Chapter 13: The Binding of Loki

Gods would never tolerate what Loki had done to the Nine Worlds. All the time, they spared him a life. For what he had done before, he achieved something to please Gods. But obviously not this time. The death of Baldur was the last straw that Gods finally kicked Loki out of Asgard.

Killing the Asgard prince was not a petty crime. Loki had to run away to keep himself safe from the Mjolnir hammer of Thor – brother of Baldur. He built a house up in a mountain. The house had four doors so that he could observe anyone or anything approaching in all directions. Everyday passed, he shapeshifted himself into a salmon lying down the river near his house. When the night approached, he came home and knitted the net to catch fish.

And one night, Loki was sitting next to the fire and about to finish his net, he saw a group of Gods and thunder sound approaching. Within a second, he shapeshifted into the salmon to get to the water.

With the wisdom of Gods, they learnt where Loki was. Everyone tried to catch Loki but none succeeded. Until Thor grabbed the little tail of the salmon. He held on and squeezed the salmon by its tail.

Gods took Loki to a cave where Loki’s sons Vali and Narvi were there. Gods changed Vali into a wolf and let the brothers fought one another. He ripped Narvi into pieces and ran away to Jotunheim. Loki had to witness every moment of the battle. Blood was everywhere and the feeling of hatred was all around between the Gods and Loki.

They bound Loki to the rock inside the cave with Narvi’s entrails. This was a part of the punishment.

The Giantess of frost, Skadi, placed a snake above Loki’s head. The snake dripped the venom into his face. Everytime the venom touched Loki’s face, he writhed and howled in great pain.

But when the cosmos seemed to turn their back to Loki, the only one that didn’t was Sigyn Loki’s wife. She held a bowl in her hand and stored every drop of venom inside the bowl. No matter what Loki had done, Sigyn chose to stay.

And under the cave, Loki lay bound. That was how things remained until Ragnarok.

READING BETWEEN THE LINES

One natural phenomenon that gets explained in this story is earthquake. So in Norse mythology, earthquake is not the shaking of the Earth surface. Rather, it was when the venom of the snake touched on Loki’s face leaving him in great pain. Loki writhed in agony so much that he caused the land of Midgard tremble.

But the greatest and most remarkable detail in this story is character Sigyn. Sigyn was not mentioned much in Norse mythology. She was known as the wife of Loki and they had two sons Narvi and Vali.

Their sons died because of Loki’s crime. Gods made them pay for the death of Baldur. But Sigyn didn’t harbour any hatred toward her mischievous husband. No matter how much pain Loki caused to her, she chose to stay with him during the darkest time of his life. Finding someone to cheer up with you is quite simple but finding someone who can cheer you up isn’t. Loki did find his “the one”.

Sigyn was the symbol of the traditional wife. She was full of duty and feeling for her husband as we can see by what she did for Loki. Even if the whole cosmos dispised Loki, she was not among them. Because of this, many think Sigyn as the Giantess of fidelity.