Whenever anyone asks me what my hobby is, or what I like to do in my free time, or what I like to buy, or what gives me joy, I just have one answer: Books! Reading is one of the most enjoyable activities in my life apart from spending time with friends and eating food. My idea of shopping is going to Crossword. My idea of giving and receiving gifts is a nicely wrapped book. I am the proud owner of two big cupboards which are full of, you guessed it right, books! When the year 2020 started, however, I wasn’t able to dedicate much time to this activity. I am almost ashamed to admit it as I am a known bibliophile and a certified bookworm. When the pandemic hit the world and lockdown was imposed, I turned all my attention to reading once more. One of my friends calls me a purist and a snob because I like to have actual physical books that I can sniff like an addict.
Till April 2020, I was not in favour of e-books and audiobooks. But when I was stuck at home, that too in a sealed area of the city, these e-books and audiobooks saved me from despair. I dove deep into the world of e-books and audiobooks (Gasp!) for almost 7 months. But the day I was able to buy a paperback after that lockdown, remains one of the brightest days of the year 2020, obviously. So, while browsing through the audiobook library, I came across the book ‘Norse Mythology’ by Neil Gaiman. (It’s a fabulous read if anyone is interested.) While listening to the audiobook, I came across a chapter named Loki and his monstrous children. It intrigued me so I listened to it quite carefully. As I was listening to it, I became ecstatic that I had landed on the perfect topic to write my article. So, come with me on this journey where we find out about Loki’s monstrous children!
“Loki makes the world more interesting but less safe. He is the father of monsters, the author of woes, the sly god.”
Neil Gaiman
Let me first tell you a little bit about Loki. According to the Nordic tradition, there are various beings like Aesir, Vanir, Jötun, Elves, Dwarves, Men, etc. The Aesir are the most important gods in the Nordic pantheon. Now generally, people don’t know quite a lot about characters and stories from the Norse mythology but thanks to Marvel people do know about Odin, Thor and of course, Loki. Moreover, Tom Hiddleston has done a magnificent job of playing the character of Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, Odin was the supreme ruler of all beings. He, Thor, Frey, Tyr, etc were all Aesir gods who lived in Asgard. Loki, however, was not an Aesir. He was a Jötun, meaning a giant. He was born in Jötunheim, the land of giants. He was brought to Asgard by Odin and was considered as Thor’s adoptive brother. He had a wife in Asgard named Sigyn who bore him two children. But Loki was known to wander and disappear, sometimes days at a time. Loki was a mischief-maker. He loved to create chaos which often landed him in trouble. Yet that didn’t stop him from creating a mess. If you ask me, he was a complete diva. He liked when everyone looked at him for something or the other. He took one day at a time and was always in search of new mischief and a new scapegoat. Loki was definitely not righteous but he was also not completely evil. He was the one who did things just for the sake of doing them without thinking about the consequences!
Now let us look at his monstrous children. One day, Odin called Loki and said, “So Loki, how are your children?”
Loki said, “They are happy. They are thriving here in Asgard.”
Odin looked at Loki with his one sharp eye. Odin knew everything that happened in the nine realms. He was the Allfather, after all.
Odin said, “You know very well that I am not asking you about the two children who live here in Asgard. I am asking you about the other three living in Jötunheim.”
Loki was stunned and couldn’t say anything. Odin continued, “You know that I know about them, right? I have seen them in my dreams. I have seen the prophecies. I know what is going to happen.” Loki had underestimated the Allfather. But this is Loki we are talking about. Nothing fazed him. In fact, he looked quite pleased like a proud papa. Looking at Loki’s smirk, Odin said, “I am going to send the gods to Jötunheim to fetch your three children. We need to decide what to do about them.” Without saying anything, Loki just bowed and left.
As per Odin’s instructions, the Aesir gods led by Thor made the trip to Jötunheim to get Loki’s kids. When the gods reached Jötunheim, they went straightway to Angrboda’s, Loki’s lover’s, home. When they entered, they were stunned by the sight of Loki’s children. They were indeed monsters. They were beyond what the gods had thought. The gods held a discussion about how to transport these kids back to Asgard. First of Loki’s children was a serpent. Its name was Jörmungandr (Please look for the pronunciation on Google. I looked it up and I still find it very awkward to say it!) Very soon the gods came to know that it spewed black venom. The gods decided to tie him up to a tree and carry that tree to Asgard. Second of Loki’s children was a wolf who was still a cub but was larger than any cubs the gods had come across. Tyr, Odin’s son, took his responsibility. He fed him and walked with him. Third and final of Loki’s children was a female being. She was the most unusual to look at. Half of her face glowed with beauty and youth while the other half was dead and rotting. She was quite sensible and agreed to accompany her siblings along with the gods to Asgard. These three children made all the gods a bit uncomfortable. What was even more peculiar that when the gods carried the children away, no one stopped them. Not even their mother! There was a sense of foreboding and doom in everyone’s heart. (Now before we reach Asgard with Loki’s monsters, I have a very important question to ask. How did Loki and Angrboda birth such children? As far as I understand, Loki and Angrboda were giants. So, the fact that they managed to get such children is beyond me.)
Finally, after a long and arduous journey, the gods and the monsters reached Asgard and went to Odin. Till then the serpent and the wolf had grown considerably. The serpent had become larger than the tree it was tied to. When Odin looked at the serpent, he recalled his dream. He said, “This is Jörmungandr, the serpent. He is still growing and I know just where to put him.” Odin and the gods went to Midgard, which is our Earth, and put the serpent in the waters that surround the Earth. The gods saw the serpent vanish below the surface of the water. Jörmungandr is also called the Midgard Serpent. (The thought of a giant serpent surrounding the planet we live on completely freaks me out!)
Once Jörmungandr was taken care of, Odin turned to the female child. Half of her face was alive and quite lovely. Pink cheek and pink lips! Her eye reminded Odin of Loki’s eyes. The other half of her face was ghastly. The eye was bulging from the socket. The skin was rotten and flaky. Odin kept gazing at her.
After a few moments, he said, “You are Hel. What do you prefer?”
Hel was very polite when she answered Odin. She said, “I prefer the company of the dead. They respect me. All the living beings hate me and look at me with horror and loathing.”
Odin thought for a moment and said, “I will send you to Niflheim, the underworld. You will rule over all those who die of sickness and old age. The warriors who die in battles come to me in Valhalla. You will have the rest of them. You will be their queen. You can have the halls of the underworld and decorate them however you please.” Hel was happy to get her own realm and went to the underworld. (Does that remind you of anyone? Yup, you got it right! It was Lucifer, the angel of light, who was thrown from heaven and was quite happy to rule in hell! Interesting fact: the word Hel refers to both the daughter of Loki and the place where she rules.)
Now, the gods turned towards Fenrir, the wolf. Fenrir was not just mighty and ferocious but also was very smart. He could talk the tongue of men and gods. As Fenrir was still a cub, Odin decided to keep him in Asgard. Tyr, Odin’s son, had become quite fond of the wolf. He was the only one who cared about him and fed him. But as per the prophecies, Odin knew that Fenrir was a danger and had to be restrained. Odin asked the gods to build chains for Fenrir. Twice they tried but both the times he broke the chains and proved to be a very powerful wolf. Finally, the gods went to the dwarves and requested them to make something to bind Fenrir. The dwarves made a rope with six different mythical ingredients. (You are not going to believe the ingredients that were required to make this rope. I am going to tell you but don’t try to make this rope at home unless you have a monstrous wolf living with you. You have been warned!) The dwarves made the strongest rope they had ever made with ‘the sound of the cat’s footfall’, ‘the beard of a woman’, ‘the roots of a mountain’, ‘the sinews of a bear’, ‘the breath of a fish’, ‘the spittle of a bird’! (Don’t look at me like this! I did not make this up. It’s there in the myth.) This mighty rope was called Gleipnir.
The gods brought the Gleipnir to Fenrir and tried to bind him once again. But Fenrir got suspicious looking at the thin shiny rope. He said, “I am not going to allow you to bind me with this. You know what is going to happen, don’t you? You will bind me; I will break it. I have broken chains much stronger. I’ll lose my reputation by breaking this puny rope. Plus, I smell a plot here. Something is fishy!” (The rope did contain the breath of the fish. Anyway…)
Odin tried to convince Fenrir to give it a try. Finally, Fenrir agreed but said, “Let’s do it this way. You can bind me but one of you will have to put their hand in my mouth. If you try to act smart, I’ll bite the hand off. If there’s no funny business, I’ll let the hand go without hurting that person.”
The gods, once again, started scratching their heads. Just like their father, Loki’s children were also proving to be a pain in their neck. Finally, Tyr, who had a lot of affection for the wolf, agreed to put his hand in Fenrir’s mouth. You can guess what must have happened next. The gods tied Fenrir up with the Gleipnir. Fenrir couldn’t break free (playing ‘I want to break free’ by Freddie Mercury in the background) and Tyr lost his hand.
This is how Odin and the gods made sure that Loki’s monstrous children were subdued at least till Ragnarök, the event which would wipe the gods. (I would tell the story of this event, perhaps, in the next article.) These three children played an important role in the downfall of the gods.
After listening to this story, I felt that had the gods treated these ‘monsters’ with respect, things probably would have turned out differently. Did Odin look only at their role in the apocalypse and act this way? Did he think that his actions would eventually lead to his and his kin’s doom? This story made me think of actions and consequences. It also underlines the importance of respecting everyone, including plants and animals and the so-called monsters. We have learnt this year, how important it is to treat nature with respect. Do not poach exotic animals. Do not eat a bat! After all, without a bat there would be no Batman! Let me know what you thought about after reading this article in the comments below!
Surashree Joshi
Visiting Faculty