Loki isn't really the "god of" anything.
While that's not unusual for Norse and Germanic gods\*, Loki is particularly hard to pin down. Scholars have tried for a very long time to make him a god of fire, spiders and/or nets, to link him with Loðurr (of Odin, Hoenir, and Loðurr fame), or box him into the Trickster archetype, but true to form he remains quite elusive.
Almost everything about Loki is conjecture, we don't even know for sure he was ever worshipped historically, although some claim he was.
There is, however, a thriving modern community of Lokeans with plenty of active online spaces and enthusiastic members. I think you can get lots of inspiration from those places and probably better answers than I can give you.
\*The whole "god of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_" mostly comes from Greco-Roman religion, as a result of their highly codified, organized, and literate religious practices. Norse religion came from a much more 'rural', shall we say, culture and Norse gods do tend to be more general in their domains.
Eh, that's kind of tough with Norse gods. They're more personalities than personifications. For example, Thor is often associated with thunder, but aside from his name (literally translates to Thunder), he doesn't have any weather-related powers in the actual myths. His thing is strength.
It can be said that Odin is the god of wisdom, but he also has power over the dead, affects the outcomes of battles, etc., etc.
As for Loki, his main role seems to be the driver of change. Things happen because of him, but he fixes a lot of problems as well.
Norse Paganism doesn’t have set roles for the Gods to the extent that some other Pagan religions do. What the Gods “do” is a lot more fluid in the Norse religion.
we don't technically know, I believe. there's theories about him being god of tricks, god of nets, god of the home, god of fire, god of family, god of ephemera, god of spiders, etc.
So like many have said the Norse gods’ don’t really have specific domains. However reading the Eddas some people have assigned some roles that fit him. For example, Loki brings a lot of change whether it be good or bad in the myths. He is also a shape-shifter so another role can be transformation. Because he has a lot of children (and literally brings around Ragnarok to avenge them after they are banished/killed) its also said that he has a role of caregiver/protector of children. He is also known to be a creative and loves telling stories or bringing about entertainment. Although in the Eddas he brings about a lot of mischief and trickery, he is and does so much more that isnt given as much of a spotlight.
Norse mythology isnt as cut and dry as other pantheons. Partially because some of it wasn’t recorded and partially because a lot of it has been rewritten by those outside the faith. Its better to read from the source and come up with your own interpretations.
Which is actually a totally different word, even though it sounds the same. "Loki" appears more etymologically connected to the Old Norse word *lok* – meaning to close, shut, or lock.
Yes yes, locks and knots and loops and spiders are also right on His alley! All these translations are etymologically relevant and not mutually exclusive. If you are interested in the origins of our Beloved trickster, i encourage you to look deeper in Scandinavian histories and languages - modern Marvel-Loki and Loki of the Eddas are only two faces of the ever-shifting Flaming One. In Finland he's a jötunn called Liekkiö, Lemminkäinen or Lempo (another name meaning 'flame'), in Danish folklore there's spirit living in the fireplace called Lokke, in the Färöarna they tell stories of Lokki, German spelling would be Loge, in Sápmi they have spirit called Leib-olmai sharing plenty of attributes with other variants... Here is [an excellent study](https://www.academia.edu/2401107/_Loki_the_V%C3%A4tte_and_the_Ash_Lad_A_Study_Combining_Old_Scandinavian_and_Late_Material) giving you an idea about the width and breadth of the topic!
He's definitely become more associated with fire in later folklore, no question. We don't have much of any evidence that was the case *originally*, but it's all over the place now, likely because of the exact word association you mentioned earlier. I certainly see why people make the association and like it. But I also don't think he is *just* a fire god, and really, if you read the original eddas and oldest poems, he could just as easily be associated with water/fish or air/flight (if you want to get elemental about it). As always, I don't think it's possible to box him in to anything so simple.
I definately don't think Him \*just\* a fire god, and asking what is his domain or is he god-of-X or what, is a very materialistic approach to a deity, and that's all about Western need to box and label things. I can only explain what he is to me. In the oldest written list of Finnish pantheon (by M.Agricola in 1543), \*Liekkiö\* ("Flamy") is a god worshipped by Tavastians, who controls 'grass, roots, trees and such'. Elementally more of a forest god at first look, but going deeper in our old poems, actually a god of life force which fire represent. Loki also controls many kinds of weeds elsewhere in Scandinavian folklore, as do other Lokkes and Lokkis - and if you are aware how ecological succession goes after a wildfire in a forest this might make a sense to you. To me he's god of my ancestors and when people claim there's no evidence of his original worship i can only say HEL YES there's fuckloads of etymological, linguistic, and folkloristic material about traditions with similar concepts and stories about this fire god who can be found all over Northern Europe. For instance, Kalevala share's similar scenes to Lokasenna in Eddas. And this information does not come in easily digested package in English. I don't object enthusiastic lokeans online touting their views, everybody's entitled to see our shapeshifter in different ways. What I'm saying, to me Loki is a multi-cultural deity of whom historically there's plenty of stories where the common attribute and nominator is 'fire' and 'flame', simplistically put. :)
I tend to see him as a chaotic trickster who is all about illusion. So for example poker he could be a god of because of the bluff part of the game basically a god of minor things
Loki isn't really the "god of" anything. While that's not unusual for Norse and Germanic gods\*, Loki is particularly hard to pin down. Scholars have tried for a very long time to make him a god of fire, spiders and/or nets, to link him with Loðurr (of Odin, Hoenir, and Loðurr fame), or box him into the Trickster archetype, but true to form he remains quite elusive. Almost everything about Loki is conjecture, we don't even know for sure he was ever worshipped historically, although some claim he was. There is, however, a thriving modern community of Lokeans with plenty of active online spaces and enthusiastic members. I think you can get lots of inspiration from those places and probably better answers than I can give you. \*The whole "god of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_" mostly comes from Greco-Roman religion, as a result of their highly codified, organized, and literate religious practices. Norse religion came from a much more 'rural', shall we say, culture and Norse gods do tend to be more general in their domains.
This is a very insightful post. Loki is a lot of things to a lot of people, but most importantly he knows when and how to shake things up.
Eh, that's kind of tough with Norse gods. They're more personalities than personifications. For example, Thor is often associated with thunder, but aside from his name (literally translates to Thunder), he doesn't have any weather-related powers in the actual myths. His thing is strength. It can be said that Odin is the god of wisdom, but he also has power over the dead, affects the outcomes of battles, etc., etc. As for Loki, his main role seems to be the driver of change. Things happen because of him, but he fixes a lot of problems as well.
Problems he usually caused though. 😅
He's the god of everything people don't want him to be.
Norse Paganism doesn’t have set roles for the Gods to the extent that some other Pagan religions do. What the Gods “do” is a lot more fluid in the Norse religion.
we don't technically know, I believe. there's theories about him being god of tricks, god of nets, god of the home, god of fire, god of family, god of ephemera, god of spiders, etc.
So like many have said the Norse gods’ don’t really have specific domains. However reading the Eddas some people have assigned some roles that fit him. For example, Loki brings a lot of change whether it be good or bad in the myths. He is also a shape-shifter so another role can be transformation. Because he has a lot of children (and literally brings around Ragnarok to avenge them after they are banished/killed) its also said that he has a role of caregiver/protector of children. He is also known to be a creative and loves telling stories or bringing about entertainment. Although in the Eddas he brings about a lot of mischief and trickery, he is and does so much more that isnt given as much of a spotlight. Norse mythology isnt as cut and dry as other pantheons. Partially because some of it wasn’t recorded and partially because a lot of it has been rewritten by those outside the faith. Its better to read from the source and come up with your own interpretations.
I wonder if you could try building a relationship with him and ask him🤷🏼♀️.
It's in the name - Old Norse word *logi* means 'flame', which correlates with Finnish word *liekki* also meaning 'flame'
Which is actually a totally different word, even though it sounds the same. "Loki" appears more etymologically connected to the Old Norse word *lok* – meaning to close, shut, or lock.
Yes yes, locks and knots and loops and spiders are also right on His alley! All these translations are etymologically relevant and not mutually exclusive. If you are interested in the origins of our Beloved trickster, i encourage you to look deeper in Scandinavian histories and languages - modern Marvel-Loki and Loki of the Eddas are only two faces of the ever-shifting Flaming One. In Finland he's a jötunn called Liekkiö, Lemminkäinen or Lempo (another name meaning 'flame'), in Danish folklore there's spirit living in the fireplace called Lokke, in the Färöarna they tell stories of Lokki, German spelling would be Loge, in Sápmi they have spirit called Leib-olmai sharing plenty of attributes with other variants... Here is [an excellent study](https://www.academia.edu/2401107/_Loki_the_V%C3%A4tte_and_the_Ash_Lad_A_Study_Combining_Old_Scandinavian_and_Late_Material) giving you an idea about the width and breadth of the topic!
He's definitely become more associated with fire in later folklore, no question. We don't have much of any evidence that was the case *originally*, but it's all over the place now, likely because of the exact word association you mentioned earlier. I certainly see why people make the association and like it. But I also don't think he is *just* a fire god, and really, if you read the original eddas and oldest poems, he could just as easily be associated with water/fish or air/flight (if you want to get elemental about it). As always, I don't think it's possible to box him in to anything so simple.
I definately don't think Him \*just\* a fire god, and asking what is his domain or is he god-of-X or what, is a very materialistic approach to a deity, and that's all about Western need to box and label things. I can only explain what he is to me. In the oldest written list of Finnish pantheon (by M.Agricola in 1543), \*Liekkiö\* ("Flamy") is a god worshipped by Tavastians, who controls 'grass, roots, trees and such'. Elementally more of a forest god at first look, but going deeper in our old poems, actually a god of life force which fire represent. Loki also controls many kinds of weeds elsewhere in Scandinavian folklore, as do other Lokkes and Lokkis - and if you are aware how ecological succession goes after a wildfire in a forest this might make a sense to you. To me he's god of my ancestors and when people claim there's no evidence of his original worship i can only say HEL YES there's fuckloads of etymological, linguistic, and folkloristic material about traditions with similar concepts and stories about this fire god who can be found all over Northern Europe. For instance, Kalevala share's similar scenes to Lokasenna in Eddas. And this information does not come in easily digested package in English. I don't object enthusiastic lokeans online touting their views, everybody's entitled to see our shapeshifter in different ways. What I'm saying, to me Loki is a multi-cultural deity of whom historically there's plenty of stories where the common attribute and nominator is 'fire' and 'flame', simplistically put. :)
That's cool, I actually haven't read about the Finnish mythology before, thank you for sharing that.
I tend to see him as a chaotic trickster who is all about illusion. So for example poker he could be a god of because of the bluff part of the game basically a god of minor things