Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Norse Mythology

L

Luna

Supernova
Joined
Jan 9, 2009
So I was looking for something to satisfy my boredom that was productive and looked up Odin. At first I just wanted to know if he was evil but the Valhalla story was interesting so I looked up Odin and Loki`s wives and sons. Does anyone have any theories about Freya? She had supposedly mothered Odins children; Thor and Frigg, but Frigg was also Odins wife.

So was this just incest or..?
 
In most old mythologies, the head deity is a dick, and there is incest a-plenty. See: Greek mythology.
 
Odin was favored by vikings and loved battle. However, I don't think he was bad. Loki was.
 
Bad is in the eye of the beholder. I am sure there where plenty that worshiped Loki and saw him as the best thing since fire-roasted meat.
 
He was bad to those that looked at the story from the point of view that wasn't Loki's. There where those that read the stories, and though he was freaking wonderful and someone to look up to.

All stories have many sides to them Luna, no two people will read the story the same way.
 
My point was, the creater intended Loki to be bad.

I'm not saying its wrong to think outside the box or whatever. But lets put it this way: Just because the devil has worshippers does not change the fact that he was intended to be evil.

Hell, Loki started off good, but he let his mischeif take over and summoned Frost Giants to have a great battle with the Gods which marked the beginning of Ragnarok.

Since this is just a story, the two sides thing doesn't work since there was one author.
 
The sides are created through perspective. You read it and say he is bad, I read it and say that I wanna be right beside him causing problems.

Also the Devil/Lucifer/Satan was NOT EVIL. Gods it annoys me every time someone says 'OMG Lucifer is da evil thing'. No he is the temptation, but he is not EVIL. He was placed in his position because he disagreed with God. Humans had free will, while the Angels where the epitome of a servant. He disagreed and the argument lead to the battle that created the two(well more then two) factions. Had I been there I'd of fought beside him, I believe that all beings deserve the right to live as they will. He was put as a Temptation, but he wasn't evil.

All stories have more then one side. It's all a matter of Perception, it's all a matter of the eyes of the reader. I think Odin is the biggest asshole to walk the realm of stories, asides for Zeus. I'd like to kill him myself.
 
Satan is portrayed as a bad guy as well, but I actually find him a lot more sympathetic than god. God is a fucking dick.
 
Ugh, I'm not saying he was evil, I said he's intended to be evil.

Like I said, because its a story, there is what you percieve and what actually is.

Unless the original man who told these stories made up a whole volume of 'Loki's point of view' and told sob stories about why he did what he did, I remain adamant about MY opinion that he's bad. Why? Because bad attracts me. He does as he likes and with no reason but because he could. And that is what I love about him. Odin can go to hell.
 
But see here is the thing. The author doesn't NEED to create a side of the story for each character. When an Author reads a story, they (in my opinion) leave it open for discerning by the readers.
 
-Is currently running her fingers across Odins cross against her chest, she wasn't sure what to say in this topic.-

Eh, Odin was a searcher of knowledge, but he was also a destroyer. He was both loved and feared. But then, arn't most gods?

I don't know about Freya, so i can offer no insight.
 
Ah yes. He gave one of his eyes for knowledge and also speared himself to the yggdrasil tree.
 
Loki was an amusing character, but then, god of mischief I suppose that would make since. But yes, his whole bit there was..eh.

Suddenly I am reminded of Puck.

>.<;
 
I'm pretty sure that most of the things of Ragnarok haven't happened yet.
It's the story of what is going to happen, not what already has.

Also, all the things that Odin does/did/will do are the things that Norse dudes like. He's a god after all, so he does the things that they'd most of all want to do themselves.
Humans can't ride horses with eight or six (can't remember just now) legs, but they can create someone who can.
 
From reading the Edda's front to back, my deduction is Loki isn't any more evil than Odin. Sure, he slain Baldr, but Odin has done some questionable things himself. Like reneging some deals he made with mortals.
 
Okay, here we go.

Loki is largely regarded as a more evil figure by the end for a few reasons. His random killing of Blader, for his amusement, which was largely the straw that broke the camels back for the rest of the gods since he'd been toeing the line of getting killed for a long time. Like the time he thought it would be funny to shave Sif's head. Sif, who was the wife of Thor. Thor, of the famously short temper. Great plan buddy! He managed to squeak by on that one. The big reason he wasn't thought well of was that he was untimately a traitor to his kind. I mean, he's the one god who would march on the side of the giants come Ragnarok.

Odin was also not as popular as you might have thought, since one of his other naems to be known as was the Betrayer of Warriors. Odin needed warriors for the final battle, and was thought to let some of the best warriors of the land die in battle before they rightly should so he could have them. The more popular god was actually Thor, since he was a more down to earth kind of god whose main focus was beating th ever loving crap out of people.

As for reneging on deals with mortals, well...he is leader of the panteon of gods. The mortals who bargained with him might have really wanted to think twice there. It's kind of hard to force the leader of your gods to make good on a deal. And to put a bit of justification on Odin, he's playing a much bigger game than the mortals. For all they know, his flaking out on a deal might have ended up being a piece in the puzzle of his trying to save Asgard from the Last Battle.

On the subject of the Last Battle....
Loki is not the main architect behind Ragnarok. At that point, he's just another part of it all. Sutur, lord of the fire giants, and Thrymm, lord of the Frost giants, were the two major players, Sutur a bit mroe so I think, seeing as he was to burn most of the world on his approach to Asgard. Midgard burns, and the Nafalgar, the ship crafted of dead men's nails, leaves hell loaded with the unworthy dead. Fenrir swallows the sun, and would kill odin. The World Serpent rises fromt he depths to face Thor, one last time, to be killed by him, but slay the god as well through poisoning. Loki is ultimately pretty small in his place in the whole thing. Heimdall, the god who watches over the rainbow bridge that leads to Asgard ultimately kills him.
 
tl;dr'd most of this convo.

Listen to two songs by Amon Amarth. "Hermod's Ride To Hel - Loke's Treachery Part one" and "Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags"

The first one more concern's Loke's action, and he's never mentioned in the song. The second one is about Loke leading the inhabitants of Nifelheim against Asgaard. Some great imagery created by the song. "

Lyrics:
Hermod's Ride to Hel

(I Fucking love the intro to this song)

[Hermod:]
Ride Sleipner
Ride for all you're worth
Faster then lightning,
To the dark realms of the world

Through valleys of darkness
On our way to Nifelheim
To the halls of Hel
Where my brother waits

Wailing voices on the wind
Urging me to turn
Distant tortured screams
Cold blue fires burn

I hear the sound of river Gjoll
Running cold and deep
It's a golden bridge shines in the dark
The bridge that Modgud keeps

Over the bridge, on through the night
Hel is getting near
There are the gates, towering high
Afflicting me with fear

In her hall, at the honor seat
My brother sits in pain
Pale and tortured Balder greats
Bound by invisible frozen chains

[Hermod:]
I have come, to bring him back with me
The whole world mourns his death!
Please set Balder free
Give him back his breath!

[Hel:]
If it's true, what you say to me
That the whole world mourns his death.
If the whole world will weep I'll give him back his breath!


Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags

There comes Lokt, the treacherous, lusting for revenge
He leads the legions of the dead, towards the Aesir's Realm

They march in full battle dress, with faces grim and pale
Tattered banners and bloody flags, rusty spears and blades

Cries ring out, loud and harsh, from cracked and broken horns
Long forgotten battle cries, in strange and foreign tongues

Spear and sword clash rhythmically, against the broken shields they beat
They bring their hate and anarchy, onto Vigrid's battlefield

There comes Lokt, the treacherous, he stands against the gods
His army grim and ravenous, lusting for their blood

Nowhere is longer safe
The earth moves under our feet
The great world tree Yggdrasil
Trembles to its roots

Sons of Muspel gird the field
Behind them Midgård burns
Hrym's horde march from Nifelheim
And the Fenris wolf returns

Heimdal grips the Gjallarhorn, he sounds that dreaded note
Oden rides to quest the Norns, but their web is torn
The Aesir rides out to war, with armor shining bright
Followed by the Einherjer, see Valkyries ride

Nowhere is longer safe
The earth moves under our feet
The great world tree Yggdrasil
Trembles to its roots

Sons of Muspel gird the field
Behind them Midgård burns
Hrym's horde march from Nifelheim
And the Fenris wolf returns
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom