Chapter notes: Nameday
Mar. 16th, 2021 12:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lokiofsassgaardSo at this point, Gudrun and Bjlafi have figured out that Loki is from Asgard, though they still don't know who he is. They know something very specific, but unless Loki outright asks, it's not her place to tell him. And Loki could ask. But I don't think he realises exactly how much they know.
There are some other things they know for certain:
Taking women and children for thralls and wives is standard enough practise that neither of them even momentarily stops to consider the ethics or morality. This is a thing all sides do. To the victor go the spoils, etc. Even Frigga talked about this as a perfectly normal and acceptable thing for the victor to do.
Loki is a halfbreed. With the above, this would not be terribly unusual or unheard of. There were probably plenty of women stolen from Midgard, whose sole purpose was to provide soldiers with children. But were Loki's natural mother Midgardian, he would have been born after the war; not before.
Whatever the circumstances of Loki's parentage are, it makes him dangerous. There are things he does that he should not be able, or even allowed to do. That he does these things so brazenly without care was a big tipoff to him not being raised on Jötunheimr at all.
Loki has also been ill-prepared for something that is very natural for Jötunn men. This again points to him not being raised on Jötunheimr.
The only reason a child born before the war would be raised on another realm is if they were taken thrall after the war. And the realm that would have taken thralls is Asgard.
So the logical conclusion is some solider brought an infant home. From there, he's still a closed book. Because even if he were taken thrall, he does things he should not be able or allowed to do. He's literate, he hunts, and rides, and is very obviously loved. He speaks not of a master, but a father, and of brothers. He's allowed to wander, and trusted to return home, and is dressed in fine clothing and given rare and beautiful gifts, which he clearly values. He's allowed to keep pets, and given leisure time to train them. This isn't a boy who's been worked as a slave, or even kept as a pretty pet himself. He was raised as a beloved and cherished child. And that's confusing as hell.
They also have no reason to suspect he was taken by the king. It's known within Asgard that Odin's troublesome son is Jötunn, but what the hell do the people of Hvítá care about foreign politics beyond "oh fuck, they're invading again"? Even within Utgard, Loki's circumstance isn't really an issue, as much as it's an insult thrown back at him.
And one which Loki was too ignorant to understand. He thought it was nothing more than an empty word. Now, it seems that word had real weight, and there's something even those in Utgard know that he doesn't.
There's something Loki wasn't told, because it was a matter of inconsequential foreign politics, so insignificant, it did not need to be taught to someone who was being groomed to advise the throne. Had Loki been told this piece of information, he would not be on Jötunheimr now, trying to figure out why he doesn't make sense.
But Odin and Frigga lied by omission, as they have always done, curating a version of the truth that was easier to swallow and accept.
One thing Loki knows for certain now is that he is indeed a halfbreed. His natural father may be Laufey, but he won't accept that until he sees the truth for himself, even if it means he has to stab his own father with a magic sword to get it.
But now all of that's forgotten, and almost become inconsequential itself in the wake of a new revelation: Loki has no sense of identity. He's spent his entire life either wholly pretending to be Æsir, or outright refusing to be Æsir. In both cases, he's defining himself on a label. But he hasn't really taken any time to explore what being Æsir or Jötunn actually means. And that's what he's doing now, albeit still in a context against Asgard.
He's doing all the same things he did as a boy on Asgard now, taking rites and learning to hunt. But this time he wants to do it. This time, it's useful. On Agsard, it's all peer pressure from dead people, and keeping up appearances. Boys take their rites by leaving for an entire year. Thor went to Vanaheimr to screw around, Fandral went to Álfheimr to screw around. Loki went to Midgard to wage war. It was the same with the hunt. Fandral killed a lizard, called it a dragon, and got some dragon heraldry out of it. Thor killed an eagle. Hogun managed to bag himself a boar, and Sif a stag, which were both unbelievable achievements for kids. Meanwhile, Loki slew a hippogryph stallion, because this boy either does something not at all, or goes 200%. So what does he pick for his "first hunt" on Jötunheimr? A mammoth, naturally.
But I was never really sure how well this came across before, that the hunt is just a massive joke on Asgard, just like the rite, and every other bit of ceremony. That's where the title comes from. Loki did not want to take his hunt. He flat out refused to take his rite. And he had both forced upon him. This time, he's doing them both properly, with the added bonus of actually completing Fandral's bullshit, aborted quest from his own rite. He set out to find a magic sword, and is instead chilling on Jötunheimr, learning the ways of their people, forging bonds, and gaining some new skills.
Because Midgard Legends matured him in ways Asgard never could. Another little thing from Midgard Legends that I don't think ever really got picked up on is that Loki is a hilariously picky eater. He'll eat fermented shark and rotten fish every day. Put put some puréed swede on his plate and he turns his nose up. When he pointed it out to Coulson, he said he might be hungry enough to eat it. Now he's got turnips and parsnips as a main ration, and he hates them still. But he's not being completely picky about it. It's gross, but he'll eat it, because he knows he hasn't got much of a choice.
Loki is on his way to becoming something very powerful and terrifying, even without his magic. And there are certain people who should be getting scared.
There are some other things they know for certain:
Taking women and children for thralls and wives is standard enough practise that neither of them even momentarily stops to consider the ethics or morality. This is a thing all sides do. To the victor go the spoils, etc. Even Frigga talked about this as a perfectly normal and acceptable thing for the victor to do.
Loki is a halfbreed. With the above, this would not be terribly unusual or unheard of. There were probably plenty of women stolen from Midgard, whose sole purpose was to provide soldiers with children. But were Loki's natural mother Midgardian, he would have been born after the war; not before.
Whatever the circumstances of Loki's parentage are, it makes him dangerous. There are things he does that he should not be able, or even allowed to do. That he does these things so brazenly without care was a big tipoff to him not being raised on Jötunheimr at all.
Loki has also been ill-prepared for something that is very natural for Jötunn men. This again points to him not being raised on Jötunheimr.
The only reason a child born before the war would be raised on another realm is if they were taken thrall after the war. And the realm that would have taken thralls is Asgard.
So the logical conclusion is some solider brought an infant home. From there, he's still a closed book. Because even if he were taken thrall, he does things he should not be able or allowed to do. He's literate, he hunts, and rides, and is very obviously loved. He speaks not of a master, but a father, and of brothers. He's allowed to wander, and trusted to return home, and is dressed in fine clothing and given rare and beautiful gifts, which he clearly values. He's allowed to keep pets, and given leisure time to train them. This isn't a boy who's been worked as a slave, or even kept as a pretty pet himself. He was raised as a beloved and cherished child. And that's confusing as hell.
They also have no reason to suspect he was taken by the king. It's known within Asgard that Odin's troublesome son is Jötunn, but what the hell do the people of Hvítá care about foreign politics beyond "oh fuck, they're invading again"? Even within Utgard, Loki's circumstance isn't really an issue, as much as it's an insult thrown back at him.
And one which Loki was too ignorant to understand. He thought it was nothing more than an empty word. Now, it seems that word had real weight, and there's something even those in Utgard know that he doesn't.
There's something Loki wasn't told, because it was a matter of inconsequential foreign politics, so insignificant, it did not need to be taught to someone who was being groomed to advise the throne. Had Loki been told this piece of information, he would not be on Jötunheimr now, trying to figure out why he doesn't make sense.
But Odin and Frigga lied by omission, as they have always done, curating a version of the truth that was easier to swallow and accept.
One thing Loki knows for certain now is that he is indeed a halfbreed. His natural father may be Laufey, but he won't accept that until he sees the truth for himself, even if it means he has to stab his own father with a magic sword to get it.
But now all of that's forgotten, and almost become inconsequential itself in the wake of a new revelation: Loki has no sense of identity. He's spent his entire life either wholly pretending to be Æsir, or outright refusing to be Æsir. In both cases, he's defining himself on a label. But he hasn't really taken any time to explore what being Æsir or Jötunn actually means. And that's what he's doing now, albeit still in a context against Asgard.
He's doing all the same things he did as a boy on Asgard now, taking rites and learning to hunt. But this time he wants to do it. This time, it's useful. On Agsard, it's all peer pressure from dead people, and keeping up appearances. Boys take their rites by leaving for an entire year. Thor went to Vanaheimr to screw around, Fandral went to Álfheimr to screw around. Loki went to Midgard to wage war. It was the same with the hunt. Fandral killed a lizard, called it a dragon, and got some dragon heraldry out of it. Thor killed an eagle. Hogun managed to bag himself a boar, and Sif a stag, which were both unbelievable achievements for kids. Meanwhile, Loki slew a hippogryph stallion, because this boy either does something not at all, or goes 200%. So what does he pick for his "first hunt" on Jötunheimr? A mammoth, naturally.
But I was never really sure how well this came across before, that the hunt is just a massive joke on Asgard, just like the rite, and every other bit of ceremony. That's where the title comes from. Loki did not want to take his hunt. He flat out refused to take his rite. And he had both forced upon him. This time, he's doing them both properly, with the added bonus of actually completing Fandral's bullshit, aborted quest from his own rite. He set out to find a magic sword, and is instead chilling on Jötunheimr, learning the ways of their people, forging bonds, and gaining some new skills.
Because Midgard Legends matured him in ways Asgard never could. Another little thing from Midgard Legends that I don't think ever really got picked up on is that Loki is a hilariously picky eater. He'll eat fermented shark and rotten fish every day. Put put some puréed swede on his plate and he turns his nose up. When he pointed it out to Coulson, he said he might be hungry enough to eat it. Now he's got turnips and parsnips as a main ration, and he hates them still. But he's not being completely picky about it. It's gross, but he'll eat it, because he knows he hasn't got much of a choice.
Loki is on his way to becoming something very powerful and terrifying, even without his magic. And there are certain people who should be getting scared.
