Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

Lu Pan 177KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP Viking period (circaAD 700) until Christianization (circa AD 1100).SYNONYMS Lopt.CENTER(S) OF CULT none evidenced and probablyLoki was not worshiped as the other Asgarddeities.ART REFERENCES probably the subject of anonymouscarvings.LITERARY SOURCES Icelandic codices; Prose Edda(Snorri); Historia Danica (Saxo).Loki is a mischievous, Machiavellian, humorous,sometimes sinister character. Snorridescribes him as being “pleasing and handsomein appearance, evil in character, very capriciousin behavior.” He is the “poor relation” amongthe gods who has strong affinities with thegiants, particularly at Ragnarok (doom) whenhe steers their ship, and whose loyalties arealways suspect. Said to be the son of the giantFarbauti. He is also a scandal-monger. He wasindirectly responsible for the death of BALDER(directly so according to Snorri) and foughtwith HEIMDALL. Sometimes he appears as ahero rescuing gods from various predicamentsthrough cunning. He also stands for evil,though less often, and was compared stronglyby Christian times with the Devil. Able tochange shape at will—said at various times tohave impersonated a mare, flea, fly, falcon, sealand an old crone. As a mare he gave birth toOTHIN’S horse Sleipnir and he also allegedlysired the world serpent, the mistress of thenetherworld, Hel, and the wolf Fenrir whichwill devour the sun at Ragnarok.One of his prominent attributes, said tocome from antiquity, is that of accomplishedthief, stealing at various times FREYJA’S necklace,THOR’S belt and iron gloves, and theapples of youth. There is little to supportthe notion of Loki (Wagnerian: Loge) as afire god other than similarity of name—logi,meaning fire.LokoGod of trees. Fon [Benin, West Africa]. Thebrother of the hearth goddess AYABA. Invokedparticularly by herbalists before obtaining medicinesfrom the bark and leaves of forest trees.LomoGoddess of peace. Ngbandi [Democratic Republicof Congo, central Africa]. One of seven deitiesinvoked at sunrise each day.Lono (sound)Primordial being. Polynesian [Hawaii]. An aspectof a tripartite god which also includes KANE, thelight, and KU, stability. They first existed in chaosand night which they broke into pieces, allowinglight to come in. Also Ono (Marquesas Islands).LothurGod of physical senses. Nordic (Icelandic).According to a brief mention in the Voluspa(Poetic Edda) the god concerned with physicalbeing i.e. sight, hearing and speech. According tosome authors he may be a hypostasis of the godOTHIN. Lothur is also known in northern Germanictradition. Also LODUR.Lu Dong-binImmortal being. Taoist (Chinese). One of the“eight immortals” of Taoist mythology, he was oncea mortal being who achieved immortality throughhis lifestyle. The tutelary god of barbers. Attributesinclude a sword with which he conquers demons.See also BA XIAN.Lu PanGod of artisans. Chinese. The deity concernedwith builders, bricklayers, housepainters and