Why the Gods Punished Loki?

The relationship between Loki and Norse gods was quite complicated. We think that all gods hated Loki but it turned out to be that they befriended Loki, at least some times. Loki traveled with both Odin and Thor. He had quite a good relationship with the gods actually. But his stay finally came to an end and the gods finally wanted to force him to get out of Asgard. Things became worse when the gods decided to punish this giant trickster.

So what actually did Loki do to get the most severe punishment from the Gods?

Short story: He killed Odin’s favorite son – Baldur.

Long story

This story can trace back to the time when Odin and Frigg the Queen of Asgard had Baldur – their prince. Everyone believed that Baldur would become the next leader of Asgard. But bad things happened.

When Baldur grew up, he had a bad dream about himself. In his dream, he saw his own death. Frigg also had a similar dream. Frigg in Norse mythology was a seeress who could see things that others did not. Frigg was so scared that she wandered all corners of the world to ask everyone to make their vow that they would never harm Baldur, everyone except for the little mistletoe that she forgot.

Everyone was happy because Baldur would never die. So they gathered around the Shining God and threw things at Baldur only to see those things bounce off.

Loki the Trickster somehow knew about the secret of Frigg. He set out to make an arrow out of a mistletoe. There he came to the crowd. But the trickster was so wise that he would never do this himself. He guided a blind god named Hodr to use the arrow. Hodr had no idea of what he was holding on his hand. Hodr threw the arrow directly into the heart of Baldur.

And the Shining God immediately fell dead. The crowd was shocked, Frigg and all ladies crying, and the whole Asgard was drowned in sorrow.

That’s why the gods decided to punish Loki.