I’ve always been a fan of comparative mythology, ever since I started reading Greek myths as a kid & noting their similarities to the Christian myths I heard around me while growing up. I also like comics, every day more and more, thanks to my roommate-in-exile’s collection of left-behind graphic novels. So when I heard about Gods of Asgard, I immediately ordered a copy. I picked it up yesterday & have already blazed through it. But it reminded me of an archetype I’d like to explore: the trickster god.

Loki is the Norse trickster god & in Gods, occupies a place of half-way-ness. Loki is a Jotun, a frost giant (one of the chaos-gods of the Norse) but is bound to Odin (an Aesir, or high god) as a blood brother. He is the source of most of the magical objects that make the gods powerful: Thor’s hammer, Odin’s Sleipnir, &c. But he is also the source of constant aggrevation, occassional death, and eventual destruction. Evensen’s Gods eventually fall to Loki’s children at Ragnarok, the end of the world.

America is no stranger to the trickster god; we have Coyote, Raven, and Br’er Rabbit to name a few obvious ones. The trickster god is an outsider, has a devil-may-care attitude, and brings strife as often as he brings prosperity.

On the one hand, the trickster can be seen as (inner or constructive) blasphemy incarnate (and as such, not a bad patron-atheist-god for this site). The trickster breaks society’s rules and by doing so introduces fire (civilization) and agriculture (mastery over nature) to the society he both belongs and does not belong to. The trickster often cross-dresses, one of the most egregious violations of social code, but is not considered evil unless he causes death.

On the other hand, the trickster god is chaos incarnate and can be responsible for seeming randomness of life. Good may come from his works but destruction comes just as readily.

The trickster god is rarely a god in his own right: the trickster is not prayed to but appeased. Better to avoid his notice altogether than to suffer his attention. If trying to conceive, a prayer & offering might be made to Freja, and an offering to Loki, that he might not be tempted to mess with the fertility goddess’ spells. Always outside of the “in” group and never quite trusted. He is a shapeshifter, likely a reference to the fact that one never knows what one might get with him. Evensen’s Gods call him “Father of Lies”, which is the first time the parallel to the Christian devil had occurred to me.

Is the devil the Christian trickster? Who can come in any form and is the father of lies? Or is there another trickster that belongs to the Christians? I’ve mentioned some tricksters from American traditions, but nearly every mythology has a trickster. The fox is a trickster for the French, Japanese, and Germans; Egyptian mythology has Seth; Greek mythology has many: Hermes the fire-bringer & Dionysius the cross-dresser to name but two.

But what is the purpose of the trickster? Is it to reinforce cultural norms? When the trickster violates them, the result is iffy; the implication being that, if they were not violated, the result would be certain. Is the trickster, then, the deification of blasphemy: the celebrity roast, the transvestite shaman and political cartoons?

Perhaps the trickster is simply an acknowledgment that even the gods cannot control everything. The trickster as deification of shit happens is the hurricane that destroys your city and the campfire that burns out of control.

The Gods of Asgard never quite accept Loki as one of their own and eventually he insults them all & leaves. He will return again only at Ragnarok, with his children at his side, to destroy humanity and Aesir alike. Although not the most powerful god, or even a “real” god, he has the last laugh. Acknowledgement, perhaps, that as try as we might control chaos, it will be what it is.