The name Loki has at times been associated with the Old Norse word logi meaning flame, but there seems not to be a sound linguistic basis for this. Rather, the later Scandinavian variants of the name (such as Faroese Lokki, Danish
Lokkemand, Norwegian Loke and Lokke, Swedish Luki and Luku) point to an origin in the Germanic root *luk-, which denoted things to do with loops (like knots, hooks, closed-off rooms, and locks). This corresponds with usages such as the
Swedish lockanät and Faroese lokkanet (cobweb, literally Lokkes web ) and Faroese lokki~grindalokki~grindalokkur, daddy-long-legs; referring both to crane flies and harvestmen, modern Swedish lockespindlar (Locke-spiders). Loki is also called Lopt or Loptr (Lopt meaning air in old norse). Loki also has a few kennings related to birds. In the eddas Loki is a trickster figure who causes many issues but always plays a role in fixing them and generally making the situation better by the end this doesn’t really apply to Ragnarök but that’s a long subject that can be covered later. Loki steals Freya’s necklace, Brisingamen. Since Brisingamen this name is related to fire it could be possible that Loki stole fire like Prometheus or many other deities around the world. Loki is responsible for the gods getting many of their greatest items such as Mjolnir Gungnir Draupinr etc. because of this have seen many Lokeans use the kenning bringer of gifts for Loki. In the eddas Loki acts as an intermediary between the joten and the aesir and Vanir. The expressions Loki sows oats today or Lokke herds his goats today are used in several regions of Jutland, for example in Medelsom shire, the diocese of Viborg and stand for the sight in the springtime, when the sunshine generates vapor from the ground, which can be seen as fluttering or shimmering air in the horizon of the flat landscape, like the hot steam over a kettle or a burning fire. The popping crackling or flaring of a cooking fire is seen as Loki blowing on the fire and sometimes food will be left beside it for Loki; Both of these further show Loki’s connection to the air. Although this isn’t a concrete piece of evidence Loki being related to wind makes sense considering he is frequently depicted alongside Thor who as we know is a storm god, and obviously storms are frequently accompanied by wind. In my opinion based on Loki’s names the eddas and folk
lore I believe that Loki is a trickster god who is connected to air as well as a deity associated with the hearth/cooking fire. That added to the gifts Loki has given to the other gods, whether intentionally or unintentionally, leads me to believe look
may deliver our offerings to the gods, specifically those offerings made in fire. To further explain my reasoning, when you burn something, it becomes ash and smoke that smoke is pushed up by the air and the heat of the fire considering that
Loki is known as air (lopt/loptr) I see this as Loki bringing our offerings to the gods. Lopt can also mean sky or to raise to the sky when used as a verb. Also, Loki coming from a word meaning to knot lock or bind this can be interpreted as Loki binding the humanity and the gods through offerings. Also, there is a theory that Loki and Lodur are the same deity. Loki Odin and Honeir are depicted as a trio and have kennings referencing their friendship; the same can be said for Lodur Odin and Honeir. Also, Loki is referred to as Lóður in the rimur Lokrur. This idea has been proposed by scholars including Jackson Crawford. In regard to historical worship of Loki there isn’t a lot of evidence, this can be said for many other deities in the pantheon such as Sif and Heimdall, but people tend to focus on Loki with this because of their bias against him whether it be conscious or unconscious. That being said there is one interesting piece of evidence which
comes from Saxo Grammaticus’s History of the Danes. Anything from this book should be taken with a grain of salt because in it Saxo Grammaticus portrays the gods as ancient, powerful humans and frequently attempts to demonize them. In this book there is a Danish king who worships Utgard Loki, now Utgard Loki is mentioned as a separate character to Loki in the eddas and while this story is similar, he is portrayed quite differently in fact in Saxo’s Utgard Loki is described more similarly to Loki. In Saxo Grammaticus’s telling of the story a king worships Utgard Loki who brings him good weather. There is also a Christian in this story called Thorkill who wants to shake the kings faith in his favored god. In order to do this, he goes to find Utgard Loki and when he does, he finds him bound in a cave full of venomous snakes. He reports this news to the king who shortly after dies of grief because of Utgard Loki’s condition. This may imply that the story of Loki being bound in this way was not known to the Danes. Utgard Loki in this telling is a god who brings favorable weather and who is bound in a cave full of venomous snakes; this bears a striking resemblance to Loki as his most common alternate names are Lopt and Loptr which are words related to air, furthermore in the eddas Loki is bound in a cave and has snakes above him that drip venom in his eyes. None of these associations apply to the Utgard Loki of the eddas so it is my belief that the Saxo’s Utgard Loki actually refers to Loki.