The fate of the children of Loki in Norse mythology

In Norse mythology, Loki is a unique and confusing character who both helps and destroys the gods. The Ragnarok War also originated with Loki and his children.

Myth says Loki had 7 children with two wives and a stallion. In it, two normal children are only mentioned after the event Loki harmed Balder god, they are directly related to the punishment that Loki suffered. However, their names are a bit confusing when they do not agree to be Nari, Narfi or Vali, but one thing is quite certain that they were born Sigyn – Loki’s first wife.

One of the children was turned into a wolf by Odin and bit his brother to death. The intestines of the ill-fated brother were used as chains to bind Loki to a rock in the cave. Other than that, there is no other description of the brothers, they are not as famous as the children below of Loki.

1. Sleipnir – Son of Loki and Svathlifari

To fortify Asgard, the gods hired a giant Jotnar to build a wall around the domain. Loki is the one who helps the gods and giants make a deal. Accordingly, the giant will try to finish the job quickly to marry the goddess, which the gods cannot accept and they want him to fail.

Upon seeing the giant able to complete the work on time, the gods used force to threaten Loki, causing Loki to think of ways to sabotage the giant’s work. When he learns that the giant has a magic horse that transports heavy loads, Loki transforms into a good-looking mare to distract the giant’s magic horse. The result was just as Loki expected, the magic horse chased the mare, causing the giant to not be able to finish the wall on time.

However, Loki – in mare’s guise – did not escape. Loki then became pregnant and gave birth to an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir. This horse later became Odin’s steed with the ability to travel on land, sea and air as well as travel between realms.

2. The children of Loki and the giantess Angrbotha

Loki’s most famous children are those born in marriage to the giant female Angrbotha. Although the Edda poetry lists only the wolf Fenrir as Loki’s son with Angrbotha, other poems also mention Jormungand and Hel.

The children were initially raised in Jotunheim, and when the Aesir gods learned of them, they prophesied the dangers and dangers they would bring. But perhaps the gods were afraid of children because their mothers were few, but because their fathers were many.

To prevent disaster, Odin has devised different ways to deal with them. The god who brought Jormungandr into the deep sea surrounding Midgard (the name of the Earth in Norse mythology). Hel descends to the underworld, given control over whatever is brought into this world, and Fenrir is chained.

Hel – Goddess of the Underworld

Hel, the goddess who governs the underworld or the world of Hel, is a ferocious character with a half-living, half-dead appearance. She is indifferent to both the living and the dead. There are not too many descriptions of Hel, she appears mainly in stories about the death of the god of light Balder when he agrees to let the god return to the living world if the whole universe mourns his death.

When Loki, the god who indirectly caused Balder’s death, did not mourn, Hel kept Balder in the underworld until Ragnarok. Hel’s role in Ragnarok is still quite vague, and it’s not clear if Hel is still alive after this event or still on duty to govern the dead.

Jormungandr – Midgard’s Serpent

Jormungandr, the python of Midgard, was thrown into the great sea surrounding Midgard when he was still a child. Finally, when he grew into a giant python, Jormungandr curled his body around the world and bit himself on its tail.

While legend has it that when Jormungandr released his tail, Ragnarok would begin, but there have been at least two occasions when Jormungandr did so during his encounters with Thor, when it popped its head out of the water before Ragnarok took place.

In the final battle, Jormungandr will emerge from the sea and spit venom into the sky. Thor and Jormungandr will confront each other, the god who kills the python but is poisoned by it. After walking 9 steps, Thor will die.

Fenrir – The Wolf

Fenrir is the son of Loki who is associated with the terrible prophecy of Odin’s death. At first, the gods kept Fenrir by their side to keep a close watch, only Tyr brave enough to approach and feed the wolf. However, Fenrir grew so fast, like Jormungandr, that the gods decided that it could no longer remain in Asgard.

Instead of letting Fenrir go free, they decided to chain him with chains. At first, the gods made a strong chain and brought it to Fenrir and told him that they wanted to test its strength. The wolf knew the gods were lying, but still agreed to let them chain him. Fenrir tensed his muscles slightly, the chain breaking easily. So the gods created a second chain, twice as strong as the previous one, but still not making it difficult for Fenrir.

The gods became more and more worried, at last they went to the dwarves and asked the dwarves to make the strongest chain of the nine worlds using magic. The dwarves agreed, and they created a cloak out of six things: the sound of a cat’s footsteps, a woman’s beard, the roots of a mountain, the breath of a fish, the tendons of a bear, and the drool of a bird.

This magical cloak was brought to Fenrir, but the wolf immediately sensed something amiss, refusing to put it on unless a god put a hand over his mouth in faith. Of course, only Tyr dared step up and put his hand in the wolf’s mouth. When the gods covered Fenrir with his cloak, he tried to escape but couldn’t, so he bit off Tyr’s arm.

Fenrir was taken to a deserted place and chained to a rock. Its mouth was covered with a sword so it couldn’t close it, causing its drool to flow into a river. When Ragnarok takes place, it will be free. Fenrir fights the god Odin, it devours Odin in battle. However, Odin’s son Vidarr will avenge his father by using a special boot to open Fenrir’s jaws.

This boot is made from scraps of leather that people cut from their shoes. So the legend says that if anyone wants to help the gods, throw away these excess skins