Welcome back to two further poems from the Poetic Edda - this time, we are reading 'Lokasenna', arguably the most famous "insulting contest" that occurs between the gods in the Edda. I have also included the particularly short 'Balders Draumar' - the dreams of Baldr - as a bonus addition that also provides some extra context for some of the events in 'Lokasenna'.
'Lokasenna' features the eponymous Loki who is shunned from a party because of his killing of Fimafeng - one of the servants at the party - and thus Loki decides that the best course of action is to force his way back into the mead-hall through trickery before engaging in a series of scathing insults with the gods. He is eventually chased off by Thor.
The dreams of Baldr is a curious episode that will feel similar to the first poem we engaged with - Voluspa - as the central figures in the poem are Odin and what appears to be a "volva." Odin seeks to understand the prophecies that have been appearing in Baldr's dreams as they concern the end of the gods with the coming of Ragnarok. These events are also alluded to in 'Lokasenna' as that poem serves as a direct prequel of sorts to Loki's involvement in Ragnarok itself.
Please enjoy.
22 сен 2024
