Those who did something wrong deserved a punishment. This way of thinking has been with us for generations. The same thing also happened in Norse mythology. For those who made the gods angry, they must pay a price for it. This piece of article is about the brutal torture in Norse mythology.
The gods punished Loki
Although Loki caused many troubles to the gods, he did not really piss them off for he always made up for their loss. But it was until the death of Baldur that Loki could no longer stay in Asgard. Loki was the culprit of Baldur’s death and the gods were determined that Loki had to pay for what he had done.
After the gods captured Loki and brought him into a cave, the torture began. The gods brought Nari and Vali (some sources called them Narfi and Nari) to the cave. They turned one of the Loki’s sons into a wolf and let him kill the other. Loki had to witness everything.
The gods then took the entrails of the deceased son and used it to tie Loki to the rock. The entails then became the strongest iron chain binding Loki to the cave until the day of Ragnarok.
Skadi the giantess of winter then placed a snake just above Loki’s head. Every time the venom dripped on Loki’s face, he endured the most painful thing ever. Every time Loki writhed in pain under the cave, he caused earthquake to Midgard.
The Vanir gods beheaded Mimir
Long long again, the two god tribes Vanir and Aesir declared war on each other. Only when they pulled out a peace treaty by exchanging host that the war stopped. While the Vanir gods like Njord, Freya, and Freyr came to live in Asgard, the Aesir gods coming to Vanaheim were Hoenir and Mimir.
While Njord, Freya, and Freyr were the chief god of Vanaheim, the princess and the prince respectively, Hoenir and Mimir were normal gods in Asgard.
At first, the Vanir gods thought that Hoenir was a benevolent god who knew all the answers to whatever other people asked him. They didn’t realize that it was Mimir who answered them all. And one day, Mimir was absent and the truth was revealed.
The Vanir gods felt an insult and they decided to behead Mimir. After beheading the know-it-all god, they sent the head of Mimir back to Odin who was currently living in Asgard.
The dwarves sewed Loki’s mouth
Long ago, Loki had to travel to Svartalfheim to ask the drawves to make the most powerful treasure for the gods. In the land of the dwarves, Loki made a bet with the dwarf Brok and he said the prize for Brok (if Brok won) would be Loki’s head.
And Brok did win.
But of course, Loki would never let anyone to behead him. He had a cunning thought to let slip of this punishment. Loki claimed that he had promised his head, not his neck (beheading must start from the neck). Loki declared that losing his head was nothing to him but the dwarves must not touch his neck. How could it be possible?
The dwarves quickly realized that Loki tricked them. So they decided to use a needle and sewed the lips of Loki. This was the punishment for those tricksters like Loki.
