The Punishment of Loki
Storyboard Text
- Everyone was in mourning for the beloved god Balder, and all pleasure was forgotten. The text says, “After the death of Balder the world grew so dreary that no one had any heart left for work or play” (78). They were enraged by the fact that Loki had killed Balder and they longed for vengeance.
- Hermod made the grueling journey down to Niflheim and begged Queen Hel to return Balder to Asgard. Hel responded, “If everything upon Earth will weep for Balder’s death, then may he return, bringing light and happiness to the upper world” (78). Queen Hel was generous, but Hermod did not realize that her condition would be impossible to fulfill because of Loki’s lack of remorse.
- Everyone wept for Balder’s return except for a single giantess who refused to shed a tear. The giantess argued, “I care not whether he lives or dies. Let him bide with Hel- he is out of mischief there” (79). This giantess was Loki in disguise and he had almost fooled everyone, but Odin sees everything.
- Loki knew that he had little time until his trick was discovered. Loki fled from the cave, “And he had taken himself off to a safer place…”(79). In his stronghold he invented a fishing net and carefully watched for intruders.
- Loki tried to burn his invention and morphed into a salmon to escape through the river. Loki was eventually captured, “The salmon almost escaped, but Thor’s big fingers kept hold of the end of the tail, and he flipped and flopped in vain”(81). After Loki’s failed attempt to escape, the gods dragged him back to Asgard where he would meet a punishment worse than death.
- Loki’s punishment was he would be chained to a bed of stones in a cave with a venomous snake spitting poison on him until Ragnarok. The text says, “For these were Loki’s evil passions, and the more he strained against them, the more they cut into him and wounded him until he howled with pain”(82). This shows Loki’s evil deeds will never go unpunished and that the magnitude of his torment fits the crimes he committed.
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