Loki – The God of Mischief and Tricks

Loki is the god of mischief and tricks. He is cunning to the point of being unpredictable, a shapeshifter, and a sower of chaos and trouble.

Though he is a member of the Aesir, the gods of Asgard, he often acts independently of them, behaving more like a demon than a god. This chaos is often a result of his jealousy of his brother Thor and his father Odin’s strong bond with him. The jealousy also fueled his envy of Mjolnir, the mystic hammer that Thor wields. His schemes often end up backfiring and causing problems that Thor then has to rectify.

In addition, Loki has a curious sexual nature. According to the Poetic and Prose Eddas, he had a wife or mate named Angrboda with whom he had three children Hel, Jormungandr, and Fenrir, offspring that are fated to bring about Ragnarok. Additionally, he once disguised himself as a mare and seduced the stallion Svdlifari which later gave birth to the eight-legged horse Sleipnir.

Aside from this, Loki frequently gets the gods out of sticky situations. For instance, in one story he steals the head of the master builder Helgi from him and tricks the giant Hodr into killing Baldr in return for his home. Throughout the myths, his chaotic inconsistency serves to remind believers that boundaries between good and evil are far more fluid than they think.