"Loki Bound" by M.E. Winge (1890)

Loki's Punishment

     "The nerve of him!  I can't believe Loki would show his face here!  After what he's done to all of us, especially Balder!" a voice whispered harshly in my ear.

     I met Freya's angry eyes.  "I don't want him here either.  But there's not much we can do about it.  He's still Odin's blood brother, and no one but my husband can kick him out.  Just ignore him and try to enjoy this wonderful food Aeger's made for us."

    A week had passed since my son Balder had died.  Our hearts were still heavy with his loss and the knowledge that his passing heralded the beginning of the Ragnarok.  But we refused to let our grief cripple us.  Aeger had decided to throw a feast, where all of the Aesir could laugh and trade memories of Balder and each other.  The feast had just gotten underway when Loki barged in.  He was unwelcome , but the Aesir did not want to ruin what might be our last chance to gather in peace.

     I cast a quick glance over at the trouble-maker.  Loki was sitting at the very end of a table, picking at his food, glaring at everyone.  And being thoroughly ignored by all present.

     Frey, who was closest to Loki at three feet away, leaned toward Heimdal.  "I swear, isn't this the finest food you've ever eaten?" he asked.

     "Of course.  This is one of the finest feasts I've attended," he replied.

     Ignoring Loki on his left, Frey turned to Sif, sitting across from him.  "Don't you agree, Lady Sif?"

     "Oh, most heartily."

     Frey smiled.  "The company is even finer," he remarked, raising his glass to Heimdal's and Sif's.

     Loki slammed his glass into the table and sprang to his feet.  He stormed to the door, roughly shoving a poor servant to the ground.  Conversation in the hall stopped for a second and then resumed as if nothing had happened.

     "Good riddance," Frey muttered under his breath. 

     Everyone returned to their meals and quickly became preoccupied with their storytelling again.  No one noticed Loki return to the hall.

     Standing just inside the door, he grabbed a hurrying servant by the arm and yanked him to his side.  "What are they saying about me?  Hmm!?" he growled.

     The servant glared at him, yanking his arm free.  "You arrogant outcast.  They have nothing good to say about you.  They are reminiscing about Balder."

     "Really," he replied, his voice cold and soft.  The servant, taking one look at his face, ran off to his chores.  Loki marched into the center of the hall, seething with fury.

     "Try and ignore me now!" he bellowed. 

      The Aesir looked at him but said nothing.

     "Is there no place for Odin's blood brother here!!?"

     Silence.

     "Will no one make a place for me?!!"  he roared.

     "There will never be a place for you again,"  Tyr calmly replied, his face full of disgust.

     Loki's fragile reign on his temper snapped.  Demonic fire lit his eyes, and he flew into a rage more violent than any of Thor's storms.

     "You arrogant fools!  How dare you sit in judgment over me!  You are far from faultless!" he screamed.  He looked wildly around the room, bellowing the most vile insults imaginable and attacking every person's flaws.  The faces of the Aesir paled in shock at his outburst.

     Having degraded every other person in the room, Loki's gaze fell last on Thor's wife, Sif.  "And YOU.  I can't believe I bothered chopping off your hair.  I usually avoid dealing with whores."

     The Aesir froze.  Lightning crashes sounded in the distance, growing steadily closer and closer to the hall.  One Aesir had not arrived at the feast yet.  But he had far-reaching ears.

     The door flew open with a loud crash.  Thor stalked into the hall, idly tapping his hammer into the palm of his hand.

     "Did I hear someone insult my wife?"  he drawled.  Loki shrank back at the deadly look on his face.  "I think someone needs to be shown the exit," Thor pronounced.

     The thunder-god lunged at Loki, but the trickster was too quick.  Eyes widened in fear, he raced to the door.  "Curse you all!  You'll pay for this insult!"  Loki shrieked.  He disappeared out the door, and when Thor arrived a second later, he was gone.

     Loki's antics at the banquet were the last straw.  I finally convinced Odin that Loki needed to pay for his crimes against the Aesir, and the following day Odin sent searchers out to find and capture Loki.  But catching a shape-shifting giant is no easy task.  Every time Odin's hunters closed in on Loki, he managed to elude them. 

     Many weeks passed with no further traces of the traitor.  Odin was about to give up pursuit when one day, Loki grew careless.  Odin's blood-brother had a well-known fascination for fishing.  Odin was idly scanning the Nine Worlds when he spotted a cottage.  A cottage near a river, with fishing nets littered outside.  He knew his realm well, and knew that that cottage was a new edition to the riverside.  The cottage door opened and, sure enough, out walked Loki, half-finished net in hand.  We had found him.

     "Are you sure this is the right cottage?" Tyr asked.

     "Yes I'm sure!  Odin gave me directions,"  Thor growled.

     "Then where is he, oh enlightened-one?" 

     "He's got to be around here somewhere!  Quit running your mouth and help me look for him." 

     The two Aesir had arrived at Loki's hideout, but the exile was nowhere to be found.  Thor and Tyr split up, searching outside for any sign of the escaped outcast.

     "Here!  Over here Thor!"  Tyr cried.  Thor ran to the riverside, where Tyr was holding a fishing net in his hand.

     "Wow, a fishing net.  Good job brother,"  Thor commented sarcastically.

     Tyr sighed,  "Think for a second, Thor.  Loki is a fisherman.  And a shape-shifter."

     The two peered in unison into the river.  "Time to go fishing, Tyr."

     Tyr and Thor began dragging the net along the bottom, certain that Loki had transformed into a fish.  As they neared two stones, a red tail flashed in the sunlight.

     "There!"

     But when the gods pulled in the net, they caught only stones.  They weighed the net down with a rock and tried again.  Each time, Loki darted away just in time.

     They finally backed Loki into an alcove of rocks.  Seeing that there was no escaping the net, Loki jumped into the air, flying over the net.  But Thor was ready for him.  In a flash, he seized Loki by the tail. 

     Thor smiled in triumph.  "Your trouble-making days are over, Loki." 

    Tyr and Thor, prize in hand, met Odin at a nearby cavern.  Odin used his powers to transform Loki back into human form.  Before he could utter a protest, the Aesir chained him hand and foot to three massive boulders.  But chaining him wasn't enough.  For his role in Balder's death, they wished him to suffer.  They hung a caged viper above Loki's head that constantly dripped venom into his face.  Later, Loki's wife went to her husband and tried to catch the venom in a cup.  She only succeeded in spilling it into his face.  His shrieks of agony shook the very mountains.

     There Loki remained, writhing in torment.  Until Ragnarok set him free...

To Be Continued...

 

Bibliography Information:

 

     Author's Note:  I made a few character substitutions and omissions this week.  Another Aesir, Brage, was really the one who told Loki he had no place.  Also, Kvaser, a god of poetry, accompanied Odin and Thor to recapture Loki.  I didn't want to introduce new people this late in the tale, so I replaced them with people I have already developed.  Odin was omitted during the fish-capture, because he seemed to just sit back and observe anyway.

      I made a reference to Loki cutting of Sif's hair during his feast insults.  The specific insult wasn't stated, so I referred to another Norse myth.  Read Shawn Akin's storybook to hear all about that little antic.  The banquet scene was expanded on to add fun dialogue, and the fish hunt was shortened since I was running out of space.   The Aesir also caught two of Loki's kids, transformed one into a wolf, they ate each other.  It was beside the point really, so I cut that out too.

     Ragnarok, the final battle, finally arrives for my last story.  Be ready for a lot of expanded details, action, and a pleasant surprise ending for Fulla and Frigg.

 

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