Key Info

- Trickster God

- Crafty Shapshifter

- Noted for the fact that he carries his mother's name instead of his father's.

- Has allied with the Aesir, and has also been a hated enemy

- Sets in motion the events that cause Ragnarök

- Fathered, Fenrir, Hel and Jörmungandr

- Orchestrates Baldr's murder

- Chained to a rock with his son's intestines for this act

- During Ragnarök he will lead an army of giants, his children and the dead who perished in shameful ways

- Bitter enemies with Heimdallr: Both are destined to kill the other

Brief Bio

Loki is a god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Nari and Váli. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir and the world serpent Jörmungandr. In the form of a mare, Loki was impregnated by the stallion Svaðilfari and gave birth to the eight-legged horse Sleipnir.

Like other gods, Loki is a shape shifter and in separate sources appears in the form of a salmon, a mare, a fly, and possibly an elderly woman named Þökk (Old Norse 'thanks'). While sometimes friendly with the gods, Loki engineers the death of the beloved god Baldr. For this, Odin's specially engendered son Váli binds Loki with the entrails of one of his sons, where he writhes in pain. In the Prose Edda, this son, Nari or Narfi, is killed by another of Loki's sons, who is also called Váli. The goddess Skaði is responsible for placing a serpent above him while he is bound. The serpent drips venom from above him that Sigyn collects into a bowl; however, she must empty the bowl when it is full and the venom that drips in the meantime causes Loki to writhe in pain, thereby causing earthquakes.

Loki is foretold to eventually break free from his bonds and, among the forces of the jötnar, to go to battle with the gods, during which time his children play a key role in the destruction of all but two humans over the events of Ragnarök. Loki has a particular enmity with the god Heimdallr. The two are in fact prophesied to kill one another during Ragnarök.