Europe The 'mischief maker' of the Germanic gods. Fickle and false, clever and cunning, the trickster god Loki was 'the father of lies'. Probably a personification of the forest fire, one of the most destructive agencies known to ancient peoples, 'the sly god' ultimately would hasten ragnarok, the twilight of the gods. Through his enmity Balder descended to hel, the prison of death, and the forces of evil mustered on the Vigrid plain for the final battle.
Of an ogress Loki begot three dreadful offspring: the wolf Fenrir, the sea serpent Jormungandr, and Hel, queen of hel. These evil creatures, along with the subjects of Hel, formed the army against whom the gods under Odin and Thor fought vainly in the ragnarok. Then Loki, as the fire giant Sutr, reduced everything to ashes.
From A Dictionary of World Mythology
