Sif, the fellow Aesir whom Thor had married, possessed beautiful, long, golden hair.  Both Thor and Sif were extremely proud of this lovely hair; Sif for the beauty it afforded her, and Thor for being associated with a wife of great beauty.  Loki, in his role as a trickster, lived to introduce chaos where there was order, doubt where there was none, and humility where there was pride.  In Loki’s mind, the pride over Sif’s hair warranted a lesson in humility.

While Sif slept one night, Loki stole into her chambers and cut all of her hair from her head.  Loki was subtle in his movements, so Sif did not wake until the morning as she naturally did.

When she woke and realised her hair was gone, Sif was devastated.  When Thor returned home to find his wife without her hair, his blood boiled with rage toward the obvious culprit, Loki.

As was common in his life, Loki was threatened with various horrific fates, as punishment for his actions.  Always one to talk his way out of trouble though, Loki assured Thor he could correct the situation.  More than that, he would make Sif’s hair even more golden and beautiful than before.  Thor agreed to the offer, and so Loki went on his way, having escaped a terrible punishment yet again.

Loki travelled to Svartalfheimr and commissioned a group of Dvergues, the sons of Ivaldi, with the task of forging a crown of hair for Sif.  Loki specified that it needed to be golden like the sun, and to grow like normal hair.  The Dvergues made the crown for Loki, and then Loki further enlisted their help to make great gifts that would endear Loki to the Aesir, and help them to forget about the hair-cutting fiasco.  Loki was a constant target for animosity, even when he acted just as the gods dictated, so this time he would do much more than had been asked of him.  He would bring much more than just Sif’s hair.

In addition to the hair, the Dvergues had made two special items.  The first was Gungnir, a finely crafted spear that Loki presented to Odin.  The second, presented to Freyr, was Skidbladnir: the finest of all ships, which could be folded like cloth and stored in a pocket.  These gifts were great, but Loki saw a chance to gain even more gifts for no cost at all.

Sindri was a Dvergue thought by most to be the finest craftsman in all the world’s tree.  Loki approached Sindri’s brother Brokkr, boasting that no one could craft anything so fine as the works he had gained from the sons of Ivaldi (Gungnir, Skidbladnir, and Sif’s crown of hair).  Brokkr challenged Loki that his brother could do better, and so a wage was made.  If Sindri could craft a weapon finer than Gungnir, a transport faster than Skidbladnir, and an accessory more beautiful than Sif’s hair, then Brokkr would have Loki’s head.

Sindri placed a golden swine skin on the furnace, and instructed Brokkr to work the bellows until he returned.  Loki, not wishing to lose his head, went to the forge as a gadfly, and attempted to make Sindri’s work flawed by biting Brokkr on the arm.  Brokkr did not falter, and the resulting gift was a golden boar called Gullinbursti.  Sindri placed red gold on the furnace, and gave Brokkr the same instructions.  Loki tried biting harder, but to no avail.  Sindri removed from the fire a beautiful arm ring called Draupnir, which would replicate every nine nights.  He then placed iron on the furnace, and left Brokkr with the same words.  Brokkr held to his task fairly well, but when the gadfly Loki bit him on the eyelid, the resulting blood obscured his vision for a moment, so the last gift was partially flawed.  The last gift was Mjolnir, soon to be Thor’s famous hammer.  It’s flaw was a shortened handle, so that it could only be held by one hand, and not two.

Gullinbursti was presented to Freyr, Draupnir to Odin, and Mjolnir to Thor.  Loki had succeeded in gaining three free gifts for the gods, but unfortunately for him, the works of Sindri were judged to be better than those forged by the sons of Ivaldi.  That meant that Loki’s head was forfeit.  Ever the clever wordsmith, Loki reasoned that there was no way he could give them his head.  After all, in order to cut off the head, the neck would also be damaged.  The neck was not part of the bargain – only the head – so it was impossible for them to obtain Loki’s head.

Sindri and Brokkr were forced to admit they could not take Loki’s head, as per the agreement.  However, they were far from pleased for being cheated in such a way, so in retribution, they sewed Loki’s lips together.  Loki pulled the thread out, but his lips were scarred from the act.  For this, Loki is often referred to as “Scar Lip”.

Loki was only ever obligated to replace Sif’s hair, but in the end, he had done far more.  In addition to restoring Sif’s hair, more beautiful than before, Loki also gained for the gods Odin’s spear Gungnir, Freyr’s ship Skidbladnir, Freyr’s golden boar Gullinbursti, Odin’s ring Draupnir, and most importantly, Thor’s hammer Mjolnir.  Loki had been mischievous in cutting Sif’s hair, but he had proceeded to go to great lengths as well as pains to redeem himself, replacing what was lost and gaining significantly more for Asgard.

professorsparklepants:

corseque:

“[Trickster gods] are the lords of in-between. A trickster does not live near the hearth; he does not live in the halls of justice, the soldier’s tent, the shaman’s hut, the monastery. He passes through each of these when there is a moment of silence, and he enlivens each with mischief, but he is not their guiding spirit. He is the spirit of the doorway leading out, and of the crossroad at the edge of town. […] In short, trickster is a boundary-crosser. Every group has its edge, its sense of in and out, and trickster is always there, at the gates of the city and the gates of life, making sure there is commerce. He also attends the internal boundaries by which groups articulate their social life. We constantly distinguish—right and wrong, sacred and profane, clean and dirty, male and female, young and old, living and dead—and in every case trickster will cross the line and confuse the distinction. Trickster is the creative idiot, therefore, the wise fool, the gray-haired baby, the cross-dresser, the speaker of sacred profanities. Where someone’s sense of honorable behavior has left him unable to act, trickster will appear to suggest an amoral action, something right/wrong that will get life going again. Trickster is the mythic embodiment of ambiguity and ambivalence, doubleness and duplicity, contradiction and paradox. That Trickster is a boundary-crosser is the standard line, but […] there are also cases in which trickster creates a boundary, or brings to the surface a distinction previously hidden from sight. In several mythologies, for example, the gods lived on earth until something trickster did caused them to rise into heaven. Trickster is thus the author of the great distance between heaven and earth. […] Boundary creation and boundary crossing are related to one another, and the best way to describe trickster is to say simply that the boundary is where he will be found—sometimes drawing the line, sometimes crossing it, sometimes erasing or moving it, but always there, the god of the threshold in all its forms.”

—Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth and Art by Lewis Hyde (x)

Yes, this. One my favorite facts is that Hermes, one of the most famous trickster gods, is literally named after a boundary stone – a herm.

Enjoy a positive Loki giving you the two thumbs up

Some more (:

Credit to original creators, not my pics

fe, fi, te and se as trickster functions

fi trickster: extps will trick themselves and others that they are not sensitive like other humans, they don’t feel, they don’t care and everything is a joke with their edgy fe. after all, if you FIRST troll others and make fun of their feelings, they would be too busy protecting themselves against you… best defense is offense. you got tricked! one thing you have to remember that is VERY IMPORTANT is the fact this happens %95 subconsciously. they don’t actually plan this but it happens like an instinct so they trick themselves too.

se trickster: inxps will trick themselves they don’t care about se anyways, they don’t want to directly and impactfully compete with you like a brute, like a gorilla anyways. it’s just they like their comfort and they want to do things in their own pace! there’s no way se direct competition gives them se anxiety, it’s not that they doubt themselves when it comes to se “blasting”. pffff… of course not.

fe trickster: ixtjs will trick themselves and other that they are not sensitive to social norms like other humans with their edgy fi. after all, if you FIRST judge others and call them attention whores or gossips or dumb shits who keep laughing to anything and everything, they would be too busy thinking you are elitistic and narcissistic and stuff like that instead of thinking you feel socially awkward.

te trickster: pragmatism is evil! we shouldn’t worship facts! we should work toward our ideals or they will never come true! slavery was a fact once as well. like gandhi once said ““Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.” it is important because even if your contribution gonna be insignifact, yours + mine + many other people contributing to the same ideal won’t be insignicant! like buddha once said "Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.” let me give you more deep mystical advices on the edge of the wishful thinking, let me paint you more theoretical utopias while suggesting no tangible mechanistic way of how to implement any of that. ommmmmm.