Poetic Edda: The Trickster

  The Prose Edda has many sections, and within each section there are sometimes a dozen stories. Mentionable sections for now include “Skaldskaparmal” and “Havamal.” Both titles come from Old Norse and these stories are all about Norse myth. The goal of the stories being told as they were in the Prose Edda was to teach people how to be good poets.

     Modern culture has familiarized people with many old Norse names, including Loki and Odin. Odin was traditionally thought of as a god of war, death, and wisdom, among other things. Loki is most famously known for being the trickster god and a chaotic god. These two character types give an interesting contrast because of how similar they actually are. 

     It is easy to call Loki a trickster and some would call Odin a savior. These are categories, the other major category being the fool. The trickster is what a character becomes during a character arc after being a fool and before becoming a savior type.

     Odin is the savior type because he is the wise god, but he had to get there. First he had to be cunning and manipulative, a trickster, to learn how to be cunning for the right purpose. A good example of this is when Odin attempted to get hold of magical mead in “Skaldskaparmal.” Odin disguised himself and asked for a job from the people in charge of watching over the mead. In order to get this, a job needed to be available, so he used his cunning ways to get nine workers killed. Odin convinced these workers to sharpen their scythes, then he threw the whetstone in the air where the workers, all holding sharp scythes, scrambled to catch it, only to behead themselves and each other. This was before Odin learned how to be his own savior and obtain his goals in a good way, but he was already showing progress, because he was breaking the right rules to break for the right reason, which is something all trickster types need to learn to become their own savior.

     Loki on the other hand, was a trickster who had not yet figured out how to use his cunning to break the right rules. He was just more cunning than a fool. Once, he cut the goddess lady Sith’s hair off for a practical joke, which was not taken lightly and had repercussions. 

     Later in “Skaldskaparmal” Loki has his mouth sewn shut, which is an event that sticks out in the mind. In “Havamal” Odin sacrifices himself to himself by hanging himself from a tree with a spear through his abdomen, another event prominent to the mind. Odin sacrificed himself to himself. This was to gain more wisdom and hold off Ragnarök.

     To sacrifice yourself to yourself is to make a big sacrifice to better yourself and aid you in the future. This is interesting to look at, one of the best examples of making a sacrifice to yourself that is significant enough is to shed an old value system. To alter or re-create your value system is to lose an old part of yourself and sacrifice the safety that comes with having the answers, feeling like you know things about life. You have to step into the great unknown to purposefully shatter your world-view, but sometimes it’s worth it, to gain more knowledge like Odin, to get closer to reaching your ultimate life’s goal, to become your own savior. 

     Oftentimes, this shedding of an old value system is a result of recognizing your previous cognitive dissonance. To suddenly understand you are contradicting yourself too much to move forward and start actually learning about life again. Odin is a good example of becoming your own savior through sacrifice, but perhaps not a good example of cognitive dissonance. This creator understands what it is like to feel angry at the world from stubbornness and to want to learn while always being right. ("Former Leftist").

     On the other side of things, we have Loki. Loki was always a trickster. He never stepped up to figuring out what rules were the right ones to break. He was a trickster for the sake of a good laugh and showing off how cunning he was. This is why he had his mouth sewn shut. He could not let himself open up to being wrong and learning new things. He refused to make any sort of sacrifice so his voice had to be shut up.

     Sometimes others in your life are a trickster who refuse to learn. If your journey in life aligns with theirs, perhaps it is in your best interest to help them get there. But if your journeys are too different, it is not worth your time. You must make sacrifices for you. That is when you can sew the trickster’s mouth by removing that from your life. Here is a good explanation for why it is important to keep Lokis outside of your life. (Peterson, University)

     This is not to say you should always ignore and refute all opinions that are not your own. On the contrary, that is when you become the trickster. When you see someone voicing an opinion and you attempt to shut it down because you are obviously right that is you being Loki, refusing to learn and always being the cunning trickster, refusing to wise up. That is when you need to look inward and figure out what is best for you. Is it in your best interest to refute any thought but your own? Or is it best to learn where people are coming from and actually form a cohesive view of your own on the topic? This psychologist can also help you take a look at what cognitive dissonance, and what is a Loki. (Peterson, "Jordan Peterson on").

Works Cited

"Former Leftist NAILS Why The Left Is So Angry." Hosted by Amala Ekpunobi, Unapologetic with Amala, Youtube, 8 Aug. 2022. youtu.be/ypsO05yJ70c?si=Vlu5EGOWO_0usIK7.

Peterson, Jordan B. "Jordan Peterson on Cancel Culture, Comedy, and His Battle With Depression." Hosted by Russell Howard, The Russell Howard Hour, Youtube, 4 Dec. 2021. youtu.be/PYM-sS-0-yg?si=KgpHShM8n3RhIa7M.

—. University of Toronto, Toronto. Lecture. In "The Importance of Having a Shared Frame of Reference." Jordan Peterson Fan Club, Youtube, 30 July 2019. youtu.be/KJpkDxBwhOQ?si=Bvg-X5SvO3SO4tHW.