Probably my favourite of all gods is the Norse trickster Loki. I enjoy the story of his role in the death of Balder (the son of Odin and Frigg) because it shows a malevolent but amusing god, and also an inversion of something (mistletoe) that is supposed to be nice into something that is pretty nasty.

Balder began to have dreams of terrible things happening to him. Odin disguised himself as Vegtam, son of Valtam, & entered Hel to seek out a seeress to interpret the meaning of the dreams. The seeress explained that the dreams meant someone would soon kill Balder.

Alarmed at the prophecy, Frigg traveled throughout the 9 worlds to get each & every substance to swear an oath that it would not harm Balder. Everything she asked agreed, & the gods tested this by casting a pebble at Balder, who admitted that he couldn’t even feel it.

Soon, the gods tried other tests such as throwing darts or stones at him, hitting him with axes & slashing him with swords. Nothing harmed him. This soon became a game among the gods, who rejoiced that nothing could harm him.

Loki, however, watched in disgust. He grew envious of Balder, & refused to take part in the games. Then, one afternoon, an idea occurred to him. When he was sure that no one was watching, he changed himself into an old woman & went to seek information from Frigg. Once there, the old woman began to question why they were stoning a man outside. Frigg explained that it was a game, & that nothing could hurt Balder. After awhile, she grew irritated with the old woman’s inquiries, & finally mentioned that only one thing did not swear an oath not to harm Balder, the mistletoe.

Thrilled that he had finally found something that could harm Balder, Loki quickly made his way west of Valhalla & grabbed some mistletoe. He then sharpened one end of it & carried it back to Gladsheim, where the gods were so caught up in their game that they did not notice Loki come back in. Loki looked around & noticed Balder’s brother, Hod, who was blind, standing aside. He went up to him and asked why he wasn’t participating in the game. Hod replied because he couldn’t see where Balder was, nor did he have a weapon to throw at him.

Loki then gave Hod the mistletoe & guided his arm. It struck Balder, pierced him, & passed right threw him. Balder fell on his face, dead. The gods looked around & knew only Loki could be responsible.

After much weeping, Frigg asked if anyone would be willing to travel to Hel & beg for Balder’s life. Odin’s son, Hermod stepped forward, & was soon off. For 9 nights he rode until he reached the underworld & met with Hel. He told her of the grief of the gods & asked Hel to let Balder return with him. Hel told him that if everything in the nine worlds, both dead and alive, would weep for Balder, she would return him to Asgard, but if even one thing would not mourn, Balder must stay in Niflheim. Hermod then left the underworld & told everyone at Gladsheim what had been said to him.

The Aesir sent messengers to everything throughout the 9 worlds asking them to weep for Balder. Everything they asked wept. As they were making their way back to Asgard, they came across the giantess, Thokk, sitting in a cave. They asked her to weep, but she refused. The messengers left mournfully, knowing that Thokk was actually Loki.

After some time went by after Balder’s death, Loki realized that his days in Asgard had come to an end. He fled to a deserted part of Midgard near Franang’s Falls & built himself a house with 4 doors, one in every direction so that he could keep watch in every direction. One evening, he heard voices coming, so he quickly put out his fire, turned himself into a salmon, & slid into Franang’s Falls. Unfortunately for Loki, when Odin sat in Hlidskjalf, nothing escaped his sight. Odin quickly sent a party of gods from Asgard to capture him.

Thor & the others dropped a net into the Falls & weighted it down with stones so that nothing could swim under it. Loki attempted to jump over the net, but Thor caught the salmon & would not let go.

As punishment, Thor & one group of gods led Loki to a cave while another party went in pursuit of his two sons, Vali & Narvi. They changed Vali into a wolf & watched as he ripped Narvi’s body apart before running away towards Jotunheim. They then took Narvi’s entrails & made their way to the cave. Loki was promptly bound to a rock using Narvi’s entrails, which became as hard as iron. Then Skadi positioned a snake above Loki so that its venom would drip into his face. There the gods left him.

Loki’s wife, Sigyn, stayed behind holding a bowl over Loki’s face to catch the venom. Whenever it is full, she carries it away & empties it into a rock basin. Loki is then left unguarded & the poison splashes into his face.

It is here Loki will remain until Ragnarok when Loki will be freed. He will then meet Heimdall, & each will kill the other.

Taken from A Gallery of Demons