Loki

In Norse mythology, Loki (/ˈlɒkɪ/) Anglicized (/ˈloʊki/), Loptr, or Hveðrungr is a god or jötunn (or both). Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Narfi and/or Nari. By the stallion Svaðilfari, Loki is the mother—giving birth in the form of a mare—to the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. In addition, Loki is referred to as the father of Váli in the Prose Edda.

Loki's relation with the gods varies by source; Loki sometimes assists the gods and sometimes behaves in a malicious manner towards them. Loki is a shape shifter and in separate incidents he appears in the form of a salmon, a mare, a seal, a fly, and possibly an elderly woman named Þökk (Old Norse 'thanks'). Loki's positive relations with the gods end with his role in engineering the death of the god Baldr and Loki is eventually bound by the gods with the entrails of one of his sons. In both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, the goddess Skaði is responsible for placing a serpent above him while he is bound. The serpent drips venom from above him that Sigyn collects into a bowl; however, she must empty the bowl when it is full, and the venom that drips in the meantime causes Loki to writhe in pain, thereby causing earthquakes. With the onset of Ragnarök, Loki is foretold to slip free from his bonds and to fight against the gods among the forces of the jötnar, at which time he will encounter the god Heimdallr and the two will slay each other.

Loki? (album)

Loki? is the first solo album from Arnaldo Baptista, the keyboardist, bassist and singer of the Brazilian band Os Mutantes. It was released in 1974 after a supposed nervous breakdown and it is considered one of the best albums in the 1970s Brazilian music scene. The album expresses his angst towards the height of post-modern society, along with the suffocating aspect of modernity: pollution, superpopulation, loneliness, etc.

It was listed by Rolling Stone Brazil at #34 on the list of 100 Greatest Brazilian Albums of All Time.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Arnaldo Baptista except where noted. 

Personnel

References

Asgard (Stargate)

The Asgard are a highly advanced, fictional extraterrestrial race in the science fiction series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. They are first mentioned in the episode "Thor's Hammer", and first seen in "Thor's Chariot". In the series, the Asgard gave rise to Norse mythology on Earth, as well as accounts of the Roswell "Greys". Due to their technological Prowess, the Asgard are critical allies in Earth's fight against the Goa'uld, and later the Ori. The Asgard characters on the show are realized through a combination of puppets and computer-generated imagery.

Background

The episode "The Fifth Race" establishes that the Asgard inhabit the galaxy of Ida, and that they were once part of an alliance of four great races with the Ancients, Nox, and Furlings. In ancient times, the Asgard visited Earth, posing as the gods of Norse mythology. Norse legends tell of how they protected the humans against the "Ettins" (Goa'uld). The Asgard protect a number of planets in the Milky Way from Goa'uld attack under the Protected Planets Treaty. In the time of Stargate SG-1, the Asgard are a dying race. Having lost the capacity for sexual reproduction, they perpetuate themselves by transferring their minds into successive cloned bodies. Repeated generations of cloning has led to an irreversible degeneration of the Asgard genome. A 30,000-year-old Asgard ancestor is depicted in "Revelations", showing a more human-like appearance.