God of the Week: Loki
01/09/2011: Loki
Loki is an ancient Norse god, known for his adversarial relationship with the other gods. He is responsible the the death of the god Badlr, for which he is bound and shackled.
Loki, in punishment of his misdeeds, is put in chains, like Prometheus who brought fire to men; but he is to be released again at the end of the world. One of his children, Fewrir, himself in a second birth, pursues the moon in the shape of a wolf and threatens to swallow her.
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The breaking loose of the wolf and the ultimate [escape] of Loki from his chains, who at the time of the Ragnarökr will war against and overcome the gods, is in striking accord with the release of the chained Prometheus, by whom Zeus is then to be overthrown.
-Teutonic Mythology, Vol 1, Jacob Grimm
