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Reconsider all you know about Loki, the iconic mercurial trickster god of Norse mythology and contemporary pop culture fame
Loki, ever the shapeshifter, is constantly being remade and reinterpreted. A central character in Norse mythology, the trickster god is also a pop culture icon, appearing in countless offshoots and interpretations across media, now most evident as Tom Hiddleston in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films and TV shows. Each iteration offers a new layer to the character we’ve come to know so well.
By exploring contemporary variations of Loki from genderfluid Norse god to anti-hero trickster, Karl Johnson considers the continued role of myths in the twenty-first century—through fandom, ritual, queer theory, and popular culture.
In The Loki Variations, Johnson invites readers to journey with him as he unpicks his own evolving relationship with Loki, and to ask: Who is your Loki? And what is their glorious purpose?
Karl Johnson is a lecturer in sociology and a life-long geek. He researches and writes about widening access to higher education, social theory, and pop culture, and issues affecting the Scottish Islands—such as gendered exclusion in Shetland’s Up Helly Aa festival.
Introduction
1: God of Knots
2: God of Mischief
3: God of Outcasts
4: God of Stories
(Dis)honorable Mentions
Conclusion