The myth of Loki’s monstrous children - Iseult Gillespie

2,204,472 views ・ 2022-01-06

TED-Ed


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:10
Odin, the king of Asgard, was plagued by nightmares.
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Three fearsome figures haunted his dreams:
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a massive, writhing shadow;
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a shambling, rotting corpse;
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and worst of all, a monstrous beast with a deadly bite.
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Night after night, the creatures besieged the king.
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And although their true forms were unknown to him,
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he could tell they were related to Asgard’s most persistent problem:
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Loki.
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Despite having settled down with his wife and sons,
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Loki had been sneaking off to visit the giantess Angrboda.
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And when the king learned this affair had produced three children,
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he was filled with unease.
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01:00
Odin summoned Thor and Tyr, two of his bravest warriors,
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to travel to Jotunheim to capture Loki’s secret children.
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Upon arriving at Angrboda’s home,
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the pair were immediately accosted by Loki's first child,
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a serpent named Jörmungandr.
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The God of Thunder dodged the snake’s venom
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and swiftly bound him to a pine tree.
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The second child, Hel, appeared as a glowing young woman from the right
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and a moldering corpse from the left.
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Her flesh flaked onto the ground as she silently submitted to her captors.
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Finally, the third child leapt at Tyr.
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The small wolf was fierce but harmless.
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Tyr playfully cuffed its claws and stowed the cub in his pocket.
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Back in Asgard, the warriors presented their prisoners
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and fearful recognition seized Odin's heart.
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Though these three were meager reflections of his dark dreams,
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the king was determined to dispose of them before his visions came true.
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First, he banished Jörmungandr to the sea at the edge of the world.
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Then he sent Hel deep below the earth to join her fellow corpses.
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But the wolf, named Fenrir, presented a challenge.
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He’d already grown strong enough to threaten the gods,
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so Odin took a more patient approach.
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For months, he supervised the creature, watching Fenrir grow
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from a cub to a wolf to a beast who spoke with the voice of a God.
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Tyr visited frequently and found Fenrir to be strong and clever.
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But as their bond deepened, Odin's fear only grew.
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One day, Odin forged his heaviest chains
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and hauled them to Fenrir with a challenge.
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He would bind the wolf to test his growing strength.
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Fenrir eagerly accepted the challenge and splintered the metal like old wood.
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Odin returned to the forge, crafting shackles that no man could lift alone.
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These sturdy chains gave Fenrir pause.
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But with an encouraging wink from Tyr, he accepted the challenge.
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The beast strained for a moment and then shattered his restraints
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into a thousand pieces.
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Desperate, Odin sought help from the most skilled makers of all:
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the Dwarves.
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Rather than metal, they sought the rarest ingredients;
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from feline footsteps and fish breath
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to the sinews of mountains and mighty bears.
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With these, the Dwarves crafted Gleipnir,
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an unbreakable chain in the guise of fine thread.
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When Odin challenged Fenrir a third time, the wolf laughed.
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But as he examined the thread more closely,
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Fenrir sensed Odin’s trickery and began to feel some fear himself.
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Fenrir struck a deal.
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He would accept the challenge,
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but only if a god kept their hand in his mouth throughout.
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With a heavy heart, Tyr volunteered.
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The gods bound the wolf and as he strained Gleipnir only grew tighter.
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Fenrir felt the agony of betrayal—
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not only from Odin, but from his reluctant friend.
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With a howl of fury, he bit through Tyr’s wrist
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and vowed to destroy Odin for tricking him.
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Watching his nightmare come to life,
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Odin thrust Tyr’s blade between Fenrir jaws,
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releasing a torrent of saliva that became a furious river.
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While the beast was not dead, he was bound,
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and Odin celebrated his victory over fate.
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But in truth, his actions had only sealed his doom.
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Beneath the waves, Jörmungandr grew to encircle the world.
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Hel rose to rule the dead as queen of the Underworld.
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And every day, Fenrir strained a little more against his chains,
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inching ever closer to his bloody revenge.
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