Hermes and Loki and Tricksters Part 2: Crash Course World Mythology #21

In which Mike Rugnetta continues to teach you about tricksters. In this episode, we're talking about tricksters as culture heroes. Basically, a culture hero is someone whose creativity adds to their mythological culture. We'll learn how the shennanigans of Hermes are credited with deeply influencing Greek culture and myth, and we'll look at how Loki's tricks led to a lot of important aspects of Norse myth. This episode has it all! Cattle rustling, cook outs, luthiery, joke haircuts, and Gullinbursti the Battle Swine. All that's to say, this is a good one.

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[carolines]

So I read the Hermes myth for a class and after defending himself to Zeus ("I'm just a cute little baby, I couldn't steal cattle!") he WINKS at Zeus, WINKS with his smug little baby face. I can only imagine how exasperated Zeus must've been dealing with these two.

[oasntet]

"I was drunk, and I'm a baby."

[charliecastillo]

I love how Crash Course always portrays Loki in the Marvel depiction rather than the original Norse version.

[houston]

Loki was like "She baldheaded... its funny"

[Froggeh]

You skimmed that Hermes story!! Its all in the sweet details. That poor farmer that spots Hermes stealing.. How Hermes walks the cows backwards into the OCEAN so it looks like cows walked out of the sea. Its all brilliant lol

[wisperingiron]

Note. Odin is not the father of Loki. They are however blood brothers.

[toren]

I've ignored a lot off the errors with the Norse mythology because for the intent of this show they haven't mattered. But how could you leave out the end of Lokis story?!?!

Brok claims his prize by sewing Loki's lips shut.

[ArawnOfAnnwn]

So basically...LOKI IS THE GOD OF LAWYERS!!...yay?! :|

[KamiRecca]

So about Loki and being the worst, i feel that comment need some comments.
Im a swede, as a swede i have a interest in norse mythology. I want to start with saying that i am in no way an expert, and i have no formal education in the subject. I have however read the major works (Both Eddan) and some books, because im curious (and a roleplayer, so there is that)

Is Loki the worst? Why is he the worst? I dont realy agree. Loki is a complicated issue (as many Tricksters i'd imagine), but he is far from Evil. He is far from Unhelpfull. He is far from Untrustworth. If people are in need, and you ask persuade Loki to help, he will help, and you can persuade him because he aint Evil (he would more be Caotic Neutral). And if Loki says that he will help, then you can bloody well trust that he will deliver, and who knows it might be litteral and you get a magical horse in addition.

The norse gods reflects the life of viking and vendel times.
Odin, the elder warrior in the household, scarred by life but sharpend and wise albeit with outbursts of anger.
Thor, the warrior son. The muscles in the household, the doer of things. Holds the fiery emotions of youth, but not the sharpened rage of the elder warrior.
Frigg, the Honored Matron of the household. Mother of Greatness and far from power herself. When her husband is away she takes his brothers to bed, not behind her husbands back but because He is not there and can perform for her, so his blood/brothers will have to... how to i end this with grace? "Pitch in" simply wont work, will it? Perform in his stead!.
And so on.
Loki in this household represents so much. Ambition, Inambition, Comedy and Tragedy, Trust and Loyalty, Distrust and Disloyalty. Ingenuity and redundancy.
Loki fills the role of that Hatefull thing that you Need, or that Loveable thing thats Worthless, and he brings this out of the other gods.

So Loki steals Sifs hair. Classic drunk story, right? Man you should have been there, we drank so much that when Wendy passed out, the last three of us girls still standing totaly shaved her hair! Oh come on, its fassionable now.
Point is, its a minor thing. He receves threats of Murder for it if he does not fix it. But he fixes it. Goes to great lengths, and clears great obstacles to fix it. And he does not only fix it, he gives her hair much finer than the hair he took. Why? Because he cares, and he was so Odin-damned drunk that it seemed like a great idea! Besides, Frigg and Freya was probably the once to come up with the idea after a wild threesome. Oh yea, lets talk about that.
Is Loki the same god as Vile? I realy like the idea of it. And also, that makes Odis sons the possible sons of Loki. And if Loki is the same as Vile, then he is not a minor god, he is on par with Odin, and then serves another great role of the household: The younger Elder Warrior, loyal to a fault, or an outcast. Sometimes a spy to place among enemies.

I could go on for alot longer, but one page of text roughly seems like a good enough wall. All in all, i cant say that he is the Worst. Odin is in many ways far more terrible. Or Thor for that matter. Bloody monster, Thor.

[tomripsin]

9:32 The detail in Merchant of Venice whereby Shylock is deprived of the pound of flesh he is owed always reminded me of Loki's trick here.

[Chrysanthia.]

I'm drunk 😵 and I'm a baby 👶 lol classic trickster excuse

[Nixitur]

That "You get my head, but not my neck" technicality is revisited in The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare. In it, Shylock, a Jewish merchant, is promised the heart of a man who has wronged him. After insisting on it in court, the (frankly kangaroo) court decides that Shylock may have the heart, but not a single drop of blood.

[ethanspearman]

Sewing Loki's mouth closed was too gruesome for Thought Bubble?

[electricmoth]

When Apollo wasn't looking, Hermes took 50 cakes. He took 50 cakes. That’s as many as five tens. And that’s terrible.

[oyonggofomocci]

Pretty creative. He probably went to a Montessori School.


for some reason, I died of laughter there

[dylansutherland]

I desperately hope they cover Coyote, he's the coolest trickster god, by far!

[maldito_sudaka]

You know, Sif and Thor symbolise the relation between wheat and the rains. When Loki cuts her hair, it means he destroyed the harvest of wheat (which is terrible).
And oh, I've seen somewhere that Loki gets his mouth sewn by the dwarf for his treacherous promise at least.

[ladykoiwolfe]

If I was Brok after Loki's little "you can't touch my neck" trick, I would have been like "okay I'll be back when I need something off your head keep it safe for me". The sewing his lips shut was a sweet touch

[ThinkYou]

Its a funny story: My brother's name is Lokesh and he introduces himself as Loki. I come up after him and say "You guessed it, I'm Thor." B| :P

[littleblueclovers]

I love Norse Loki stories! I used to listen to them as a kid and I remember the time Loki tried to dress Thor as a woman to get his hammer back. It was hilarious.