The Punishment of Loki - Norse Mythology Stories - See U in History

Loki, the god of cheating, was filled with evilness, and he seemed to no longer wish to hold such wickedness inside of him. Then he plotted Balder's death, the most beloved of the gods. The gods sent Hermithor, the messenger of the gods, to the kingdom of Hel, the world of the dead, in an attempt to bring his brother Balder back to the kingdom of Asgard. Hermithor was welcomed with the good news that Hel was willing to return Balder to the As long as every being lamented the god's death and desired Balder's return, the gods were happy with that news since Balder was loved by all. Therefore, all beings were summoned to confirm their desire to have the dear god back. They all underlined their yearningness to see Balder again, but the gods learned that a giantess who lived in the mountains did not. And, because of her, Balder could not return, much to the demise of the gods. But the gods did not take long to find out that, actually, the heartless giantess was Loki in disguise. Loki had already perpetrated all sorts of wrongdoings, but he had exceeded the limits of the gods' patience. The Asgardians agreed that Loki would have to be punished. Loki dodged the wrath of the gods and found himself a hidden spot in the mountains near a salmon-filled well. Loki assumed the shape of a salmon and mixed himself with the fish, not to be found by the gods. Odin, the father of all, could see the whole world from the height of his throne, and he would soon discover Loki's hiding place. The cheating god knew that the gods would eventually find his hiding spot, pondering how they would try to capture him. The bait-and-hook hypothesis was underestimating the intelligence of the gods. Loki contemplated and found that a mash of strings could capture a fish. Loki created that instrument, the first fishing net that ever existed. After understanding how it worked, he conceived strategies to escape from it. When Loki saw the gods coming towards him, he threw the net into the fire and jumped again into the pit. The gods saw Loki jumping into the river but had no idea about how to capture him. Kvasir found the remainder of the net that did not burn completely and realized the purpose of that Loki's. The gods created more and more nets and used them in an attempt to capture the cheater. Loki tried to dodge in every way possible the different nets conceived by the gods, and sometimes he jumped out of the water. Thor thought if a bear could get a salmon during its jump, he would as well. Then, when the fish-shaped Loki jumped once more, Thor was ready to catch him. Loki was captured by Thor and later dragged by the gods to a cave. There, he was bound and trapped. The guts and tendons of his own son were used to tie the cheating god. The gods wanted to kill the Lokis because of what he had done with Baldr, but Loki had a blood pact with Odin, under which, despite their distinct origins, they were like brothers and so Odin would not allow Loki's death. But imprisoning him would be quite a lenient punishment for such a traitor. Therefore, Skati brought a snake with toxic saliva and put it in a stalactite on Loki's head. When the snake salivated, its venom fell on the traitor, thus burning his skin and inflicting enormous pain. Loki's wife was Sigyn, who stayed beside her husband while he endured his punishment. The loyal Sigyn tried to ease Loki's torment by using the bowl to collect the venom from the snakes. As time passed, the bowl got full and Sigyn had to walk away to empty the bowl. As she did that, the venom fell once more into Loki's skin, screaming in pain and insulting his wife. The dedicated wife would return as quickly as possible to her spot, where she attempted to ease her husband's suffering. Every drop of poison that fell on Loki only increased his thirst for revenge. The gods swore to have his payback during Ragnarok against the Aesirian gods for all the suffering that he was subjected to.