Loki Laufeyson 3. Myth vs. pop-culture: Popular media and literature

3. Loki and his image in the popular media and literature

In the third and final part of this article I’d like to take you on a journey into the more recent time times and in the present. We can skip forward a few centuries, because the Nordic Pantheon was quite neglected in late medieval times and early New age - at least outside Northern Europe. A revival came in 19th century in the form of German romanticism, when we witnessed an emergence of „national“ themes. Terms nation and folk-lore appeared in the vocabulary of the freshly formed scholars of folklore studies and linguists, who discovered the charms of non-classical languages (classic languages are classic latin and ancient Greek). In the whole Europe these scholars and enthusiasts started to collect folk tales and fairy-tales, of which we are perhaps most acquainted with The Brothers Grimm. In addition to their collections and their fixing fairytales in writing, they also engaged in German mythology, folk-lore and linguistic. They authored a volume of Deutschen Sagen (German tales) and a dictionary, among others. 

The first part of the article - mythology - is here

The second part of the article - loki as trickster - is here

Loki Laufeyson 3. Mýtus vs. popkultúra: Populárne médiá a literatúra

 3. Loki a jeho obraz v populárnych médiách a literatúre

Loki Laufeyson

 

V tretej časti eseje sa presunieme o pár storočí dopredu. Tento skok si môžeme dovoliť, pretože nordický panteón bol v neskorom stredoveku a novoveku pomerne zabudnutý- aspoň čo sa týka neseverskej Európy. Oživenie prišlo až v 19. st v podobe nemeckého romantizmu, kedy sa do popredia dostali „národné“ témy- a vôbec, národ a folklór sa začali aplikovať vo vedeckej obci novo vzniknutých fokloristov a jazykovedcov, ktorí objavili čaro neklasických jazykov- t.j. nie latinčiny a starej gréčtiny. Po celej Európe sa začali zbierať ľudové povesti a rozprávky- nám sú najbližšie mená bratov Grimmovcov (a popr. nášho národovca, Pavla Dobšinského), ktorí okrem toho, že spísali rozprávky, venovali sa aj nemeckej lingvistike, foklóru a mytológii. Sú autormi diela Deutsche sagen (Nemecké povesti).

Prvú časť- Mytológiu- nájdete tuto
Druhú časť- Loki ako trickster- tuto

Loki Laufeyson 2. Myth vs. pop-culture: The Trickster

2. Loki as a trickster

When talking about Loki, the name trickster comes up several times. What does it mean exactly? True to his very entity, there is no uniform definition despite the fact, that you can find the figure of a trickster in almost every culture and religion (or at least figures which share several of its characteristics). According to some scholars a trickster is an archetypal figure, who is a primary stage of a type later developed into a culture hero. 

Loki and his children (by Audrey Koch)

(You can find the first part- mythology- here)

Loki Laufeyson 1. Myth vs. pop-culture: Mythology

  1. Loki in Mythology

Loki Laufeyson (by Audrey Koch)

Loki Laufeyson, a giant, a god and a trickster of Norse mythology mesmerised people since times past. Maybe it is because with his deeds he contributed to the fall of the Norse gods, the Ragnarok, or maybe because he is an unfathomable and enthralling figure of the myths of old. Loki is a person of many aspects which often contradict each other and yet, as I´ll try to show later, precisely this contradiction is among Loki’s most essential traits.

 In the first part I will discuss Norse mythology, because without putting him in a context one cannot really understand Loki. I will pay particular attention to his character as a trickster, as we find him (the trickster) in many cultures in the wide world; and I´ll pose a question if Loki is really evil as often portrayed. In the last part I will turn to his image in modern culture- in literature, film and at last, but not least, pop-culture with the its main representative- comics.