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Who is Loki? Many people are familiar with the Norse god Loki from modern depictions, but what does Norse Mythology say about the identity of Loki?

脝sir or J枚tunn, friend or foe, Loki is many things, often at the same time. Read on to find out more about Norse mythology鈥檚 most mischievous god.

The identity of Loki

Once in a lecture on Viking artefacts, my professor asked us why we have not yet found any statues that are thought to portray the god Loki. After a short discussion, she provided her own theory:

鈥淟oki is a chaos god. You wouldn鈥檛 pray to Loki; you would pray to the other gods to keep Loki away.鈥�

While Loki may not have been favoured among the pagan Scandinavians, his popularity has increased in recent years along with  (something no doubt helped by Tom Hiddleston鈥檚 portrayal of the character in the Marvel movies).

While modern depictions of Loki can vary from the sinister in  to the misunderstood in , they generally follow the same blueprint. Loki tends to be portrayed as mischievous and self-serving, yet lovable and charming. He is also often framed as an antagonist, although he is rarely a stereotypical 鈥渂ad guy鈥�.

However, while Loki鈥檚 characterisation is consistent in popular culture, there is very little consistent about Loki in Norse mythology.

Loki: a trickster God

In Norse mythology, Loki is best known as the trickster god. A lot of the time, he uses his cunning to help the 脝sir out of trouble – other times, he鈥檚 the reason they鈥檙e in trouble in the first place.

However, other than being a trickster, it is difficult to say exactly what else Loki is. He is both 脝sir and J枚tunn. He is generally male – and sometimes female. The 脝sir are infuriated by him and dependent on him. He helps the 脝sir and marches against them in Ragnarok.

Confused? Don鈥檛 worry – so are we. Strap in – this is going to be a bumpy ride!

脝sir or J枚tunn?

While there are lots of characters within Norse mythology, the two main groups are the 脝sir聽(the gods) and the J枚tnar聽(often translated as 鈥済iants鈥�). The 脝sir and the J枚tnar have a literal love-hate relationship: they are just as likely to fight as they are to marry and/or have children.

When they do have children, this union is generally between male 脝sir and female J枚tnar, and even Odin himself has a J枚tunn for a mother. Despite this, he is still classified as an 脝sir as Norse mythology is patrilineal, which means that bloodlines run through the father.

Read more: The Creatures of Norse Mythology

Like Odin, Loki is also the child of an 脝sir and a J枚tunn – with a marked difference. Loki鈥檚 father is F谩rbauti, a J枚tunn, and his mother is Laufey, who is thought to be an 脝sir (though this isn鈥檛 specified).

Therefore, Loki should technically be classified as a J枚tunn. However it鈥檚 not quite as simple as that.

In Viking times, it was common for children鈥檚 surnames to be made by taking their father鈥檚 first name and adding 鈥渟on鈥� or 鈥渄aughter鈥� onto the end. This practice is still common in Iceland today. Loki however takes his mother鈥檚 first name for his surname, 鈥淟aufeysson鈥� (lit. son of Laufey), instead of his father鈥檚.

Furthermore, in &苍产蝉辫;(鈥淭丑别  of Loki鈥�), he mentions that he is blood brothers with Odin:

Loki spake:
9. “Remember, Othin, in olden days
That we both our blood have mixed;

While we don鈥檛 know why he received his mother鈥檚 name or how the blood pact with Odin happened, these factors suggest that Loki chooses his allegiance to the 脝sir over the J枚tnar, in spite of his bloodline – even though this choice eventually changes.

Was Loki male or female? 

Loki鈥檚 parentage is not the only instance of him defying the gender norms of Norse mythology. His own gender changes throughout the stories.

In both myths and popular culture (as well as in this blog post), Loki is generally described as being male. But this is not always the case.

In 脼rymskvi冒a (or , 鈥渢he Lay of Thrym鈥�), Thor and Loki must pretend to be Freyja and her handmaiden in order to get Thor鈥檚 hammer Mj枚lnir back from a J枚tunn king named Thrym.

When Thor is in disguise, the text keeps his male pronouns. However, when Loki is in disguise, the text switches to female pronouns, suggesting that his transformation into a handmaiden is much more鈥� thorough:

20. Then Loki spake, the son of Laufey:
“As thy maid-servant thither I go with thee;
We two shall haste to the giants' home.”

26. Hard by there sat the serving-maid wise,
So well she answered the giant's words:
“From food has Freyja eight nights fasted,
So hot was her longing for Jotunheim.”

In addition, while Loki fathers the majority of his children, he also mothers one of them. In one of the stories told in Gylfaginning (鈥淭he Beguiling of Gylfi鈥�),  from his work.

When Loki returns, he is pregnant and he later gives birth to an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir, who becomes Odin鈥檚 steed.

Therefore, while Loki is often in a male form, he is not bound to a single gender like the other 脝sir – nor to the gender norms that follow.

Friend or foe?

As mentioned at the beginning, Loki is a god of mischief and often causes trouble for the 脝sir, even when he鈥檚 on their side. For example, .

However, he always fixes his mistakes, often at an added benefit to the 脝sir. To replace Sif鈥檚 hair, Loki has the Dwarves make her new hair out of pure gold – as well as a spear (Gugnir) and a ring (Draupnir) for Odin, a hammer (Mj枚lnir) for Thor, and a boar (Gullinborsti) and ship (Skidbladnir) for Freyr.

Loki is also frequently called upon to help the 脝sir when he hasn鈥檛 done anything wrong. In Sk谩ldskaparm谩l (鈥淭he Language of Poetry鈥�), the J枚tunn Skadi travels to Asgard to avenge her father, Thjazi, who was killed by the 脝sir.

After some negotiations, she agrees to accept compensation for his death instead – and one of the terms is that the 脝sir have to make her laugh.

In the end, Loki succeeds by means of . The 脝sir rarely ask this level of sacrifice from each other and barely acknowledge what Loki does for them.

However, throughout the myths, Loki gradually changes from an ally to an enemy. In , he storms into a feast held by the 脝sir and insults them one by one, only leaving when Thor arrives and threatens him. In , he tricks the blind god H枚冒r into killing Baldr and then stops his release from Hel by refusing to cry for him.

By the time of Ragnarok, it is clear that Loki is no friend of the 脝sir, as he leads the army of the dead out of Hel into battle against them. However, whether he was always destined to be their enemy or whether he was pushed into this role due to how the 脝sir treated him is up for debate.

Father of victims or father of monsters?

Of all Loki鈥檚 children, the three he fathers with the J枚tunn Angrboda are the most monstrous: Fenrir, the giant wolf, J枚rmungand, the world serpent, and Hel, who rules over the realm of the same name in Niflheim, where all those who die of sickness or old age go.

While these three technically have an 脝sir father and a J枚tunn mother, they are not counted among the 脝sir. In fact, two of them lead to the death of two important 脝sir: .

However, much like their father, it is unclear whether these three were destined to be the downfall of the 脝sir – or if they became that way because of the 脝sir.

In , it is said that when Odin found out about Loki鈥檚 children, he 鈥渒asta冒i鈥� (literally 鈥渢hrew or cast鈥�) J枚rmungand into the sea and Hel into Niflheim. Even Fenrir was originally a friend of the 脝sir and lived among them in Asgard – before they became fearful of his size and bound him, putting a sword in his mouth so he couldn鈥檛 bite.

Did Loki father monsters? Or did the 脝sir create monsters?

Hero or villain?

So we come to the final question: 鈥淚s Loki a hero or a villain?鈥�

We know that Loki becomes one of the main antagonists of the 脝sir – but that in itself does not mean that he is a villain. According to the Oxford English dictionary, the word 鈥渁ntagonist鈥� means 鈥溾��. The 脝sir are Loki鈥檚 main opponents – and by all accounts, their behaviour is pretty terrible. Not only do they treat both Loki and his children badly, but they frequently lie, cheat, steal and kill – often for their own interests.

Furthermore, it is clear that Loki, due to his love of mischief, is a god of chaos – but that does not make him automatically bad either. Chaos is bad in Norse mythology because it goes against the order set by the 脝sir. However, they do not keep order because it is good – they keep order because it benefits them.

Therefore, whether Loki is a hero or villain depends on your perspective of the 脝sir. To find the answer, I think we should instead ask: 鈥淎re the 脝sir heroes or villains鈥�?

It鈥檚 complicated

So, what is Loki? The short answer is: we don鈥檛 know. We can say that he is a trickster, but other than that, it鈥檚 difficult to put any definite labels on his identity. Perhaps this is what makes him such a good trickster in the first place!

As with most things concerning Norse mythology, it鈥檚 difficult to gain any exact answers from the source texts. Loki鈥檚 identity will therefore probably differ from person to person, depending on how you view both Loki and the 脝sir.

Ultimately, when it comes to Loki, there is only one thing we know for sure: it鈥檚 complicated.

What do you think about Loki? Would you like to see more investigations into Norse Gods? Let us know in the comments!