Now this one is hard. I have to choose “a favorite myth or myths of this deity,” which is the devotional exercise for today. Honestly, I don’t have a favorite. But there are gaps in Loki’s lore that fascinate me, particularly the children of Loki who are seldom talked about in detail: (1) the witch daughters aka “troll women” that Loki birthed and (2) the fate of that poor son who was turned into a wolf and forced to attack his brother. What happened to him after that?
I’ve got a series of fantasy novels in the work. The first, The Dire Deeds of the Guild of Ornamental Hermits, is done and I’m trying to find a literary agent now. The second one, The Witching Work of the Guild of Ornamental Hermits, is in progress. I didn’t plan on it, but Loki–in the guise of Lucky LaFey, the quintessential “handsome drifter”–inserted himself into the second book and now his quest to find his younger, missing wolf son is a huge part of the plot. (Read an earlier version of Lucky’s character sketch here.) We also get to meet some of his witch daughters (seventeen in all).
Below is an excerpt from The Witching Work where Lucky is speaking with Babe Bump (the first person narrator of this scene) and (spoiler alert) his newly rediscovered son, Oyster Olson.
FYI–Oyster and Babe are two of the “Hermits of Hermitville,” a fledgling magical collective in cahoots with a number of Elves. “The Dip” is a cult leader who may have imprisoned Loki’s missing wolf son in a cave at Mount Konocti, and “Ozzie” is the luscious Professor Osbert Almond, an Elf.
Here Lucky introduces the fact that Oyster has a slew of part-sisters (aside from Hel, of course):
“Mmm. I guess we do need to address that. And, Oyster, you’ll be meeting them someday
anyway. More siblings. Sisters. Long ago, I gave birth to a number of witches after eating a woman’s heart.”
(Me: what the fuck?!)
“I forget how many of these daughters I have. Every hundred years or so, they have a reunion. I’m always invited but I don’t always go. I think the firstborn plans on teaching here, actually.” Oyster looked startled. “Son, I meant to talk with you about this. Just hadn’t had a chance. Sorry!” Then Lucky continued, “Anyway, three of my witch daughters help me with tracking the Dip and now they’ve infiltrated his operation. I was telling Ozzie that a fourth might be available. That’s all. But since I hadn’t told Oyster about his witch sisters yet, Babe, I didn’t want to tell you first.”
“You could have told me about them when I first learned that you were one of my fathers!” Oyster cried, “Remember me begging you and Dad to not hold anything back?”
“It’s just… not how I do things, kid. Try to not mind it too much,” Lucky patted Oyster on the back, a kindly gesture but I don’t think it was the one Oyster wanted.
Oyster gave up. He just lifted his eyes and gave a great sigh. “Ok. I’ll try.”
So, the above is first draft stuff. Not entirely smooth. But why am I inserting my own Loki story here instead of discussing something in the Norse lore? I’ll tell you: Loki was and is a potent and endlessly interesting muse. He fuels plot lines as easily as he shifts shape. Ancient storytellers love him, and modern authors too. And because I haven’t found much in the lore that speaks of the fates of these other children of Loki’s, I am free to add my own PLG, “personal literary gnosis.”
Writing this second book is a devotional activity, now that Loki’s involved. And I read it aloud to him as I go. I believe he enjoys the attention and the literary invention on his behalf.
Hail to Loki, my patron, and the most amusing muse that ever was.
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Lady Of The Lake 