Page 88 - Red Feather Book 2

turned up in the possession of the Duke of Alva, a general in the Frankish army of Charles V. The duke believed in the power of the sword, but because his people were Christians, he could not tell them it was the powerful sword of the Norse god Tyr. Instead, the Duke declared that the sword was the weapon of the Archangel St. Michael and it has been known by this name ever since.
Loki
oki was a trickster who caused endless trouble for the
gods but who also used his cunning to help them. He lived in Asgard, the home of the gods, and he served as a companion to the great gods Thor and Odin. Loki enjoyed mischief and at first this amused the gods, but very soon they grew tired and angry of his antics and grew to dislike him. Nevertheless, Loki helped the gods on many occasions. One time a giant disguised as a builder came to Asgard, and offered to build a wall within a year and
a half in exchange for Freyja, Odin’s wife. Thinking
the task was impossible, the gods agreed to the deal. However, the giant had a powerful stallion that could perform great feats of labor. When it looked as if the
giant would succeed, Loki disguised himself as a
mare and lured the stallion away, preventing the
wall from being completed. Loki had a number
of wives and children. With his second wife,
the giantess Angrboda, he had three fearsome
offspring: a supernatural being named Hel, a
serpent named Jormungand, and a wolf named
Fenrir. As these creatures grew larger and more
terrifying, the gods decided to get rid of them. They cast Hel into the dismal realm called Niflheim, where she became the goddess of the dead. They threw Jormungand into the sea, and they bound Fenrir with magical ropes and fastened him to a huge rock.
As time went on, Loki grew increasingly evil.
The Aesir 85 Norse Mithology