Flytting 1

[whose_son_am_i]

Sender: Loki of Asgard
To: Everyone
Subject: Introduction and a Riddle

It seems a popular way to test and get used to this journal is to do a proper introduction. I am Loki of Asgard. As might be surmised, I am newly arrived--though I find this place intriguing and curious so far. I think I'll have fun here.

I could go on, but instead, I have a riddle for you all.

My head was forged / by hammer's hit,
pricked by a point / and polished by files.
What comes before me, / I frequently eat.
With rings adorned / I doth strike,
hard against hard, / a hole in my back.
Shoved forth / I shall defend
my master's money / amidst the night.
Sometimes I spin / my skull backwards,
when my lord wants me / - the warden of his wealth -
to hand him the treasures / of hundreds of heroes
he killed in battle / to capture their gold.

I look forward to hearing your answers.

Comments

[whose_son_am_i]

The first sounds Norse, but does not mean anything beyond that. The Second is where the hall of those slain in battle go. Odin's hall. The last two do not sound familiar at all.

Why do you ask?

[sos_pilot]

Well well well! So even gods have counterparts in other worlds! This is fascinating.

Now, do you want the long version of my weird question or the short one? You're getting weird answers either way.

[whose_son_am_i]

Oh I don't mind long. I am curious to your answer to my riddle as well.

[sos_pilot]

You asked for it!

Okay, so! In my world, the world itself is extra-dimensionally-kinda-sorta wrapped by Jormungandr, the world-ending snake Norse God. Every ten years, Earth's chosen champion takes on him and his allies in a wrestling match to determine earth's fate in three rounds. If the gods win, Jormungandr destroys the world, we all die and join them in Valhalla. If Earth wins, everyone is saved and he goes back to world-wrapping.

The "chosen champion" just so happens to be my uncle, Scrooge McDuck! He's been doing this for decades, and my family is bound to take over this sacred duty once he retires. My kids already took a crack at it this year, and of course they were amazing. But I couldn't go see it for myself.

The problem is that the wrestling matches take place in Valhalla itself. Since the folks there think the "world ending, people dying, Vahalla gets a huge population explosion" is a good thing, they see us earth defending folks as the villains. So we kind of have to play up that angle and be "heels". Scrooge goes by the moniker Millionaire Miser, for example, and has to act like a complete jerk as the audience boos him. As for me? If anyone began booing my kids, I would not handle it very well. To say the least. Which is why I had to hang back.

But the important thing is they won this year, so all's well that ends well! At least for another ten years. And apparently Norse Gods are the ones who invented wrestling in the first place, and earth just copied it. Good times.

[whose_son_am_i]

That is not the weirdest story I've heard, though it is quite entertaining. Where I'm from, the midgardians have used a little fact, often a lot of embellishment, and sometimes purely making things up. I recognize the serpent now--in at least a few myths, he is supposed to be my child, though I have no children.

Valhalla is not interested in 'the world ending' so to speak as simplistically as what your story implies. Valhalla is where the dead slain in battle go, where they are resurrected and live in Paradise. Per some of the Midgardian myths I've heard snippets of, it serves the same purpose but with a few alterations. The dead go to prepare and battle and train for Ragnarok, to join the Einherjar.

As usual, the Midgardians have quite the imagination. To be fair to them, they're often making up what they can and trying to connect various bits of stories they've heard or experiences they've had when we have visited before. Liberal application of mead will do that.

And I still look forward to your answer to my riddle.

[sos_pilot]

Aw, so it's mostly "imagination" on your end for earth folk? Sounds pretty dull. What a bummer.

As for the riddle, it was taking me a few tries, I won't lie. But then the mentions of wealth and money and all that jazz clicked. When you grow up raised by the richest duck in the world, things stick with you. All the high-tech security in the world is great, but sometimes you just can't beat...

pause for dramatic effect

[ yes, she literally wrote down "pause for dramatic effect" ]

A Lock And Key!

[whose_son_am_i]

Correct, and you'll have to elaborate for me more on your upbringing. I'm presuming where you're from, you mean a literal "duck"?

[sos_pilot]

Bingo, buddy!

Guessing you're not? Like, is it my imagination or is 95% of the population here one of those human-things? For real, WHY ARE YOU ALL HUMAN-THINGS??????

[whose_son_am_i]

Here as in where we currently are? Humans are simply another type of species, and the 'look' is (and they are) disturbingly commonplace. I'm a Jotun--a Frost Giant. I do not look like the other Jotun though, as I look more 'human' than most even when not bespelled to look fully human.

[sos_pilot]

well at least you agree that it's totes weird they're all over the place, we don't have them in my world

except for that one time with a genie which was a horrifying experience

IDK if we have Frost Giants. Wouldn't surprise me, though! I've met almost every kind of supernatural and mystical creature under the sun.

[whose_son_am_i]

Again, across the Nine Realms and beyond, the 'look' is very common in terms of structure, number of limbs, style--and often 'humans' can be found, even if one is not from Earth. Then there are the species that are different colored, or have multiple limbs beyond the 'standard' of a human, etc...

In scientific Classification, it is as if 'human' is the "Phylum", where this to be related to Midgard Biological Classification.

[sos_pilot]

You've really studied up on this, huh? Makes you sound like a human expert!

[whose_son_am_i]

[Loki snorts to himself.]
Hardly. I honestly don't care for a majority of them. I've simply been around a long time and traveled quite a bit.

[sos_pilot]

Big thing to "say" out loud here! Maybe we'll both warm up to them while we're here. Not like we're going anywhere for a while, looks like!

[whose_son_am_i]

You act as if I've said something terrible, when I merely speak the truth.

[sos_pilot]

You're the kind of guy who sees himself as "brutally honest", huh.

[whose_son_am_i]

When it suits me to be.

[sos_pilot]

You're going to be a lot of fun, I can tell already.

[whose_son_am_i]

I'll take that as a compliment.

[sos_pilot]

Got anymore riddles for me, Lowkey Loki? Cause my brain's still wired and ready to show off!

[whose_son_am_i]

If you like.

My home is not quiet but I am not loud.
The lord has meant us to journey together.
I am faster than he and sometimes stronger,
But he keeps on going for longer.
Sometimes I rest but he runs on.
For as long as I am alive I live in him.
If we part from one another
It is I who will die.

[sos_pilot]

[ The answer, ladies and germs, is a fish in a river. But Della will not guess that. Because she hates fish. So she is totally and completely puzzled. Congrats, Loki. ]

huh
well
dang
that's

i am actually having trouble!

[whose_son_am_i]

Would you like a different riddle?

[sos_pilot]

No way! Della Duck doesn't give up! I don't know the meaning of those words!

[whose_son_am_i]

If you say so, Ms. Duck. I await your guesses.