Children of Loki

Loki and Angrboða

Most of Loki’s best-known children were born to Angrboða, whose name is often translated as “She Who Brings Grief.”

The medieval sources describe her as a giantess living in Jötunheimr, far from the halls of the gods. Little is recorded about her life, but her importance is immense, for she became the mother of three beings whose destinies would shape the future of gods and humans alike.

When news of these children reached Asgard, the gods did not celebrate their birth.

Instead, prophecies foretold that they would bring great suffering to the world. Fearing what lay ahead, Odin ordered that the children be brought before the gods, where each would receive a very different fate.

The decisions made that day would echo throughout every story leading to Ragnarök.

Sigyn’s Sons

While Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and Hel are the most famous of Loki’s children, the myths also tell of the family he shared with his wife, Sigyn.

Together they had two sons, Narfi and Váli.

Their story is one of the most tragic in Norse mythology.

After Loki’s role in the death of Baldr is uncovered, the gods capture him and decide that his punishment must reflect the suffering he has caused. Before Loki himself is bound, they turn their attention to his family.

According to the Prose Edda, Váli is transformed into a wolf. In his frenzy, he attacks and kills his brother Narfi. The gods then use Narfi’s entrails to bind Loki deep within a cave, where he remains imprisoned beneath the dripping venom of a serpent until Ragnarök.

The story is brief but powerful, showing that Loki’s punishment extends beyond himself. His family also bears the terrible cost of the conflict between the gods and the trickster.

The Birth of Sleipnir

Not all of Loki’s children are associated with destruction.

One of the most remarkable tales in Norse mythology explains the birth of Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse that becomes Odin’s faithful mount.

When a mysterious builder offers to construct the walls of Asgard, he asks for an enormous reward if he succeeds. Confident that the task is impossible, the gods agree—until the builder’s powerful stallion, Svaðilfari, begins hauling stones so efficiently that the walls near completion.

Realising the danger, the gods demand that Loki solve the problem.

Loki transforms himself into a beautiful mare and lures Svaðilfari away from the work. Without his horse, the builder fails to finish the walls on time and loses his reward.

Some time later, Loki returns carrying an unexpected foal.

That foal is Sleipnir, a grey horse with eight legs, renowned as the fastest and finest horse in all the Nine Worlds. Loki later gives Sleipnir to Odin, who rides him between worlds and into the realm of the dead.

Among Loki’s children, Sleipnir stands apart. Rather than bringing destruction, he becomes one of the gods’ greatest treasures.

A Family That Shapes the End of the World

Taken together, Loki’s children appear in many different stories, yet they are united by a common thread.

Fenrir brings about the death of Odin.

Jörmungandr fights Thor, and although the thunder god kills the great serpent, he walks only a few steps before dying from its venom.

Hel rules over the dead throughout the age of the gods, and her realm becomes central to the story of Baldr’s death.

Even Sleipnir, despite serving Odin faithfully, is born from the chain of events that nearly costs the gods the safety of Asgard.

In Norse mythology, family is more than a matter of ancestry. The relationships between parents and children become part of the larger pattern of fate, connecting individual lives to the destiny of the entire cosmos.

Loki’s children do not merely appear in the myths—they shape how the myths end.

Three Children, Three Destinies

Although born to the same parents, each of Loki and Angrboða’s children followed a very different path.

Fenrir grew with astonishing speed and strength. Even while still young, the gods realised that no ordinary chain could hold him. Their attempts to control the great wolf would eventually lead to one of the most famous stories in Norse mythology.

Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent, was cast into the great ocean that surrounds Midgard. There he grew so enormous that he encircled the entire world, grasping his own tail beneath the sea.

Hel was sent to rule over the realm that bears her name. There she became guardian of those who died from illness, old age, or causes other than battle, presiding over one of the Nine Worlds with calm authority rather than cruelty.

Although separated, all three remained bound together by prophecy. Each would meet the gods again when the final battle arrived.

Children of Prophecy

Unlike many monsters in mythology, Loki’s children are feared almost from the moment they are born.

The gods do not punish them because of anything they have done. Instead, they act because of what they believe the future holds.

This raises one of the central questions in Norse mythology: can fate ever be avoided?

By casting Jörmungandr into the sea, binding Fenrir, and sending Hel to rule the dead, the gods hope to prevent the prophecies from coming true.

Instead, their actions become part of the very chain of events that leads to Ragnarök.

Throughout Norse mythology, attempts to escape destiny rarely succeed. More often, they help bring destiny to pass.

What the Ancient Sources Say

Most of what we know about Loki’s children comes from the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda.

The poem Völuspá foretells the roles of Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and Hel in the events leading to Ragnarök, while Snorri Sturluson’s Gylfaginning provides the fullest account of their births and the decisions made by the gods after learning of the prophecy surrounding them.

The binding of Fenrir, the casting of Jörmungandr into the sea, and Hel’s appointment as ruler of the dead are all described as deliberate attempts by the gods to prevent the foretold future. Yet, as is often the case in Norse mythology, these actions ultimately contribute to the fulfilment of prophecy rather than preventing it.

The story of Sleipnir’s birth is also preserved in Gylfaginning, where Loki’s transformation into a mare explains how Odin came to possess the finest horse in the Nine Worlds.

Although Narfi and Váli receive far less attention in the surviving texts, their tragic fate forms an essential part of Loki’s punishment and highlights the devastating consequences of the conflict between Loki and the gods.