Loki

The tale of Loki the Trickster

Loki is the son of a giant, yet he lives among the gods of Asgard as Odin's blood-brother. He is clever, charming, quick to laugh and quicker to lie. He can change his shape into a salmon, a fly, a falcon or an old woman. Half the troubles of the gods begin with Loki, and half of their treasures come from Loki fixing the trouble he caused.

One night he cut off the golden hair of Thor's wife Sif. To save his own skin he went to the dwarves, who made Sif new hair of real gold, and then he tricked them into a contest that gave the gods their greatest treasures: Odin's spear Gungnir, the ship Skidbladnir, the ring Draupnir, and Thor's hammer Mjölnir. Loki lost the bet and nearly his head, and the dwarf sewed his lips shut instead.

He has children who frighten even the gods. With the giantess Angrboda he fathered the wolf Fenrir, the World Serpent Jörmungandr and Hel, queen of the dead. Taking the shape of a mare, he also gave birth to Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse.

The death of Baldr

Baldr the Beautiful dreamed of his own death, so his mother Frigg made every thing in the world swear never to harm him: fire and water, iron and stone, every beast and every plant. Only the young mistletoe seemed too small to ask. After that the gods made a game of it, throwing spears and axes at Baldr and laughing as they bounced away.

Loki found out about the mistletoe. He cut a dart from it and put it in the hand of Baldr's blind brother Hod, saying he would help him aim and join the fun. The dart flew, and Baldr fell dead. Even then Loki was not finished: when all the world wept to bring Baldr back from Hel, one old giantess refused to cry. Most say it was Loki in disguise.

The binding and the end

The gods caught him at last. They bound him in a cave, and above his face they hung a serpent that drips venom. His wife Sigyn holds a bowl to catch it. When she turns away to empty the bowl, the poison falls on Loki, and his writhing shakes the earth. At Ragnarök he will break free, sail against the gods with the giants, and fight Heimdall until both of them die.

Loki in Battle of Myths

Loki is a cost 4 Norse assassin and mage. His ability, Trickster's Gambit, makes him vanish, then reappear behind the farthest enemy to deal magic damage and silence it. Like every Norse hero, he grows stronger with Ragnarök the longer a fight lasts.

Did you know?

• Loki is not a god of evil in the old poems. He is both helper and enemy of the gods, which is why storytellers love him.
• Mistletoe, the plant that killed Baldr, later became a plant you kiss under.