This is far from a direct translation of Lokasenna. I read a bunch of different translations and used the main insults and points.
Lokasenna is the story where Loki gets angry at the other gods because they kicked him out of a party “just” because he killed a slave. He starts throwing shit in everyone’s direction and ends up angering the other gods so much they turn one of his sons into a wolf who den kill his other son, and they use said son’s intestines to tie Loki up with and place a poisonous snake over his head. It’s a fun story because all the dirt about the gods come out.
I’m one of the people who definitely believe Loki got a bad rep when Christianity took over in the North, but the new version of him is definitely the worst. Sure the god’s always blame him for everything, but that’s because he actually does cause a shit ton of trouble, like randomly cut Sif’s hair off or promise a jotun that Freya will marry him without asking her.
In the original text there’s a goddess by the name Gefjun who doesn’t appear anywhere else in Norse mythology, but the way Odin talks about her makes it seem like Gefjun is another name for Frigg, so I gave Gefjun’s lines to her.
I added the part about Freyr protecting “half-men” because one texts suggest Freyr was worshipped by effeminate and/or gay men (often translated to “half-men”) who danced and rang bells in his honor.
I wonder... Loki is the god of falsehoods, so how much of this is actually true? He hasn't much reason to keep the juicy bits to himself, but still, some of these accusations sound far out.
@SirMighty I’m not an expert, but I think he’s the god of mischief, so he is not above lying though you never quite know how much of what he is saying is true
The interesting thing about Loki, that so few people seem to get, is that while he causes mischief, at the end of the mischief the Aesir are in a better situation than before. The only real exceptions are the Lokasenna and Ragnarok, which seem to come about more because of prophecy than anything else. Even the slaying of Baldur has the the effect of Baldur not being killed at Ragnarok, and in fact coming back to life after.
Firstly, it's "Oooooooooooooooo". The great vowel shift, you see.
But you do rather wonder why Loki would do this. It's not clever. He's making things very difficult for himself. Even if he is sick of the god's hypocrasy, there are ways of handling it which won't lead to him being tied up until the world ends. He's basically acting like an internet troll. Is it just that he can't help himself or does he know that things are coming to an end and he wants to sit it out?
@Andse I think that’s debatable loki got good reason to hate the gods but also same with the myth about Sifs hair and many other myths I don’t like to say “it’s because he’s drunk” because this is something Loki would do sober. I think it’s a mixture of he doesn’t care anymore he’s basically has everything taken anyway from him his children his first wife and he is drunk so he’s saying what’s been on his mind for a wile now. He’s just really fed up.
Oh i love Lokisenna. Its a great story, and it shows how very very human the gods really are. And it gives a interesting picture of loki. A very clever guy, with a mean tongue, and some serious issues with the other gods.
In Lokisenna he burns his bridges. We get the impression, that he has being brooding for some time, but we dont really know why. I think it is basically because he is Jotunn. The jotunns are nature forces. They are wild and untamed. But the gods creates order. Loki just cant stand all those rules and regulations- but he REALLY loathes the gods hypocrisy.
He respects Thor though, because Thor allways stand by his words. He is big and stupid and loud- but honest.
@Sejdkonen I love how the Valhalla comic did it - In the comic, that rumor is absolutely not true, and the gods have just been collectively slut-shaming her like crazy. I think what she actually paid with was some blood, because it was awesome for magical smithing.
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I wonder... Loki is the god of falsehoods, so how much of this is actually true? He hasn't much reason to keep the juicy bits to himself, but still, some of these accusations sound far out.