Ægir's Banquet -
The Chastising of Loki
When Ægir had got possession of the huge kettle borrowed by Thor
from Hymir, he prepared a great banquet for the Æsir. Odin was one
of the
guests; others were Frigg, Sif, Bragi, Idun, Tyr, Njord, Skadi,
Frey, Freyja,
Vidar, Frey’s serving men, Byggvir and Beyla, with a host
of other Æsir and Elves besides. Loki also
made one of the number, but Thor was absent on an expedition to
the east.
Radiant gold lit the room instead of tapers, and the ale poured
forth of itself
without the aid of any cupbearer. Ægir’s servants, Eldir and
Fimafeng, were
praised highly on every hand for the skilful performance of their
duty.
Hereat Loki grew angry and killed Fimafeng, although the spot was
holy
ground. The Æsir brandished their shields, raised an outcry
against Loki,
and drove him out into the forest; then they sat down to their
drinking. Loki
nevertheless shortly returned and, meeting Eldir outside the hall,
asked him
what the Æsir were discoursing about over their cups. “They are
speaking
of their weapons and their valorous deeds,” answered Eldir; “and
none
among them has a good word to say for you.” Loki said that he
purposed to
go inside and look on at the banquet and that he intended to bring
evil and
dissension with him and to mingle misfortune with the mead they
were
drinking. Refusing to listen to Eldir’s warnings, he forced his
way with
threats. All ceased speaking when they saw Loki enter. He asked
permission to still his thirst and, no one answering a word, he
demanded
that they should either show him to a seat or drive him out once
more.
Bragi declared that the Æsir never would give him a place among
them
again; whereupon Loki reminded Odin that once in the morning of
time they
two had blended blood with each other and thus had become sworn
brothers, on which occasion Odin had given his promise that no
drink
should cross his lips that was not offered to both of them
alike. Odin accordingly asked Vidar
to make room for Loki at his side, and Vidar promptly arose and
poured
drink into Loki’s cup. Loki offered obeisance to all the gods and
goddesses
and drank to them all — Bragi alone excepted. Bragi now proposed
to
present him with horse and sword and rings in recompense if he
would
keep the peace. Loki replied with taunts, maintaining that Bragi
had none of
the possessions of which he spoke: “Of all the Æsir sitting here,
you are
most afraid of battle and most wary of flying bolts.” “If I were
outside the
hall, as certainly as I now sit within the hall, I should carry
away your head
in my hand,” retorted Bragi. “You are brave enough while you are
sitting in
your seat, Bragi Grace-the-Benches,” answered Loki; “if you are
angry,
come and fight it out with me.” “I beg of you,” said Bragi’s wife,
Idun, “do
not taunt Loki herein Ægir’s hall.” “Hold your tongue, Idun,”
rejoined Loki;
“of all wanton women I call you the most wanton; with your white
arms you
have embraced the slayer of your own brother.” Idun declared that
she only
wished to pacify Bragi so that the two would not come to blows.
Now
Gefjon spoke: “Why do you two Æsir continue to bandy words in this
presence? Loki appears not to know that he is on the wrong road,
that all
the gods are angry at him.” Loki at once stopped her lips by
reminding her
of an amorous adventure in which she had played a part. Hereupon
Odin
warned Loki to beware of Gefjon’s wrath: “For she knows the
destinies of
men as well as I.” Loki immediately turned upon Odin
and said: “You have often granted victory to dastards.” “You, for
your part,”
replied Odin, “lived eight winters under ground as a woman,
milking cows.”
No insult much worse could possibly be thrown in a man’s teeth,
and so
Loki was not slow in making a rejoinder no less coarse, to the
effect,
namely, that Odin had once sojourned on the island of Samsey
engaged in
the practice of witchcraft and sorcery after the manner of
witches. Frigg
now took a part in the discussion, declaring that Odin and Loki
had better
not reveal what they had been occupied with in the morning of
time, and
Loki immediately countered with the old story that on a certain
occasion
when Odin was absent from home, she had had his brothers Vili and
Ve for
husbands. “Had I here in Ægir’s hall a son like Balder, you would
not easily
escape,” answered Frigg. “You plainly wish me to recount still
more of my
evil deeds,” said Loki; “know then, it is my doing that you shall
no more see
Balder come riding into the hall.” “You are beside yourself,” said
Freyja, “to
dare relate all the evil and heinous acts of your life; Frigg
knows the course
of destiny, though she tells no man thereof.” “Silence,” answered
Loki; “I
know you only too well. There is scarcely any one in this company,
whether
of Æsir or Elves, whom you have not had for a lover; you are a
Troll,
wicked through and through; once the gods surprised you with your
own
brother.” “It is of little consequence,” said Njord, “that women
have lovers; it
is far worse that you, womanish god, venture into our presence.”
Loki
reminded him that he had once been sent east
ward as a hostage and that the women of Hymir had covered him with
insults. “Even if I was once a hostage, nevertheless I have
begotten a son
(Frey) who is the friend of all and the bulwark of the Æsir.” “His
mother was
your own sister,” replied Loki. Tyr now spoke: “Frey is foremost
of the brave
men of Asgard, he violates neither maid nor wife, and he looses
from
bonds all those that are bound.” “Hold your tongue, Tyr; never
have you
been able to bring about peace; do not forget how the Fenris Wolf
tore off
your right hand.” “Nevertheless,” answered Frey, “the Wolf lies in
bondage
until the Twilight of the Gods; and just as he lies chained
outside the river’s
mouth, so may you come to lie fettered if you do not keep
silence.” “For
gold you bought the daughter of Gymir and sold your sword besides,
so
that when the sons of Muspell come riding across the Dark Woods
you will
find no weapon ready to your hand.” Then spoke Byggvir, Frey’s
serving
man: “If I had offspring like that of Ingunar-Frey and if I lived
happily as he
does, I would crush this crow of evil omen finer than marrow and
break all
his limbs asunder.” “What is that little thing wagging his tail
and whimpering
there under the mill? You hid yourself in the straw on the floor
when men
went forth to battle.” On Heimdal’s declaring Loki to be drunk,
Loki replied:
“Hold your tongue, Heimdal. In the morning of time a life most
base was
dealt out to be your portion, to stand forever with a stiff back,
waking and
watching on behalf of the gods.” Skadi now forecast a threatening
future for
Loki: “Hitherto your lot has been good, Loki, but you shall
not much longer play fast and loose; to the sharp stone the gods
shall bind
you with your own son’s entrails.” “None the less was I chief
among those
that put your father Thjazi to death,” answered Loki. Skadi
retorted,
“Therefore cold counsels will always go out to you from my house
and
home.” Now Sif stepped forward and poured mead into a horn for
Loki; she
drank to him and asked him to molest Skadi no more, but his only
response
was to boast that he, if none else, had enjoyed the favors of Sif.
“The
mountains are trembling,” said Beyla; “I think Thor must be
coming; he will
find a way of stopping the mouth of him who heaps blame on the
Æsir.” As
Loki was berating Beyla, Thor appeared and, fuming with rage,
threatened
Loki with his hammer. Still Loki had the boldness to say to him:
“You will
not be so brave when you go out against the Wolf, and the Wolf
devours
Odin.” “I will hurl you into the regions of the east so that no
man shall lay
eyes on you again,” answered Thor. “You had better keep quiet
about your
journeys to the east,” said Loki, adding a further reminder of the
cowardly
way in which Thor had borne himself in Skrymir’s glove and how
fast he
had found the thongs bound about the wallet; “hale and hearty, you
nearly
perished with hunger.” “If you do not hold your tongue at once,
Mjollnir shall
strike you, without further ado, down to Hell, even lower than the
Gate of
Corpses.” “I have spoken what I had to speak,” said Loki; “I will
now depart,
on your account alone, for I know that you strike when you are
moved to
strike.” To Ægir he declared that this banquet was
his last, that flames were to consume all that he owned.
Loki now took his leave and hid himself in the mountains, where he
built a house with four doors so placed that from within he was
able to spy
in all directions. Often he assumed the shape of a salmon and
lurked
among the waterfalls of Franang. He pondered much upon what
devices
the Æsir might employ in order to catch him in the falls; and as
he sat in the
house brooding on these things, he took flax yarn and wove it into
meshes
in the manner commonly used in making a net. Before long he saw
the
Æsir drawing near; for Odin, looking out from Lidskjalf, had
discovered his
hiding. Losing no time, Loki threw the net on the fire burning
before him,
and sprang into the waterfall. When the Æsir reached the house,
the wise
Kvasir was the first to enter; as soon as he saw the ashes of the
burned
net, he understood that it was a means of catching fish, and he
told the
Æsir as much. They all set about the task of making a net
according to the
model in the ashes; when it was finished they went down to the
stream and
threw the net into the water. Thor had hold of one end, and all
the other
Æsir held fast to the other end. As they drew the net, Loki swam
before it
and lay quiet between two stones until the net had passed over
him;
nevertheless they noticed that the net had touched some living
thing. They
went up stream and cast in the net a second time, but now they had
weighted it so that nothing could pass beneath it. Loki swam ahead
of the
net until he came within a short distance
of the sea; then he leaped over the rope and swam up to the
waterfall
again. Now the Æsir had caught sight of him; they went up stream a
third
time and separated into two parties so that each group held one
end of the
net while Thor waded down the middle of the river. In such a
manner they
drew the net down toward the sea. In this predicament Loki was
compelled
either to run out to sea, which would put him in grave danger of
his life, or
to leap over the, net once more. He ventured the leap anew, but
Thor
seized him and held him fast by the tail, although the salmon
slipped a
short way through his hands; this is the reason why the salmon
tapers
toward the tail. Now Loki was taken captive outside the bounds of
any
hallowed place, and therefore he could expect no mercy. The Æsir
carried
him off to a cavern in the mountains. There they took three
flagstones,
placed them on end, and bored a hole in each one. Next they seized
hold
of Loki’s sons, Vali and Nari; Vali, transforming himself into a
wolf, at once
tore his brother limb from limb. Thereupon the Æsir took Nari’s
entrails and
with them bound Loki in such a position across the three stones
that one of
the stones stood under his shoulders, the second under his loins,
and the
third under the tendons of his knees. The bands turned into iron.
Skadi
caught a venomous serpent and fixed it above him in such a way
that the
venom would be sure to drip into his face. Sigyn, Loki’s wife,
stood beside
him holding a basin to catch the dripping poison; but when the
basin was
filled, she had to go away to empty it; and while she was gone the
poison fell on his face and threw him into such violent
contortions that the
whole earth trembled. This is the phenomenon now known as an
earthquake. Thus Loki shall lie bound until the coming of the
Twilight of the
Gods.
Sources:
Peter
Andreas Munch: Norse Mythology: Legends of Gods
and Heroes. The American-Scandinavian Foundation, New
York. 1926, pp. 86-94.
Henry Adam Bellows:
The Poetic Edda. The
American-Scandinavian Foundation, New York, 1923, pp. 151 ff.
The Younger Eddas:
Gylvaginning, pp. 75-77.
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