Florida State University Libraries 2016 The Loki Model: Transcending the Trickster Arianne Marie Howard Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE LOK I MODEL: TRANSCENDING THE TRICKSTER By ARIANNE MARIE HOWARD A Thesis submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2016 Arianne Marie Howard defended this thesis on April 8, 2016. The members of the supervisory committee were: Alina Dana Weber Professor Directing Thesis Birgit Maier-K atkin Committee Member Christian Weber Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude towards Dr. Alina Dana Weber for her guidance and unending support throughout this project. Without her patience and insight, this thesis would not have been possible. Thank you for always encouraging me and pushing me to write my ideas. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Birgit Maier-K atkin and Dr. Christian Weber. Thank you for your encouragement and kindness during this project and throughout my academic career at FSU. Finally, a thanks to my family and friends who were with me from the beginning of this process. To my parents, Brett and Mirtha, my brother Albert, my sister-in-law Theresa, and my dear friends K erstin and Stephanie, I thank you for your continued optimism and reassurance. To my fiancé, Ben, thank you for giving me confidence when I needed it most and encouraging me every step of the way. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: THE LOK I MODEL .................................................................................................4 CHAPTER 2: RE-STRUCTURING BY WAY OF CHAOS ........................................................19 CHAPTER 3: REFLECTING BY WAY OF LA NGUAGE .........................................................35 CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................46 WORK S CITED ............................................................................................................................49 BIOGRAPHICA L SK ETCH .........................................................................................................51 iv ABSTRACT The trickster is a well-known and thoroughly studied mythological figure. Therefore, this thesis will not seek to further define the trickster figure, but rather take the trickster figure of Norse mythology, Loki, and uncover his unique qualities which can then be translated into abstract features used in what I call, the “Loki model.” The Loki model provides a means of interpretation through which one can analyze a text or other work. In the case of this thesis, I will analyze three German texts and one American film to demonstrate the Loki model. The abstractions of the Loki model include: chaos, abstemiousness, cunning, and destruction. These qualities are ways of abolishing an order or breaking the status quo to undermine systems and create new worlds. The structures that are reshaped through chaos and language destruction are those of human nature and society. v INTRODUCTION This thesis traces Loki, a mythological figure of Norse lore, from his origin in the northernmost extension of Germanic mythology to the present day to uncover the influence that such a mythological figure continues to have to this day. I find it true that “mythology is an art form that points beyond history to what is timeless in human existence, helping us to go beyond the chaotic flux of random events, and glimpse the core reality” (Armstrong 7). This idea explains precisely why I am choosing to analyze Loki. Loki is a representation of something primal, and thus, so human, meaning that this character can be treated as an abstraction more than a mere fictional character. In this argument, I will therefore define Loki as a model of thought, a way to describe human existence, which can be found so often in storytelling. As a model, Loki is unique and goes beyond the trickster archetype within which he is often described. What makes him worthy of a model is that he is a mythological character that “pushes back the frontiers of human nature” (Scheub 12). With that in mind, this thesis will forage further into Loki’s persona. Before beginning, I would like to state that certainly Loki is not unique in all of his qualities. This is why it is important to note that this is not an uncovering of Loki as a figure, but rather, as an abstract model that can be applied to western literature and film in character analysis. The Greek god Hermes, or Latin Mercury, demonstrates that Loki is not completely unique. For example, two traits of Hermes that stand out are “his guiding function, linked to his extreme mobility” and “his mastery of speech and interpretation” (Faivre 13). Loki, too, is a master of language; and Mercury’s extreme mobility can be compared to Loki’s fluidity as a shape-shifter. Moreover, Hermes, like Loki and most tricksters, is cunning. Hermes steals Zeus’s cattle that he had said he would not steal, so that the trickster may later “enjoy the fruits of 1 sacrifice and prayer” (Hyde 38) meant for the father of the gods. In stealing the cattle, Hermes appropriates what was meant for a sacrificial ritual to himself and eats “only the portion that will not harm him” (38), i.e., the best pieces of meat. To appease Zeus, he leaves him the larger but inferior part of the sacrificed cattle in the form of a pile of bones and fat hidden under skins. Zeus recognizes the sham but does not punish Hermes because his trick amuses him. More importantly for my argument, however, is that while this demonstrates Hermes’s cunning, the act is also greedy and selfish. This is where Hermes differs from Loki. I am noting these similarities between Hermes/Mercury and Loki to make the point that I am not analyzing the Greek and Roman trickster gods and their implications for their mythologies in this thesis because they are driven by greed, a typical trickster trait that Loki lacks and that has relevant consequences, as I will show later. Instead, the interpretations I wish to offer will be derived entirely from “Loki” whom I regard primarily as the basis of an interpretation model here and only secondarily as a fictional figure. Chapter 1 discusses a few of the major points of trickster qualifications, so that I may more precisely contrast Loki with the trickster archetype to form the abstract model. Once the trickster definitions have been given, some of Loki’s largest roles in the mythology will be recounted and analyzed to show how he differs from them. This manner of recounting Loki-tales will be the grounds for the Loki model. With the Loki model, I will then provide two separate modes of analysis: literary analysis and linguistic analysis that I apply to German and American texts and films. In Chapter 2, I will present an analysis of Wagner’s Ring (1848) and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008). I have chosen to interpret these two works as an example of the transcontinental reach of the “Loki” figure in light of the character’s influence in western culture. 2 These interpretations will show that the Loki model is highly applicable to cultural and film analysis. To clarify my point about the Loki model, I will use a comparison of two figures: one who does not fit in under the abstract qualities of this model and one who does. This comparison shows how chaotic acts are used to undermine the authority of systems and create something new for both regular tricksters and the Loki model. However, while regular tricksters are often driven by greed and merely stand in the service of a higher authority, characters that follow the Loki model act independently and are therefore the creators of new worlds. The third and final chapter will utilize linguistic analysis to take a closer look at literary characters in order to prove how the Loki model can be applied in the destruction of language. Such destruction by the figures of Eulenspiegel and Münchhausen demonstrate the arbitrariness behind a person’s language, and thus, their own society. Eulenspiegel and Münchhausen will prove to apply inverse tactics to their use of language – one adds superfluous meaning and the other takes it away. Through this undoing or overdoing of language, the two figures cause reflection on one’s culture and opens up doors to re-evaluation of the society, illuminating the possibility of something new. Overall, in this thesis I will go beyond Loki’s trickster qualifications to delve deeper into the unique qualities that he possesses to describe him as a model or pattern of interpretation based on evidence from the stories where he can be found. By “stories,” I mean not only the lore that features Loki but also the German literary texts and the American film that I explore in this thesis. Before bypassing Loki’s trickster roots, however, I should define more broadly what it means to be a trickster.