true all the same.
•Inn Slægi Áss: The Cunning God, what were we saying? Yes, he’s sly as a Fox, and brings the Æsir precious gifts thanks to this, not to mention how often he gets them out of trouble.
•Goða Dólgr: Enemy of Gods, one can’t blow the Nine Worlds to Helheim without being considered an enemy of these touchy Æsir.
•”Föðurbróður, vársinna ok sessa Óðins ok ása”, from Skáldskaparmál, Prose Edda: “brother, comrade, and table companion of Óðinn and the gods”. This pretty much explains itself.
Art: Loki as Gammleið by Dagulf Loptson
🔥
Hail Lopt
Hail the Shephard of Shimmering Heat on the Fields Hail the Laughing and Jesting Son of Laufey Hail to the Sly One Bless and walk with us this day
Lokean Parable: Let Baldr Be the Best (Baldrs Draumar)
Baldr was a prince of the Aesir. He was handsome and well liked, but also very insecure. Even though he was a prince, he didn’t feel like the other Aesir respected him as much as he deserved. Everyone knew that Thor was the best warrior, and that Skathi was the best hunter, and that Heimdall was the best at following the rules. But there was nothing that everyone knew Baldr was the best at.
One evening, after Thor had regaled everyone with another of his great tales about roaming the outlands, Baldr went to his mother, Frigga.
“I can’t stand it.” He said. “Why are there no great tales of my bravery and daring?”
Frigga smiled lovingly and put her hands on his shoulders.
“Because my dear, you are a prince, and you are too important to send roaming the outlands.”
This cheered Baldr for a moment. Being important was a good thing. But the he realized he wasn’t the most important, so it was just one more thing that someone else was better at.
“If I’m so important, how come I’m not the best at anything?” He asked.
“You are the best at being my son.”
Baldr shrugged. “That’s not much. That only means I’m better at it than Hothr, and he is bad at everything.” He said, and walked off to his hall to sleep.
Frigga thought all night about this, and in the morning, she decided to do something about it. She went to everyone and everything and made them promise that they would let Baldr be better then them. She made the deer promise to let Baldr run faster, and the steel promise to let Baldr be stronger.
“Thor” Frigga said, “I want you to promise to always let Baldr win when you two spar.”
Thor shrugged. “That seems weird. But you asked it, and so I will promise.”
“Skathi” Frigga said, “I want you to promise to always let Baldr hunt better than you.”
Skathi looked at Frigga with eyes like pine shadows in winter. “If that is how it must be.”
“Heimdall” Frigga said, “I want you to promise to always let Baldr follow the rules better than you.”
Heimdall nodded sagely. “I don’t know what that means, but you are in charge and I will always do as you command.”
In this way, Frigga made sure that Baldr was the best at everything and that nothing bad would ever happen to him. Baldr had great fun, challenging Thor to wrestling contests and winning, going hunting with Skathi and getting the most deer, and making up new rules that Heimdall couldn’t follow better because he didn’t know about them.
But all this happened while Loki was away on a long journey in the outlands, and one day, he came back to Asgard. He found Thor, covered in bruises and drinking mead.
“Thor,” asked Loki, “while I was gone, did everyone lose their fucking minds?”
Thor shook his head. “No, but Frigga made us all promise to let Baldr be the best at everything.”
Loki took the horn that Thor was drinking from and downed the rest of it. “That is so much worse.”
Thor shrugged. “It’s not so bad. Baldr will get bored of it sooner or later.”
Loki looked over at Baldr, who was wearing medals representing all things he was best at, including a medal that read ‘medal for having more medals than anyone else in Asgard.’
“I don’t think he will.” Loki said, and left the hall.
The next day, Loki found out that Frigga hadn’t exacted any promises from the mistletoe plant because it wasn’t good enough at anything for her to bother with. Loki made an arrow from the mistletoe wood and poisoned it with a poison made from the white berries. That afternoon, Baldr was showing everyone again how he was stronger than arrows or swords, and telling them to ‘take their best shot.’ All of the Aesir indulged him, except for his brother Hothr, who was blind.
“Hothr,” said Loki, “You should honor your brother as the other Aesir do.”
Hothr shook his head. “It is too embarrassing. Yesterday, I missed and hit a cow instead. Everyone laughed at me, and Baldr won’t stop calling me ‘slayer of cows.’”
“That’s ok.” Loki said. “Take this bow and arrow, and I will guide your shot true. No one will make fun of you after that.”
“I would like that. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” Loki said, and did as he promised. The mistletoe arrow struck Baldr in the heart and killed him instantly.
This caused great confusion among the Aesir. Odin made the journey to the afterworld where Baldr was feasting, and demanded the Hel send him back to Asgard. Hel was Loki’s daughter, and while she didn’t want to offend Odin and the Aesir, she was suspicious of the demand. She agreed to return Baldr, but only if everyone in Asgard agreed that he should come back.
Odin and Frigga gathered everyone together and they all agreed that Baldr should come back. All except Loki.
“Will you release everyone from their promises if he returns?” Loki asked Frigga.
“No.” She said. “And this time I will get everything. Even the mistletoe. Even you.”
“Hard pass.” Said Loki.
Frigga leveled her finger at Loki. “Fine. You aren’t even one of us anyway. Everyone who isn’t a half breed and a traitor has agreed. Hel must send Baldr back.”
But Hel refused. When the reply came, Frigga was furious. She found Loki getting ready to return to the outlands.
“Someday soon,” she said to Loki “you will pay dearly for this.”
Loki slung his pack over his shoulder and looked around at Asgard, at the halls, and at all the Aesir and Vanir who lived there.
“Someday soon,” Loki said “we will all pay dearly for this.”
Always love me a feathered Loki - Loptr indeed ✨
Apparently I never posted this Loki piece on here and that is a C R I M E😭 I am so sorry pls forgive me lol
Anyway here’s Loki with Freyja’s falcon cloak