“Loki’s role in the Edda’s” According to the author Stefanie von Schnurbeinin in her article “The Function of Loki” in Snorri Sturluson's “Edda” Loki is considered a slanderer of the Aesir and the originator of deceptions as a stain on the Aesir and humans. Loki’s role in the Eddas, albeit at times ambiguous was to perform a necessary role in the three different stories. Loki is a complex, confusing, and ambivalent figure who has been the callous for countless unsolved scholarly controversies and has elicited more problems than solutions (Schnurbeinin 109).
Schnurbeinin notes that Snorri Sturluson initially wrote the “Poetic Edda” as a textbook of Skaldic verse. The word Skaldic is a Norse term that refers to the English word for Poet. His…show more content… In the story about the Midgard wall he uses his ability to shift his shape and gender to distract the giant stallion; when Sliepnir, Odin’s horse was made. This ability makes him indispensable to the gods but at the same time leads to their demise. On the one hand, Loki is a mischief maker at the same time a rescuer to the Gods; as in the story of the Idunns Apples. Loki’s clumsiness and various acts that he commits make other stories about the gods possible; for example the cutting of Sif’s hair. Which leads too Sif’s golden hair, Odin’s spear and ring, Thor’s hammer, and Freyr’s ship and magical boar. Loki is often times held as a helpful assistant to the gods, to one later becoming the primary adversary in the demise of the world; as an example of the story of Baldr’s…show more content… Snorri outlines the general character of Loki. Loki plays a role in the system hierarchies described here; he is a product of taboo between liaisons of goddesses and giants. And the children that he produces with another giant, as in the Midgard serpent, the goddess of death Hel, and the wolf Fenrir act as counterbalances to Aesir. In the final battle against the gods during Ragnarok these three children of Loki play important roles in the demise of the Aesir. For example the death of Thor is by the Midgard serpent, the death of Odin is by Fenrir, as well as the holding of Baldr in the realm of the dead. Loki also plays a role in the death of Heimdall, it must be noted that Loki’s children also die during these