Hello friends my name is Arith Härger and today I'm going to talk about Loki
if he's a true pagan God or the representation of the Christian consciousness
I'll focus on the mythological accounts for this subject
and the way Loki was represented in literature
that was how Loki was presented to us
and the true pagan past of this god is still obscure
and we can only come up with a few ideas on the true identity of this deity
and its pagan roots
Loki is a key character on the universe of the Norse mythology
but his characteristics are far from a Norse pre-christian view
The Prose Edda is still one of the best sources we have to understand Norse mythology
however, Snorri Sturluson who wrote this work -
and for the first time put to parchment the myths of the Old Norse religion -
was an Icelandic politician of the 13th century and he was also a Christian
the Prose Edda isn't the only work about the Norse myths,
but what it has in common with all the other medieval sources is that-
the majority of the works about Norse mythology were written by Nordic people-
who lived in an era already far from the pagan past
and in a way they already saw the Norse myths with a certain temporal and cultural distance
because they were Christians and things had changed a lot,
for at least six to eight generations
as I've said before, Norse mythology has a lot of similarities with a Christian view
because it was indeed influenced by the religious realities of medieval Europe
but it's up to us to try to filter and divide the pagan view from the Christian one
so we can better understand what exactly the religious influences were
now going directly to the god Loki
Loki, in the myths that have reached us, is introduced as an intelligent, deceitful, malicious figure
His adventures always have a selfish and egocentric structure
Loki always intends to take advantage and gain something in everything he does
with devastating consequences sometimes
Throughout Norse mythology we see that his behaviour is only getting worse,
bringing more and more chaos and sadness and destruction
Loki never gives great importance to his actions even when he is the cause of someone's death
indirectly or directly
and he's constantly threatened by the gods
or other beings who put a price on his head, he created a lot of blood feuds,
people want to take his life as a payment for the evils he has done
in the myths he is also presented to us as an evil and spiteful deity - in addition vengeful
Seeing Loki from this perspective,
we began to realize that Loki is a strong representation of Christian values and morality
as portrayed in history
once again we must not forget that Loki is a character in a story,
by an Icelander who would expect social retribution for misdeeds
so it's perfectly normal to see-
Loki being tortured and-- and pay for his actions,
and that payments sometimes is indeed very humiliating
as I've told you before in other videos about Ragnarök
it is a story with great Christian influences ,
and Loki plays a major role in the catastrophic events
Combining natural events and collective fears,
with a distant Pagan memory,
and the new religious ideas of the newly-Christianized northern European societies-
we have the perfect ingredients to create the story of Ragnarök
So Loki was presented to us in the same manner
all these factors influenced the medieval nordic writers
and Loki seems much more related to a Christian consciousness,
rather than a pagan deity
Then we have Loki's children,
and the way they were portrayed also have clear Christian influences
The wolf Fenrir - the exact opposite of balance,
killing and eating Odin - the symbology of the fear of Chaos devouring Order
Jormungandr the world serpent,
which in a pagan perspective the serpent that eats its own tail and envelops the world,
was a symbol of protection and also the representation of the constant cycle of life, death and rebirth
but in the Norse myths Jormungandr is seen as an evil being
really similar to the serpent of the Christian consciousness
an animal which also represents the devil himself
and finally Hel - the goddess of the underworld
who is portrayed as a decaying monstrous figure
in fact all of Loki's children are portrayed as monsters
fantastical beasts of the medieval Christian consciousness
Loki's children represent Christian fears, vices and sins
and also the beasts that dwell in the infernal realm of the Christian mythology
when the sons of Loki were begotten,
they were already foreshadowing what would happen in the final apocalypse
here we see similarities with the figure of the devil in the Christian universe
he also creates monsters that attack the soul of humans and that will wage war against the forces of God
let's not forget that Loki was expelled from Ásgard
and imprisoned, building within himself a great hatred for the gods
and when the day of Ragnarök comes, he and his children wage war against the gods
this is exactly what happened to the devil,
expelled from heaven, building a great hatred for God and all heavenly creatures thereafter
and in the end he wages war against heaven and brings his monsters and fights against the Archangel Michael
Loki also fights against the guardian of the gods - Heimdall
So in a simple review let's see:
Loki's children are monsters and it is foretold that such beasts will bring the doom of the gods-
in the Great War where Loki plays the key figure of invasion and chaos
The devil creates monsters and uses them against the forces of heaven
Loki is expelled from Ásgard, the Norse representation of paradise
The devil is expelled from heaven
Loki nurtures a great hatred for the gods
The devil nurtures a great hatred for God and all heavenly things
Loki in Ragnarok fights against Heimdall, the guardian of Ásgard, and both die
The devil in the apocalypse fights the champion of heaven - the Archangel Michael
The medieval works are excellent sources to understand Norse mythology
and without them we would have little or close to nothing to know about the Norse gods
but we can't deny that Christianity was already deeply rooted in the social minds of the northern European societies
and the writers of the Norse mythology-
unconsciously and also consciously,
made a mixture between the old pagan memories, with the new religious reality
so Loki is without a doubt a very interesting and obscure figure
but also without a doubt he was the God that suffered more Christian influences than all the other gods
this fact leads people to believe that Loki isn't a God as old as all the other gods
because it seems clear that he was a figure created by Christians
However I must disagree on that,
because Loki appears in the myths as much and sometimes more than all the other gods
in fact he shares adventures with lots of gods and he seems to be as famous as Thor, Freyr and Odin himself
And this shows us, that in a pagan past, Loki must have been as important as all the other gods,
in fact, his importance must have been indeed great,
because he survived Christianity and appears in almost every single story
now, obviously we see the importance of gods,
when we see their names still printed in locations, or the name of objects linked to the gods
Thor and Freyr, for instance, there are loads of names of places, locations and objects related to these deities
but when it comes to Loki,
there are absolutely no traces of his name
and if it wasn't for the Norse myths,
we would think that Loki never belonged to the cultural and the religious universe of Scandinavians
and this only reinforces that indeed Loki is a Christian character
but again I disagree
in every country where Christianity spread,
they made sure that people there would adopt biblical names,
and many places were baptized with new names from the new religious order
and if Loki represented so much the figure of the devil in the Christian perspective
I can bet that Christians worked very hard to wipe out his name from every location,
objects and probably even from people's names
I will not speak about Lucifer in here
and I'm afraid I would extend this video too much
maybe I could make a video solely about that, who knows?!
but the representation we have of Lucifer in the Bible and the one we have of Loki, is very similar
both are beautiful to behold, physically gorgeous, very wise and masters of deceit and trickery
both are shapeshifters and both are associated with fire and also knowledge
in a "psychological" view both Loki and Lucifer share similar characteristics
even in the end of times both Loki and Lucifer are defeated and the new order will be installed after Ragnarok/Judgment Day
in conclusion this Norse God suffered great influences from the Christian religion,
and there was a great inspiration in the devil
but on the other hand in a more profound analysis of the Norse myths,
and if we take into consideration the pagan view of our Norse ancestors based on archaeological evidences
and the remnants of pagan celebrations and rituals,
Loki was once a pagan deity with great importance
and represented the very forces that exist to maintain a balance between order and chaos
Also, I do believe he was a representation of fire
for his name is very similar to another character - Logi
which means fire, flame, the giant who is the impersonation of fire
and represents primitive fire
but Loki on the other hand isn't primitive fire
he is something else related to fire
Logi is wildfire while Loki shares the same characteristics of fire
and all his actions are like a fire that seems under control but at a certain point it's out of control
and consumes everything that it touches
I think Loki was the representation of civilized fire
the fire we humans could control which brought warmth, protection and knowledge
but at the same time in the wrong hands, or if you didn't keep an eye on it, it could be devastating
chaotic, disastrous
it could-- it could both bring benefits but also maleficence
so there is always the need to control fire,
the very action that creates balance,
and by constantly working to keep that balance we continue to use fire to our benefits but also to destructive effects
like a controlled fire in agriculture
you use it to devastate the land but on the other hand it will help to fertilize the soil
and brings new life after the destruction, just like Ragnarok,
chaotic events of fire and destruction so a new cycle of life can begin
all right friends I hope you have enjoyed this video
and by no means I think that Loki is indeed a character from the Christian mythology
or created by the Christians
I do think Loki was indeed a very old god
and very important
a representation of fire, knowledge and-
I'm sure that before Norse mythology was written into parchment in the medieval ages during the 13th century-
-before that Loki was obviously very different from the perspective that was given to us in the written records
so once again . . .
I hope you have enjoyed this video, see you on the next one and . . .
tack för idag! (Thank you for today!)
For more infomation >> Bruce Willis Reveals How the Die Hard 6 Script Is Shaping Up - Duration: 3:27. 
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