An Incredible Likeness

by on March 2, 2018 at 12:00 am
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I had a client like this, once. Let’s just say my comments also did not go over well.

Some may think it odd or perhaps an indicator of his character that Loki fathered Norse mythology’s most infamous creatures. Myself? I always found it rather impressive. First of all, this fellow beds a giantess, that’s already pretty incredible. As if that isn’t enough, they become pregnant and give birth to actual monsters! How is that not amazing?

Not featured here: Sleipnir, Odin’s horse which Loki actually gave birth to! There’s a comic about that particular event on the site as well. It was not included due to the complications of male god to female horse transformations as well as mythical equine pregnancies. Add to that the fact that I really only wanted to draw an ugly Angrboda statue for comedic effect. Another note: Angrboda is not actually described in any reputable sources.

The offspring of Loki and Angrboda’s unlikely union are mentioned and discussed within both the Poetic and Prose Edda (how many times have I said this before?) and they are featured quite prominently within Norse mythology’s version of the apocalypse known as Ragnarok. So who, exactly, were their children? The giant and vicious wolf, Fenrir was their firstborn son, and I know what you’re thinking: why not just stop then and there? Clearly the two just couldn’t keep it in their pants and didn’t have much regard for the rest of the world or they would have. But the heart wants what it wants. They carried on, and the giantess gave birth to Jormungandr, the world serpent. Their third and final child was Hel, a daughter that took on mostly human form, though she is described as being half black and half white in coloration.

After their birth, these monstrous children were raised in Jotunheim, the land of giants, presumably where their mother lived. When the gods heard of their birth, Odin sent for them to be brought to his Hall. There is quite a lot of description given to the binding of Fenrir and the role he would go on to play at Ragnarok which I have covered before. Jormungandr, the serpent, was thrown into the Midgard sea where he grew and grew to such prodigious size that he was eventually able to bite his own tail, encircling the world until Ragnarok. It was prophecied that Thor would meet with the world serpent three times: once during a series of challenges given to the Thunderer by the giant king Utgarda-Loki, then on a fishing trip with the giant Hymir where he catches the serpent, and then finally at Ragnarok where he will slay the beast, but also die to its poisonous fangs. Hel, unlike her siblings, does not feature heavily in Norse Myth except in the story of the recovery of Baldr from the realm of the peaceful dead. We’ll probably talk about that one at a later date, I’m sure.

Of all Loki’s children, the only one that proved to be beneficial was the eight legged horse, Sleipnir. I’m honestly not sure what that says about Loki or about Norse myth, but it’s an interesting thing to note. It’s also interesting to note that while Fenrir and Jormungandr ended up being extremely problematic, they WERE treated rather harshly by the Gods before they’d even done anything.

I think I would like to eat some folks if they chained me up or unceremoniously tossed me into the sea, how about you?

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