I strongly disagree regarding Loki as an archetype of evil or as a demon. In the Eddas, Loki might engage in tremendous mischeif -- for instance cutting Sif's hair -- but he always gets himself out of the scrape in a way that benefits the cosmic order. So after cutting Sif's hair Loki goes to the dwarves and gets them to make new hair for Sif and he also gets them to make Mjolnir, the Hammer of Thor; as well as Gungnir, the spear of Odin. So yes, Loki does engage in mischief tends to strengthen the cosmic order. As such I think of him as a force of good, of dynamic disequilibrium that ultimately benefits the Nine Worlds.
One could extend this argument to Ragnorak and the Death of Baldr: because of Loki's treachery, Odin works all the harder to prepare and delay the coming of Ragnorak, thus strengthening the worlds. As with Baldr, we know that after Ragnorak Baldr will emerge from Helheim and rejoin the gods, rather than die in Ragnorak. And so the post-Ragnorak cosmos will ultimately be strengthened by Loki's mischief
Point being, my reading of the Eddas lead me to think of Loki as _ultimately_ a benevolent force in the cosmic order. Of course, given what you wrote above you probably disagree, but, that said, disagreements can be fruitful and certainly my disagreement has helped me to articulate these thoughts! And so in the spirit of inquiry and discussion I post this comment.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2020-09-14 04:16 pm (UTC)I strongly disagree regarding Loki as an archetype of evil or as a demon. In the Eddas, Loki might engage in tremendous mischeif -- for instance cutting Sif's hair -- but he always gets himself out of the scrape in a way that benefits the cosmic order. So after cutting Sif's hair Loki goes to the dwarves and gets them to make new hair for Sif and he also gets them to make Mjolnir, the Hammer of Thor; as well as Gungnir, the spear of Odin. So yes, Loki does engage in mischief tends to strengthen the cosmic order. As such I think of him as a force of good, of dynamic disequilibrium that ultimately benefits the Nine Worlds.
One could extend this argument to Ragnorak and the Death of Baldr: because of Loki's treachery, Odin works all the harder to prepare and delay the coming of Ragnorak, thus strengthening the worlds. As with Baldr, we know that after Ragnorak Baldr will emerge from Helheim and rejoin the gods, rather than die in Ragnorak. And so the post-Ragnorak cosmos will ultimately be strengthened by Loki's mischief
Point being, my reading of the Eddas lead me to think of Loki as _ultimately_ a benevolent force in the cosmic order. Of course, given what you wrote above you probably disagree, but, that said, disagreements can be fruitful and certainly my disagreement has helped me to articulate these thoughts! And so in the spirit of inquiry and discussion I post this comment.