As an avid mythology lover, I believe the best way to tell stories is by retelling them. By putting your own spin on them, you can have fun telling your friends! This is what I like to do! These are some of my favorite Norse myths that I would like to share with you all!
Loki and Baldr: The Origin of Earthquakes
Baldr, the son of Odin and Frigga, was beautiful and wise, and he was everyone’s favorite god. One day, he and Frigga both had a dream of his death and since Baldr’s dreams were usually prophetic, Frigga made every single thing in the world swear an oath not to harm Baldr. Rocks, fire, plants, you name it. (How? Who knows.) However, Frigga did not make mistletoe swear this oath, because mistletoe was a young plant and therefore too unimportant to kill Baldr.
The mischief-maker himself, Loki, heard about this and decided to have some fun. The gods were all throwing things at Baldr, amused at how not a single thing could harm this beautiful man. Baldr’s brother, Hodr, was blind, and Loki didn’t want him to “miss out on the fun”. Loki took a specially crafted mistletoe dart (gasp) and guided Hodr’s aim. The dart made its mark and Baldr died. Odin then had a son named Vali with Rindr who became an adult within a day, and Vali slew Hodr for killing Baldr.
The gods eventually found out about Loki’s acts, and they punished him by binding him to three rocks in a cave using the entrails of his sons. A venomous snake was placed above his face, made to constantly drip its venom. Sigyn, the goddess of loyalty, was Loki’s wife, and she constantly held a bowl over his face to collect the snake’s venom. Whenever the bowl got full, Sigyn would toss away the venom, but a few drops would fall onto Loki’s face. The trickster’s writhes of pain shook the earth, which is what causes earthquakes.
Not to worry, though. After Ragnarok, the end of the world, Baldr will come up from Hel, reconcile with his brother, Hodr, and rule the new earth with him and Thor’s sons.
Loki and His 8-Legged Horse Child, Sleipnir
When the gods created Midgard (the human realm), a builder offered to create a wall around the place to keep out invaders. All he asked for was Freya, the sun, and the moon. The gods agree, only on the condition that he completes the task in 9 months and he is not allowed help from anyone. But, our favorite scoundrel Loki grants the builder’s request to have the help of his stallion, Svadilfari. The use of his stallion allowed the builder to nearly succeed in his task. The gods realize, of course, that Loki is to blame.
The gods threaten Loki with a horrible death, and he swears that he’ll do whatever it takes to solve the problem. He transforms himself into a mare and neighs at Svadilfari. Svadilfari realizes “oh my gosh it’s a girl” (if you know what I mean) and he runs after the mare. The horses ran all night, halting the builder’s work, and the builder was not able to continue his grind streak.
The gods find out the builder is a jotun (a type of being they hate) and they send Thor to smash the builder’s skull with his hammer, Mjolnir. Now, it doesn’t matter what Loki did, but he had “such dealings” (that’s what it said in the book, guys) with the stallion that he later gave birth to a gray horse with eight legs, Sleipnir, “the best horse among gods and men”, who is Odin’s steed (best not to think too hard about it).
Thor the Bride
One day, Thor wakes up and finds that his hammer, Mjolnir, is missing. He goes to Loki, who goes to Freya, who lends him her feather cloak. Loki uses the feather cloak to travel to Jotunheim. There, he found Thrym working on collars for his dogs. Thrym asks what’s wrong and Loki tells him about the missing hammer. Thrym tells Loki he hid the hammer and Thor will get it back if Thrym can marry Freya. Thor and Loki then go to Freya and tell her to dress like a bride, and naturally, she is enraged.
The gods hold a meeting and Heimdall comes up with a brilliant idea: Thor should pretend to be Freya the bride! Thor refuses, but Loki says this is the only way to get Mjolnir back. Loki accompanies Thor as his bridesmaid. At the wedding, Thor eats “ferociously” and Loki explains that “Freya” hasn’t eaten in eight days from excitement. Then Thrym lifts the veil to kiss his bride, and Loki explains the fire in Thor’s eyes by saying “Freya” hasn’t slept in eight days.
Then, Thrym’s sister brings out Thor’s hammer to wed Thrym and “Freya”. Mjolnir is placed on Thor’s lap, and he uses his hammer to beat everyone up. The end.
