Loki is one of the best-known and, judging by the characteristics and the archetype of the Trickster, greatest tricksters in mythology. Proof of his ability to manipulate others is the fact that he was a giant, a jotunn, but managed to make his way into Asgard among the Aesir through his charismatic charm and wits as well as a close relationship with Odin, who had a deep respect for his cunning ways and slick tongue. (5)

     Loki exemplified nearly all of the common trickster characteristics. His original/true form was male, and he was a shapeshifter and a boundary-crosser. Snorri Sturluson recounted in his Edda (ca. 1220 AD) how Loki transformed into a mare, crossing the boundaries of both form and gender at once, to lure away the stallion Svaðilfari and later gave birth to the eight-legged Sleipnir. He was often depicted as being less physically imposing that Thor, Norse god of thunder, who was a friend and sometime adversary. He was amoral, playing the gods against one another without thoughts of morality, and he was deceitful and self-serving, using his sly tricks to wreak havoc on the gods to achieve his own ends and for his own entertainment. Loki was also ambiguous; at times his tricks seemed to be harmlessly entertaining, while at other times he is malevolently cunning. His ambiguity is evidenced by the fact that not even scholars can agree on the correct depiction of him. Folklorist and linguist Jacob Grimm called Loki a god of fire, equating him with Prometheus and culture heroes, while others perceived him as a “typical” trickster god. (6)

Loki, bound until Ragnarok

* "Loke och Sigyn" by Marten Eskil Winge (1863)

     Again and again, Loki tricked his way into trouble and had to think quickly to trick his way back out again. There was the time he thought it would be fun to cut off all the beautiful hair of Sif, Thor’s wife, and had to make a quick promise to get her hair that was even better to escape his wrath. Loki promised his head to the dwarf who could make the finest treasures for the gods (including Sif’s new hair, Thor’s hammer Mjollnir, and Odin’s spear Gungnir) and said dwarf sewed his lips shut when he realized he had been tricked. Or there was the time he attempted to steal Freyja’s necklace Brisingsamen, stole Mjollnir only to have to steal it back, and caused the disappearance of the goddess Idunn with her golden apples of eternal youth and their return through his trickery.

     Ultimately, Loki was too clever for his own good, as most wise fool tricksters are; the trickery that led to Balder’s death was the final straw to the Aesir and sealed his fate. He tricked the blind god Hod into shooting Balder with mistletoe, the only entity that had not sworn an oath not to harm him, and Balder was killed. For his punishment, Loki was bound underneath the earth by the entrails of his children and a serpent was set over him to drip venom into his eyes until Ragnarok. It is said that earthquakes are caused by his thrashing when the venom drips on him every time his wife Sigyn must empty her bowl of the poison it catches. The last laugh is going to be on the Aesir when Ragnarok rolls around, however, when Loki breaks free and fight on the side of the giants against them. (7)

     While many females may appear to be tricksters, most use their beauty and sex appeal to manipulate others while only a very few females actually use cunning wits and deception; the most well-known of these are Penelope, wife of Odysseus, and Eris.

      Eris (whose Roman name is Discordia) is the Greek goddess of chaos, strife, and discord. By some accounts, she is the daughter of Nyx (Night) and by others, she is the sister of Ares, god of war (which would possibly make her a daughter of Zeus); one of her favorite pastimes was to join Ares on the battlefields of the mortals and delight in the bloodshed and bitterness she rained down on both sides of the battle. Her wrath was said to be relentless, and not even her fellow Olympians wanted her around to ruin their fun with her troublemaking. This was the reason that she alone was not invited to the forced wedding of Peleus and Thetis which everyone else from Mt. Olympus attended. She decided to teach them a lesson by tossing the Apple of Discord into the party labeled Kallisti (“To the Fairest One”), which sparked argument between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite as to which of them was the fairest. The chain of events led to the Judgment of Paris, which initiated the Trojan War, and you can bet that Eris enjoyed every second of all of it. (8)

Eris, Greek goddess of chaos, strife, and discord

"Eris" by GENZOMAN *GENZOMAN

Hermes, messenger of the gods

"HERMES - GREEK GODS PROJECT" by isikol *isikol

     Hermes, Greek god of transitions and boundaries and god of thievery, as well as messenger to the gods, started his life as a trickster quite young…barely out of his cradle, in fact. According to mythology, as an infant Hermes used a lyre he made from a tortoise shell to steal Apollo’s oxen by herding them backwards to cover his tracks, and Apollo was so amused that he could not stay angry. Hermes also played a part in the punishment of humanity for accepting Prometheus’s gift of fire through Pandora; his gift for her box was lies, seductive words, and dubious character, and he was the one who delivered her to Epimetheus as his wife. Homer and Hesiod portrayed Hermes as a benefactor of mortals and the author of deceptive acts; a Homeric hymn to Hermes petitions him as one “of many shifts (polytropos), blandly cunning, a robber, a cattle driver, a bringer of dreams, a watcher by night, a thief at the gates…” He was also the father of Autolycus, Prince of Thieves, to whom he taught all of his tricks. As a god of transitions and boundaries, Hermes was able to move freely between the worlds of the mortals and the divine, a characteristic of the boundary-crossing trickster. (9)

     Coyote is possibly the most famous trickster in Native American culture, seen most prominently in the Southwest. He is part human and part animal, able to take whichever shape he pleases. As with most Native American tricksters, Coyote combines the sacred with the entertainment because, as John Lame Deer said, tricksters “are sacred [because] we Indians also need their laughter to survive.” (10) He is another example of the wise fool as he is often outwitted by other animals (i.e., rabbits, birds, and even a donkey). As a trickster, he is often portrayed as greedy and insatiable. (11) In some stories, he is known as a creator or “Old Man Coyote” in which, like the Native American Prometheus, he brings fire and daylight to the earth and arranges the sun, moon, and stars in their places. In this way, as well as the way in which he is sometimes said to have arranged the land and fought monsters (with the aid of the Spirit Chief), he is perceived as a culture hero. In other stories, he is simply a messenger. He nearly always provides entertainment, usually with an added dose of trickery. (12)

Coyote spirits

"Magic Winds" by Laura Airey (MorRokko) *MorRokko

Raven spirits

* "The Twa Corbies" by Arthur Rackham (ca. 1919)