History Characters / NorseMythology

** When the Longobards (then named ''Vinili'') were about to got to war against the Vandals, their ruler, Gambara tolder her sons to ask Frigg for help over Odin. She made sure her husband gave them victory, whether he liked it or not.

* ArchEnemy: To Loki. Of course, Loki is responsible for the death of her father.

* {{Expy}}:
** Engaged in a multigenerational [[ThePlan plan]] by creating a [[CoolSword fantastic sword]] and [[SwordInTheStone embedding it in a tree]], with [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield only a chosen hero able to retrieve it]]. It's debatable whether Odin or Myth/{{Merlin}} did this first.
** It's also possible that Odin is an expy of [[Myth/CelticMythology Lugh Lamhfhada]]. Both are deities associated with both war and art (especially poetry), are [[TricksterGod tricksters]], have spears that never miss their targets, and are leaders of their respective pantheons.

** In ''Lokasenna'' Loki insults the other gods, feeling safe because he is protected by [[SacredHospitality sacred hospitality]]. When Thor shows up he flees because Thor [[MilitaryMaverick does not give a damn when about such codes when it protects someone evil]]. It must be said, Loki still dauntingly stands up to Thor face to face for three insulting exchanges, until he finally gives up, cursing the halls of Aegir before he goes away, leaving the Aesir to treat themselves to that bitter ending. The tension between nephew and uncle could be cut with a knife.

** This must be taken with a grain of salt, as Norse mythology was more nuanced than that. It is not that clear cut if the giants were "chaos incarnated", representations of the forces of nature, monsters, or just part of the "us vs. the other" mentality. That being said, the Aesir didn't represent good or order, but held their position in the top of the hierarchy by force. Order was only good as long as it was theirs, and they mantained it by any means possible. Thus, Loki was more of a tool for the Aesir than an "ally" or even a "friend".
** Not to mention than Loki was key to build the power of the Aesir. Creating the first humans, Loki participated (as Lódur). Setting the sun and moon in movement? They put Hati and Skoll (his grandchildren) to chase them. Thor's super-powered weapon of mass destruction? Loki got it. Odin's infalible spear Gungnir and eight-legged horse Sleipnir? All thanks to Loki. Freyr's foldable ship and golden boar? Yeah, Loki's fault again. Oops, Thor forgot where he left Mjöllnir? Don't worry, uncle Loki will retrieve it for you. (Let's remember that the gods were nothing without their toys, so it is quite impressive that Loki got almost all of them) He was so important to build the world, that he probably was one of the few gods that could destroy it.

* CainAndAbel: To Odin, his bloodbrother.
** Curiously, neither of them ever broke their oath, even when Ragnarok became inescapable. Odin gives him a seat in the last feast they share because he still keeps the oath (remarkable, given that Odin is a self-confessed oath-breaker, so he must have valued his bond with Loki very deeply), and given Loki's numerous sexual escapades with most goddesses in Asgard, it's quite noteworthy that he never made any approaches toward Frigg, Odin's wife. All in all, Loki and Odin may have had their differences, but they still regarded each other highly.

* EvilRedhead: Mostly as part of his equivalency with Satan by Christians, but he is often portrayed as a redhead as well as an evil, malicious soul, contrasting the noble and redheaded Thor.

** On the other hand, he is in quite popular among the goddesses, and usually goes with them for help. Freyja helps him repeatedly lending him her feather-cloak, and he did sleep with most of them at some point, so it's fairly easy to assume he kept on good terms after. He was charming, usually respectful (for a viking that is) and had no problem cross-dressing (in a hypermasculine society that considered that deeply disgraceful), so it's easy to see the appeal.
** Odin, a infamous oath-breaker, kept their blood-oath until his last day, so it could be argued that he did like Loki a lot more than he was willing to admit out loud.
** Thor and Loki were traveling buddies, and the thunder god usually trusted Loki without hesitation (that's why Geirrod forced Loki to lure Thor weaponless to his fortress). Loki also talks him out of his rage and convinces him not to punish Thialfi and his family harshly, taking him as a page under his service instead. When he lost his hammer he went straight up to Loki for help before he told anyone else. And when he has to cross-dress against his will, Loki escorts him like some sort of emotional support. All in all, Loki's relationship with his nephew was a caring and supportive one.

* OnlyTheChosenMayWield: Mjolnir, as you may know from his Marvel counterpart. But unlike his comic book version, Mjolnir doesn't place value in one's worth as a person. Instead, it's so ridiculously powerful that anyone weaker than Thor would be ''disintegrated'' by it if they tried to wield it. Even Thor wears a magic belt and glove, Megingjoro and Jarngreipr respectively, to increase his strength to safely wield it.
** Only three other characters could wield the hammer beside Thor, they were the giant Thrymr (the one who stole it), and Thor's sons, Magni and Modi, who are said to inherit the hammer after Ragnarok.

* HappilyMarried: To Sif, who we know little about.
** That does not prevent Sif from having secret lovers, though, as mentioned by Harbard (Odin in disguise) and Loki in Lokasenna. Some suspect that this "mysterious lover" was actually Loki, given the fact that he could get close enough to her (i.e. sharing a bed) to shave her head.

* GenderIsNoObject: He would not back away from attacking a giantess or a female monster despite that the laws of the Norsemen (endorsed by Odin) considered the harming and killing of women monstrous.[[note]][[Witches, women warriors and shieldmaidens were fair game though, if the sagas are to be considered, and considering that giantesses could be all three of these at the same time, and very skilled too, they were deemed formidable, and quite dangerous opponents.]][[note]]
* GodOfThunder: One of the most famous examples.

** Debatable. In the sense that Norse Gods didn't guide themselves by these moral standards. Quite on the contrary, Odin was quite keen on preserving the order of things imposed by the Aesir as opposed to everyone else and no matter the cost. This means that while the majority of the dead (children, women, the sick and elderly) were living dreadful lives in Helheim just because they weren't "worthy enough" of Paradise, the Aesir and the warriors Odin choose lived lives of leisure and excess in Asgard. It says lots that when Jotun and the dead come to take Asgard, neither the Vanir, Alfar, Dvergar, or any other race for that matter, come to help the Aesir.
** Putting things in perspective, what Aesir and Jotunn are fighting for is the control of Midgard (a.k.a. Manaheimr, the "World of Humanity"). Given the fluctuating cosmology of the Norse, that could mean the whole cosmos or just another of several worlds (usually nine, but sometimes there were more or less). So, when Ragnarok comes, the other worlds remain unafected and just carry on as normal. In other words, it could be seen more like a geopolitical struggle between opposed factions, devoid of any moral meaning.

* TheGrimReaper: or at least one of them, literally, he visited battlegrounds after the battle had concluded, too select the best warriors to take them to Asgard (he was also a psychopomp), and was sometimes called Grímr and Grímnir, that is to say, the "hooded", the "masked one", the "sinister, terrible or cruel", quite fitting for his frightening persona.

* GenderIsNoObject: He would not back away from attacking a giantess or a female monster despite that the laws of the Norsemen (endorsed by Odin) considered the harming and killing of women monstrous.
** Witches, women warriors and shieldmaidens were fair game though, if the sagas are to be considered, and considering that giantesses could be all three of these at the same time, and very skilled too, they were deemed formidable, and quite dangerous opponents.

* TopGod: King of the Gods. This however, came with caveats, probably because of the elective nature of early germanic kingship. He never decided on his own what the Aesir should do when there is crisis ahead, but the ''thing'' of the gods (and goddesses) reunited to decide such things instead. He even got deposed, several times, when he was deemed unfit to rule.

** He was a god of traveling, and sometimes he would go away for months if not years, leaving Asgard and the Aesir to rule themselves. Once he was gone for so long, that everyone thought he wouldn't return, so his two brothers began dividing his inheritance, sharing Frigg between them. Given that Frigg was among the deities that could sit on Hlidskjalf, it's safe to assume she sometimes officed as his deputy.

** JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: many other times, he just does whatever he wants to, like bullying Thor by the river (maybe stalling, so that Thor won't find her wife Sif sharing her bed with her "secret lover"), sometimes he will start wars among men for no reason, or even kill guests and break truces to instigate discord (this is how he started the unsuccesful war with the Vanir), or promise his undying love to a wide-eyed maiden to get her to help him steal the mead of poetry from her father, just to name a few.

** Given the fact that he was hanged and stabbed with a spear and remained nine nights in that state, it is not altogether impossible that he might even be a [[OurLichesAreDifferent lich]]. This does not contradict the fact that he is also the [[TheGrimReaper Grim Reaper]] (or at least one of them), literally, and was sometimes called Grímr and Grímnir, that is to say, the "hooded", the "masked one", the "sinister, terrible or cruel", quite fitting for his frightening persona.

** Also, other godly tribes did not recognize Odin as their leader. The Jotunn, who could be seen as "archaic deities" did not respect Odin at all (take Hrungnir for example). The Vanir also rejected Odin's authority, and formidable rivals as they were, they were mostly left alone. It could be said that Odin was barely the Aesir's chieftain in a good day.

* TopGod: King of the Gods. This however, came with caveats, probably because of the elective nature of early germanic kingship. He never decided on his own what the Aesir should do when there is crisis ahead, but the thing of the gods (and goddesses) reunited to decide such things instead. He even got deposed, several times, when he was deemed unfit to rule.
** In ''Gesta Danorum'', he exiled himself ot of shame when he discovered that Frigga had slept with a goldsmith to make him steal his talking golden statue to make jewelry out of it. Mitodinn replaced him for many years, until he came back.

** One obscure myth, ''Fjölsvinnsmál'' mentions Loki overseeing the dwarves building up Lyfjaberg for Menglöd, while Odin himself, under the guise of the giant Fjölsvid, is tasked with guarding the entrance of the castle.
** He was a god of traveling, and sometimes he would go away for months if not years, leaving Asgard and the Aesir to rule themselves. Once he was for so long, that everyone thought he wouldn't return, so his two brothers began dividing his inheritance, sharing Frigg between them.
** Freyr was sometimes considered Odin succesor, especially in Sweden, and he was among the handful of gods who could use the throne-tower of Hlidskjalf (It came with a price though, as he fell madly in love with the giantess Gerd while sitting on it to oversee the worlds below)

* TopGod: King of the Gods.

* WrestlerInAllOfUs: If he wasn't hammering the problem away, he was wrestling or slamming it into the ground. One of his lesser epiphets was being the God of Wrestling (or perhaps bare-handed fighting in general). Ironically, the only major surviving story involving this had him ''losing'', but credit where it is due for actually making the ''embodiment of entropy'' have to put in effort to beat him.

** That does not prevent Sif from having secret lovers, thoug, as mentioned by Harbard (Odin in disguise) and Loki in Lokasenna. Some suspect that this "mysterious lover" was actually Loki, given the fact that he could get close enough to her to shave her head (i.e. sharing a bed).

* WouldHurtAChild: when he finds the child of Egil, Thjalfi, broke the bone of his goat to suck the marrow, leaving it lame after resurrection, he was about to drop the hammer on the whole family. Luckily, he changed his mind when he saw the whole family cowering in terror. He decides to take the boy, and his sister, Röskva, as servants instead.

** In ''Lokasenna'' Loki insults the other gods, feeling safe because he is protected by [[SacredHospitality sacred hospitality]]. When Thor shows up he flees because Thor [[MilitaryMaverick does not give a damn when about such codes when it protects someone evil]].

* BigGood: The strongest of the Aesir and dedicated protector of humanity.

** She favoured the Longobards against the Vandals under Odins protection, and made sure she gave them victory.
** Thet both betted over the sons of King Hraudungr. Odin helped Geirrod and Frigg favoured Agnar, but when he was put out of the game, she decided that if she couldn't win, nobody would.
** She took pity on King Rerir when they prayed for sons, so she send them a giantess-handmaid with a magic apple, thus initiating the Völsung Cycle.
** Inthe Gesta Danorum, she conspired with a slave-goldsmith (and lover) to steal a magical, talking golden statue that belonged to Odin, to melt it and make jewelry for herself. Needless to say, Odin wasn't pleased.

** Not to mention than Loki was key to build the power of the Aesir. Creating the first humans, Loki participated (as Lódur). Setting the sun and moon in movement? They put Hati and Skoll (his grandchildren) to chase them. Thor's super-powered weapon of mass destruction? Loki got it. Odin's infalible spear Gungnir and eight-legged horse Sleipnir? All thanks to Loki. Freyr's foldable ship and golden boar? Yeah, Loki's fault again. Oops, Thor forgot where he left Mejöllnir? Don't worry, uncle Loki will retrieve it for you. He was so important to build the world, that he probably was one of the few gods that could destroy it.

** A notable case is when he shaved Sif's head, which can vary widely in severity. Loki is sometimes said to shave her head to [[MaliciousSlander claim she cheated on her husband.]]

** Curiously, neither of them ever broke their oath, even when Ragnarok became inescapable. Odin gives him seat in the last feast because he still keeps the oath, and given Loki's numerous sexual escapades with most goddesses in Asgard, it's is quite noteworthy that he never made any approaches toward Frigg, Odin's wife.