The name Loptr (“Loki”) was derived from the Old Norse “lopt” (air). His father was the jötunn Fárbauti ("cruel striker," i.e, lightning), and his mother Laufey ("full of leaves"); perhaps their uniom was related to the notion of lightning hitting striking a tree and starting a fire. One of his brothers was Býleistr (“calming-lightning”). Disguised as a mare, Loptr bore the 8-legged horse Sleipnir which bore those who did not die a heroic or notable death to the underworld, Hel. With Angrboða ("the one who brings grief") he fathered Hel (the queen of Hel), the wolf Fenrir (fen-dweller), and the sea serpent Jǫrmungandr; because of the prophecies that the 3 monstrous offspring would bring “great mischief and disaster to the Æsir (gods), Óðinn threw Hel into Niflheim ("Mist Home"), the world of primordial ice and cold which she transformed into Hel, and threw Jörmungandr into “that deep sea that lies round all lands," the great ocean that encircles Midgard (Earth). It grew so large that it encircled Midgard and grasped its own tale; the release of its tail will signal the beginning of Ragnarök (the end of the world). The Æsir took Fenrir to Asgard, but only Týr, the god of war and law, was brave enough to care for it. Eventually, the gods desired to put the wolf in fetters, but it refused to be bound unless one of them placed his hand in its mouth as hostage; thus Týr lost his hand. The Æsir then inserted a sword into the wolf’s mouth to spread its jaws apart. Loptr tricked Höðr, the blind brother of Baldr, the god of light, joy, purity, and the summer sun, into killing him; to avenge his death Óðinn raped the jötunn Rinda, who bore Váli, who grew to adulthood in one day, killed Höðr, and bound Loptr with the entrails of his son Narfi. The entrails were changed into iron, and a venomous snake was put over his face. Loptr’s wife Sigyn ("victorious girl-friend”) held a basin to catch the venom, but when it filled she had to carry away the venom; in her absence the poison would drip onto his face, causing him to writhe with such violence that the earth shook. Fenrir’s offspring will swallow the sun and moon, the stars will disappear, and the earth will shake, snapping all binds. Then Fenris, with flames from his eyes and nostrils and with his upper jaw touching the sky and his lower jaw touching the earth, will lead the assault against the gods. Jörmungandr will be killed by Óðinn’s son Þórr (Thor), who will nonetheless be poisoned to death in the combat. Fenrir will swallow Óðinn and be killed in turn by Váli. Loki will also be unleashed, but he and Heimdallr will kill each other in battle. In the wake of the destruction, the world will be submersed in water but will resurface anew. Váli and his ½-brother Víðarr will survive the destruction and retire to the place where Asgard had formerly been, where they will be joined by Thor’s sons, and Baldr and Höðr will be resurrected from Hel and join the other deities. Líf and Lífþrasir (the female and male forms of “life”) will survive as well by hiding in a wood (probably an aspect of the world-tree Yggdrasill) and will regenerate humankind.
The name Loptr (“Loki”) was derived from the Old Norse “lopt” (air). His father was the jötunn Fárbauti ("cruel striker," i.e, lightning), and his mother Laufey ("full of leaves"); perhaps their uniom was related to the notion of lightning hitting striking a tree and starting a fire. One of his brothers was Býleistr (“calming-lightning”). Disguised as a mare, Loptr bore the 8-legged horse Sleipnir which bore those who did not die a heroic or notable death to the underworld, Hel. With Angrboða ("the one who brings grief") he fathered Hel (the queen of Hel), the wolf Fenrir (fen-dweller), and the sea serpent Jǫrmungandr; because of the prophecies that the 3 monstrous offspring would bring “great mischief and disaster to the Æsir (gods), Óðinn threw Hel into Niflheim ("Mist Home"), the world of primordial ice and cold which she transformed into Hel, and threw Jörmungandr into “that deep sea that lies round all lands," the great ocean that encircles Midgard (Earth). It grew so large that it encircled Midgard and grasped its own tale; the release of its tail will signal the beginning of Ragnarök (the end of the world). The Æsir took Fenrir to Asgard, but only Týr, the god of war and law, was brave enough to care for it. Eventually, the gods desired to put the wolf in fetters, but it refused to be bound unless one of them placed his hand in its mouth as hostage; thus Týr lost his hand. The Æsir then inserted a sword into the wolf’s mouth to spread its jaws apart. Loptr tricked Höðr, the blind brother of Baldr, the god of light, joy, purity, and the summer sun, into killing him; to avenge his death Óðinn raped the jötunn Rinda, who bore Váli, who grew to adulthood in one day, killed Höðr, and bound Loptr with the entrails of his son Narfi. The entrails were changed into iron, and a venomous snake was put over his face. Loptr’s wife Sigyn ("victorious girl-friend”) held a basin to catch the venom, but when it filled she had to carry away the venom; in her absence the poison would drip onto his face, causing him to writhe with such violence that the earth shook. Fenrir’s offspring will swallow the sun and moon, the stars will disappear, and the earth will shake, snapping all binds. Then Fenris, with flames from his eyes and nostrils and with his upper jaw touching the sky and his lower jaw touching the earth, will lead the assault against the gods. Jörmungandr will be killed by Óðinn’s son Þórr (Thor), who will nonetheless be poisoned to death in the combat. Fenrir will swallow Óðinn and be killed in turn by Váli. Loki will also be unleashed, but he and Heimdallr will kill each other in battle. In the wake of the destruction, the world will be submersed in water but will resurface anew. Váli and his ½-brother Víðarr will survive the destruction and retire to the place where Asgard had formerly been, where they will be joined by Thor’s sons, and Baldr and Höðr will be resurrected from Hel and join the other deities. Líf and Lífþrasir (the female and male forms of “life”) will survive as well by hiding in a wood (probably an aspect of the world-tree Yggdrasill) and will regenerate humankind.
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