ORIGIN: Nordic [Icelandic]
TYPE: God of physical senses
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: According to a brief mention in the Voluspa (Poetic Edda) the god concerned with physical being i.e. sight, hearing and speech. According to some author he may be a hypostasis of the god Othin. Lothur is also known in northern Germanic tradition. Also Lodur.
SYNONYMS: Lopt.
CENTER(S) OF CULT: None evidenced and probably Loki was not worshiped as the other Asgard deities.
ART REFERENCES: Probably the subject of anonymous carvings.
LITERARY SOURCES: Icelandic codices; Prose Edda (Snorri); Historia Danica (Saxo).
INFORMATION: Loki is a mischievous, Machiavellian, humorous, sometimes sinister character. Snorri describes him as being "Pleasing and handsome in appearance, evil in character, very capricious in behavior." He is the "poor relation" among the gods who has strong affinities with the giants, particularly at Ragnarok (doom) when he steers their ship, and whose loyalties are always suspect. Said to be the son of the Giant Farbauti. He is also a scandal-monger. He was indirectly responsible for the death of Balder (directly so according to Snorri) and fought with Heimdall. Sometimes he appears as a hero rescuing gods from various predicaments through cunning. He also stands for evil, though less often, and was compared strongly by Christian times with the Devil. Able to change shape at will—said at various times to have impersonated a mare, flea, fly, falcon, seal and an old crone. As a mare he gave birth to Othin's horse Sleipnir and he also allegedly sired the world serpent, and the mistress of the netherworld, Hel, and the wolf Fenrir which will devour the sun at Ragnarok.
One of his prominent attributes, said to come from antiquity, is that of accomplished thief, stealing at various times Freyja's necklace, Thor's belt and iron gloves, and the apples of youth. There is little to support the notion of Loki (Wagnerian; Loge) as a fire god other than the similarity of name—logi; meaning fire.