L = Loki

Lucida was designed by Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes in 1985. There are many variants including Lucida Console (the blue screen of death).

LOKI

“More ink has been spilled on Loki than on any other figure in Norse myth. This, in itself, is enough to show how little scholars agree, and how far we are from understanding him.” – Gabriel Turville-Petre

Cool note on Turville-Petre is his connection to J.R.R. Tolkien: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Turville-Petre

To know Loki, you must know the two Norse Eddas, the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda.

The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, is attributed to Snorri Sturluson and is said to have been compiled around the year 1220.

The Poetic Edda, the Older Edda, is a collection of anonymous poetry from about the same time. These are the two sources that tell us most of what we know about the Norse gods.

Back to Loki.

Loki is the trickster god. In the Eddas, he works both for and against the gods. He is also a shape-shifter (salmon, fly, mare, etc).

Loki transforms to a “bad” or “evil” god when he helps kill his brother Baldr with mistletoe. A perfect re-telling of this legend can be found at http://whisperingbooks.com/Show_Page/?book=Classic_Myths_And_Legends&story=The_Mistletoe

Loki is described as pleasing and handsome in appearance and capricious in behavior. It is said he has cunning and tricks for every purpose. He has a few different wives and many famous children.

It is said that Loki’s symbol is a snake. http://www.ask.com/question/loki-symbol

My favorite story of Loki is when he and Thor visit Utgarda-Loki (Loki of the Outyards) in which Loki engages in what might be the first speed eating contest. Loki loses because he was pitted against the personification of fire.

Which in some ways makes it odd that Jacob Grimm thought Loki was the god of fire. Find out about Jacob Grimm at http://www.biography.com/people/jacob-grimm-21085187#awesm=~oB9hGvl3u5iCp4

Loki made his first pop culture appearance in Richard Wagner’s Ring of Nibelung. http://www.musicwithease.com/wagner-ring-nibelung.html

Loki also appears as a Marvel Comics super-villain who is in constant conflict with his brother Thor, God of Thunder.

Most people now know Loki from the Marvel Comics movies where Loki is played most profoundly and masterfully by Tom Hiddleston.
My favorite quote about Loki comes from the movie, The Avengers, in which the character Bruce Banner says, “that guy’s mind is a bag of cats, you can smell the crazy off him.”

Some excellent sites on Loki:
http://www.aworldofmyths.com/Norse_Gods/Loki.html
http://aom.heavengames.com/gameinfo/articles/norse-god-loki

Speaking of bags of cats, first and foremost in my mind, Loki will always be a cat, my cat, and he’s also a trickster.

-lisa