Loki Laufeyjarson: Slóttugur djöfull eða ráðalaus innflytjandi?

How does someone become a lawless man in the society where he lives, dedicated to destruction?

The best example I have found so far is from the Poetic Edda, a popular source of “cultural inspiration” among the New Right fanatics of Northern Europe. The story of Loki is the story of a high ranking immigrant of Giant origin who has mixed blood with the prime minister of the Nordic gods himself, Odin. Loki has reached the pinnacle of social status for a foreigner in Scandinavia, and he serves as an envoy, a diplomat and a mediator between Ases and Giants. The Ases are, of course, fair haired and beautiful, while the Giants are rough, gloomy and primitive Barbarians. The supernatural weapons of the Scandinavian gods are advanced technology that secures a noble world order, while the magic of the Giants are threatening and subversive demonic powers.

In most interpretations of the Poetic Edda the commenters ignorantly spew phrases like “Loki is neither good nor absolutely evil. He is an enigma” or “There is no reasonable explanation for Loki’s behaviour. He is a trickster”. Most commenters, deeply saturated with Western thinking, are as unable to read between the lines or paint a picture that exceeds literary interpretation as a Bible school student writing an essay about The Sermon on the Mount. They may not believe in the mythology as a correct metaphysical explanation of the universe, but they automatically subscribe to the ethnocentrism, because it is as deeply rooted in the culture that raised them as it is in the mythological writings of Norse mythology.

The truth is that odds are stacked against Loki. He has assimilated to his new environment. He is married to Sigyn with whom he has two sons. One of the sons will later slay his brother, and the bowels of the dead son will be used in the most barbaric manner to tie Loki to a rock, where a venomous snake drips poison into his face. Loki is, in other words, subjected to indefinite detention and perpetual torture for instigating, not committing, the murder of Baldur. But at first he is brothers in arms with Thor, the self-righteous decimator of Giants. Every now and then the Ases feel threatened by the Giants and Thor leaves his mansion Valhalla to go Giant hunting. It is a routine, as much as the exchange of bombs and missiles in Israel and Palestine is. Loki stands by his side.

The stories about Loki hints to the real problem between him and the society he has made his own. Official interpretations often claim that Loki is accepted and respected in the community. A more careful look will reveal, however, that the portrayal of Loki fulfils all the stereotypes of a classical scapegoat. With his cunning he helps sort out troubles for the Norse gods, but it is always emphasized that he was initially the cause of the problems. We do not know if it is true. It is written this way, but naturally we only have the natives' version of how this invasive god whose name means “the deceitful” became a traitor to “his own”. Even the bizarre rumours that Loki is the father of Fenris and the mother of the Midgaard Worm, two huge monsters he allegedly bred with a Giantess named Angerbode, is taken for gospel.

Nokkuð frjó og skemmtileg túlkun, þótt mér þyki ansi hart ráðist að Ásum. Ég meina, þú mætir ekki óboðinn í partí, drepur þjónustufólkið, heimtar koll undan settum gestum, kallar alla druslur og homma og þaðan af verra, og segir öllum sem mæla gegn þér að halda kjafti. Sjá Lokasennu. Hann byrjar flest sín svör með því að skipa viðmælandanum að þegja, og ef hann þekkir ekki viðkomandi þá spyr hann fyrst að nafni, og segir honum þá að halda sér saman:

Byggvir:

Veiztu, ef ek öðli ættak
sem Ingunar-Freyr,
ok svá sælikt setr,
mergi smæra
mölða ek þá meinkráko
ok lemða alla í liðo.

Loki kvað:

Hvat er þat it litla
er ek þat löggra sék,
ok snapvíst snapir?
at eyrom Freys
mundu æ vera
ok und kvernom klaka.

Byggvir kvað:

Byggvir ek heiti,
en mik bráðan kveða
goð öll ok gumar;
því em ek hér hróðugr,
at drekka Hroptz megir
allir öl saman.

Loki kvað:

Þegi þú, Byggvir,
þú kunnir aldregi
deila með mönnum mat;
ok þik í fletz strá
finna ne máttu,
þá er vágo verar.

Nei, svona hagar maður sér ekki. Eina vitið að binda viðkomandi djúpt í jörð, helst með þörmum sonar hans.

Einnig er greinarhöfundur að teygja sig dálítið þegar hann segir að Loki hafi ,,að sögn" fætt af sér Miðgarðsorm og Fenrisúlf, og hafi ,,að sögn" haft ábyrgð á því að Baldur varð ekki heimtur úr Hel. Þ.e.a.s. að þessar staðhæfingar sagnanna séu eitthvað minna áreiðanlegri en aðrar. Væri þá ekki allteins hægt að segja að Þór hafi ,,að sögn" farið í Austurveg að berja tröll, eða að Týr hafi ,,að sögn" misst höndina í munn Fenrisúlfs?

Tisk.

Hitt er samt rétt að Loka virðist smurt á allt það sem illa fer, og stundum dálítið klunnalega.

Þá gengu æsirnir á tal og réðu ráðum sínum, og var það kaup gert við smiðinn að hann skyldi eignast það er hann mælti til ef hann fengi gert borgina á einum vetri. En hinn fyrsta sumars dag, ef nokkur hlutur væri ógjör að borginni, þá skyldi hann af kaupinu. Skyldi hann af engum manni lið þiggja til verksins. Og er þeir sögðu honum þessa kosti, þá beiddist hann að þeir skyldu lofa að hann hefði lið af hesti sínum er Svaðilfari hét. En því réð Loki er það var til lagt við hann.

En já. Skemmtileg nálgun.

-b.