A recent letter of inquiry renewed a friendship that I had not thought
about for some years, and I spent the other day at work conversing with Odin,
Lord Of Asgard, and I would like to share with you the gist of our conversation.
"Odin," I asked, "exactly who were The Aesir? Where did they come from?"
"We were," he said, "the first generation born of The Olympians after they
landed on Earth. Just who were the parents of who doesn't matter. I doubt
if some of US even remember! But by the time we were born, the Olympians
had already devided up The Mediterranean, and there was little left over
for their offering. So I gathered a following and headed north. And as our
parents had done, we took on the titles of local deities to seek the cooperation
of the natives, but we took to quarreling among ourselves and the legends
tell pretty much what happened. We ended up killing each other off. After
that, we made our own little world in The Spirit Realm, and made life pleasurable
there for our human followers, and did what we could for those who served
us. And they continued to give us the energy we need to live the way we
like.
We don't care for your modern ways...we do not allow them in Asgard. Visitors
are welcome, but only as long as they abide by our rules."
"I have always had a curiosity," I said, "about the relationship between
you and Loki. What is the truth of that matter? Why did you permit him as
much leeway as you did?"
"It is hard to hide from you any manner of secret," Odin said, "From your
first visit to my Realm you suspected the truth, but were too well-mannered
to speak it. But I suppose the time has come for the truth to be known.
Loki was, in reality, my own blood. I had deceived his mother's husband
into a bet I knew he would lose with his wife as the prize of the wager...a
week of her company if the bet was lost. The result of that week was Loki.
His stepfather treated him well, but the bitterness between us over the incident
finally led to the conflict in which Loki's parents were killed; the husband
in battle, the mother taking her own life rather than being captive. She
left a message however- "Unto Odin I leave that which is Odin's, knowing
that he will do him justice!" I think any man can understand why I was tolerant
of Loki. I always saw his father and mother in him, and perhaps I remembered
also, that it was by my mischief that he was born. Even The Lord Of Asgard
can sometimes feel ashamed and regret his actions."
"Is life in Asgard really one big banquet?"
"Not always," said Odin. "We do like to party, but we do battle with one-another
now and then for the fun of it. The old quarrels have been long forgotten,
and it is now all good-natured fun! And we do have our serious business
here and there. There are still those that light a fire to us, and we watch
over them; the good ones, anyway. The rest we let find their own ruin."
"Do you accept sacrifice?"
"Anyone who knows me," said Odin, "knows I am not a god of sacrifice. It
is courage and honor that I admire and accept, not innocent blood. Those
who shed blood in my name get only what they deserve, and nothing from Odin."
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