Part 2: Thor Novelization Boogaloo: Loki and the Genocide of Jotunheim
So, if you havenāt read it already, you might want to go back to Part 1 here.
I spent a bunch of time highlighting this novelization for research purposes (I plan to write some stories about our tricksy boy at some point) and while I know itās Thorās story (which has some interesting bits to be sure, especially depending on who writes him), thereās some really intriguing Loki content here, and it speaks volumes just how much is actually cut out of the book versus the movie.
Iām actually going to start off this entry with some of the information provided at the end of the book (āA Guide to Asgard & Moreā)
First, thereās Odin, whose description is literally: āis king of Asgard and the mightiest of the Asgardians.ā
Like, I donāt know about you, but that comes across as rather sus, my friends. Nothing about his family, who he cares about, his oft-spouted āpeaceā.Ā Nope. Power.Ā Thatās it.
Thereās Queen Frigga: āMother to both Thor and Loki. Her greatest attributes are beauty, Asgardian strength, and great patience.ā
I mean, other than (gag) offering her appearance as being one of her main characteristics, sure, ok, sheās strong and very patient (anyone would be to put up with the rest of the shenanigans that Odin and her kids are constantly up to). Sheās also described as a mother- an involved parent.Ā Where Odin is basically just like āIM KING BEYOTCHESā The queen seems to have at least some priorities that donāt focus on holding onto power.
Then we get to Thor, who is āAsgardās greatest warrior, son to Queen Frigga and King Odin Allfather, and brother to the trickster known as Loki.Ā He is Prince of Asgard and is next in line for the throne.Ā Thorās closest friends and most trusted allies are the Warriors Three, Lady Sif, and Loki.ā
Here we learn more (Frigga gets top billing, which is refreshing), especially how Thor and Loki relate to one another.Ā Itās pretty telling that Loki, while being called a trickster is also considered a āclosest friend and most trusted ally.ā
Then we get to Lokiās entry: Loki, the Master of Magic, knows deep down that the throne of Asgard will never belong to him. Often the voice of reason to his brother Thor, Loki is the one who summons Odin to save them, the Warriors Three, and Lady Sif from the grave threats on Jotunheim, though Lokiās motives might not always be completely honorable.
Just to break this down a little.Ā Lokiās billed as āMaster of Magic,ā which means that his magic is strong and a defining trait.Ā
I do find it interesting that it specifically skirts around his actual parentage/throne and just specifically says that Asgardās throne wonāt be his.Ā Also, the way it sounds in Thorās description is that Thor, by the virtue of being eldest, is the one getting the throne, but thereās some interesting phrasing later on in the book that makes it pretty obvious thatās not the case.
The fact that Loki (billed as a trickster in Thorās entry) is also considered the voice of reason, it is very interesting they also note that he āmight not always be completely honorable.ā
To extrapolate from that phrasing, it means that he is likely always honorable to some extent, itās just that his motives are sometimes not aligned with that of Thor/Odin.Ā Which, considering that he is the voice of reasonā¦.might not be a bad thing?Ā Plus, it is pretty obvious that the motives of most of the Asgardians are that of glory in battle, delighting in violence, and using heavy-handed displays of machismo to gain and hold onto power.Ā Loki grows up under this kind of socialization, so it goes to show that he might pick up on some of those cultural lessons, but figure out different ways to use them since his power seems to be more scholarly/magical than sheer brawniness.
Over and over again we see that many of Lokiās end goals are actually very similar to that of Odin and Thor.Ā But he is regularly derided and attacked for going about it in a way they donāt approve of (ie: making plans, using magic, gathering allies, and influencing people to get what he wants instead of calling some massive one on one duel to the death in a coliseum with spears).
Another section details information on the Casket of Ancient Winters:Ā āWhile there are many dangerous items inside the vault, the Casket of Ancient Winters is the most feared.Ā Taken from the realm of Jotunheim by Odin to prevent the Frost Giants from taking over the Nine Realms, it has the power to cause instant and never-ending winter.
Ok, that sounds pretty horrifying, right? Itās a weapon! It could hurt people! Odin had to take it away for the good of peace, right? RIGHT?!
NOPE! IT WAS THE APOCALYPTIC DESTRUCTION OF THEIR ENTIRE WORLD!
Hereās what the book has to say about Jotunheim: āThe Realm of Jotunheim was once full of stunning cities built entirely of ice.Ā After Odin took the Casket of Ancient Winters, the once beautiful buildings began to crumble and melt.Ā Now most of the land has floated away in large chunks.Ā The Frost Giants wander the desolate and lonely landscape, angry and thirsting for revenge against Asgard- and their king, Odin Allfather.
Ok, so imagine you live in a world with your own cities, culture, and society, and some asshole comes to your world and basically takes away all of your technology murders the majority of your people, and destroys your world so badly that your entire people are now homeless in a wasteland with no opportunity to rebuild?Ā How many children died of starvation on Jotunheim? Did Odin steal and then sell or āadoptā out other Frost Giant babies to Asgardian families or sell them to other worlds as slaves?
From Ragnarok, you can see that thereās some pretty damning evidence that Odin built Asgard using slavery, so itās quite possible that they had no trouble using Jotuns in a similar manner:
Are we actually supposed to believe that they are happy about that? Thereās a truce, sure, but did Asgard go to help the other ice giants that were affected by the complete destruction of their world? Nope.Ā They were literally subjected to genocide and the last stragglers were left to die slowly.Ā If the situation had been reversed, I imagine that Asgard would consider themselves justified in trying to retaliate against Jotunheim.Ā But since theyāre big, blue, āmonstrousā etcā¦.well, that makes it ok according to Odin.
I find it really interesting that the book doesnāt include a scene where Loki turns blue and finds out about his parentage, so thatās really interesting as well. This is turning into a bit of a novel, so Iāll save that bit for Part 3.
Thanks to everyone who liked and reblogged and chatted about Part 1. I hope you like my thoughts, and as always, I love to hear what you think about how the text informs the films.
