Loki the Slandered God? Selective Omission of Skaldic Citations in Snorri Sturluson’s Edda

Abstract

Despite widespread acknowledgment of the complexity of Loki’s nature and function in Old Norse mythology, many critical approaches nonetheless begin from an implicit foundational assumption that he is in essence a negative and antagonistic figure. Conversely, some scholars have interpreted Loki as a culture hero, whilst it is widely agreed that aspects of his negative characterization developed under the influence of traditions about the Christian Devil. This chapter considers the extent to which the thirteenth-century Icelandic historian and mythographer Snorri Sturluson actively contributed in his Edda to the ‘demonization of Loki’ (John Lindow, Norse Mythology [2001], 303), through an analysis of the lists of kennings (poetic periphrases, quoted from older skaldic verse) which Snorri provides for major mythological entities.