Norse Mythology: The Unofficial Guide25 Syys 2022

Episode 16 - Loki and the Question of Gender

All Norse gods and goddesses are subject to some level of mischaracterization in popular media, but Loki's frequent shapeshifting into female form have made him a particularly attractive target for embellishment of the story. In this episode I won't be telling you what you should think about Loki, but I will be compiling every little detail we have that could possibly relate to his gender and sexuality, and examining them through the lens of the ancient Scandinavian mindset. Spoiler alert: ancient people didn't conceptualize gender and sexuality the way we do today, but there's no reason why you should be forced to view Loki the way ancient people did a thousand years later. The myths are what you make of them.

Sources:

“Coming to terms with Navajo Nádleehi: a critique of berdache,’gay’, ‘alternative gender’, and ‘two-spirit’” by Carolyn Epple, 1998
“Lokasenna: The Norse Poem of Loki’s Locker Talk” by Jackson Crawford on YouTube, 2017
“Loki” by Jens Peter Schjødt in “Pre-Christian Religions of the North” Volume III, 2020
“Níð, Ergi and Old Norse Moral Attitudes” by Folke Ström, 1974
“The Unmanly Man: Concepts of Sexual Defamation in Early Northern Society” by Preben M. Sørenson, translation by Joan Turville-Petre, 1983
“The Poetic Edda”, original translations in this episode by me
“The Prose Edda”, original translations in this episode by me

Contact:

Write in: waelhraefn (at) gmail (dot) com
Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/Nvw5hmkRsW

Music:

Celebration by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Episode 39 - The Worship of Good and Evil

Are the gods the good guys or the bad guys? On that note, did ancient Norse people ever worship the jötnar? This week we take a look at what it really means to be a god in the Norse mind. Two surprisi...

16 Touko 58min

Episode 38 - Eating Hearts and Drinking Blood

This time we dig into a rarely discussed aspect of Norse mythology: stealing your enemy's power by eating their heart or drinking their blood. But just who's power can be stolen by way of this gory ri...

18 Touko 202527min

Episode 37 - Dead Women in Black

After a nice, long break, NMTUG is back to cover a relatively obscure topic in Norse mythology: the dísir. What makes the dísir distinct from valkyries, norns, and other death-entangled women? Let's f...

13 Heinä 202439min

Episode 36 - Blue as Hel

Time for another deep dive! This time into the mysterious origins of the one called Hel: the daughter of Loki and the sister of two giant monsters. Who does she own upon death? The answer may not be q...

9 Syys 202331min

Episode 35 - Volsunga Saga Part III: The Fearless Heart

In our final installment of Völsunga Saga (for now), it's what you've all been waiting for: We finally cover the tale of Sigurðr, the most famous of all Norse heroes who slew the dragon Fáfnir, and hi...

13 Elo 20231h 3min

Episode 34 - Volsunga Saga Part II: To Serve the Boatman

Story time continues with our second installment of the Saga of the Volsungs wherein another character goes to Valhöll without dying in battle, a valkyrie causes countless deaths for her own gain, and...

10 Heinä 202332min

Episode 33 - Volsunga Saga Part I: The Sword in the Tree

It's story time again! And this time we're digging into what might be the most famous legendary saga ever to come out of Scandinavia: The Saga of the Vǫlsungs. As we dig in, it'll become clear how all...

27 Touko 202356min

Episode 32 - Associated with Fire

How many times have you heard in the past that Loki is associated with fire? It's true, in fact, but how many people who told you Loki was associated with fire ever provided any examples of that assoc...

24 Huhti 202340min