Loki
is one of the major deities in the Norse pantheon. He is a son of the giant Farbauti ("cruel striker") and the giantess Laufey. He is regarded as one of Aesir, but is on occasion their enemy. He is connected with fire and magic, and can assume many different shapes (horse, falcon, fly). is handsome and has a friendly appearance, but an evil nature. He is crafty and malicious, but is also heroic. The ambivalent god grows progressively more evil, and is directly responsible for the death of Balder, the god of light.
is also the father (and mother!) of many beings. He has two sons with his wife Sigyn, Nare or Narve and Vale. He also has three children with the giantess Angrboa who are ...
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are strongly connected with the escathology of the eddas. Fenris and Jormungandr as well as their father both play crucial roles in the last battle between the Aesir and their enemies. His daughter Hel falls into a somewhat different category. She is the queen of Helheim, and gathers there her army of the evil dead.
Of ´s parents, Farbauti and Laufey, I know very little. Rooth suggests that the names carry symbolical meaning: "Farbáuti,...,which is considered to mean the wind, may well be concerned with the wind as the cause of illnesses, given the "evil" nature of . The meaning of Laufey, on the other hand, is more problematic, and to correctly define her name as "`lövjerska´, a woman who fiddles with medicines and herbs, seems uncertain". Her alternative name, Nál, suggests according to Rooth a connection to a shooting pain, just as being pierced with a needle. The names of ´s two brothers, Helblinda and Byleistr, also carry symbolical meaning: Helblinda meaning "totally ...
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Loki. (2008, May 10). Retrieved May 6, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Loki/83424
"Loki." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 10 May. 2008. Web. 6 May. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Loki/83424>
"Loki." Essayworld.com. May 10, 2008. Accessed May 6, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Loki/83424.
"Loki." Essayworld.com. May 10, 2008. Accessed May 6, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Loki/83424.
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