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112-716: The ouroboros or uroboros ( / ˌ j ʊər ə ˈ b ɒr ə s / ; / ˌ ʊər ə ˈ b ɒr ə s / ) is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail . The ouroboros entered Western tradition via ancient Egyptian iconography and the Greek magical tradition . It was adopted as a symbol in Gnosticism and Hermeticism and most notably in alchemy . Some snakes, such as rat snakes , have been known to consume themselves. The term derives from Ancient Greek οὐροβόρος , from οὐρά oura 'tail' plus -βορός -boros '-eating'. The ouroboros

224-475: A legend for a map. The word symbol derives from the late Middle French masculine noun symbole , which appeared around 1380 in a theological sense signifying a formula used in the Roman Catholic Church as a sort of synonym for 'the credo'; by extension in the early Renaissance it came to mean 'a maxim' or 'the external sign of a sacrament'; these meanings were lost in secular contexts. It

336-554: A trickster god . Loki has been depicted in, or referenced in, a variety of media in modern popular culture. The etymology of the name Loki has been extensively debated. The name has been associated with the Old Norse word logi ('flame') at times, but there doesn't seem 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

448-407: A "symbol-using, symbol making, and symbol misusing animal" to suggest that a person creates symbols as well as misuses them. One example he uses to indicate what he means by the misuse of the symbol is the story of a man who, when told that a particular food item was whale blubber, could barely keep from throwing it up. Later, his friend discovered it was actually just a dumpling. But the man's reaction

560-603: A "tangler" may be the etymological meaning of Loki's name. In various poems from the Poetic Edda (stanza 2 of Lokasenna , stanza 41 of Hyndluljóð , and stanza 26 of Fjölsvinnsmál ), and sections of the Prose Edda (chapter 32 of Gylfaginning , stanza 8 of Haustlöng , and stanza 1 of Þórsdrápa ) Loki is alternatively referred to as Loptr , which is generally considered derived from Old Norse lopt meaning "air", and therefore points to an association with

672-507: A "terrible requital": having to wade in the river Vadgelmir , and that their suffering will be long. Loki looks over the gold that Andvari possesses, and after Andvari hands over all of his gold, Andvari holds on to but a single ring; the ring Andvarinaut , which Loki also takes. Andvari, now in the form of a dwarf, goes into a rock, and tells Loki that the gold will result in the death of two brothers, will cause strife between eight princes, and will be useless to everyone. Loki returns, and

784-594: A 10th-century copy, encloses the words hen to pan ( ἓν τὸ πᾶν ), "the all is one ". Its black and white halves may perhaps represent a Gnostic duality of existence, analogous to the Taoist yin and yang symbol. The chrysopoeia ouroboros of Cleopatra the Alchemist is one of the oldest images of the ouroboros to be linked with the legendary opus of the alchemists, the philosopher's stone . A 15th-century alchemical manuscript, The Aurora Consurgens , features

896-446: A basin beneath the dripping venom, yet when the basin became full, she carried the poison away; and during this time the poison dripped on to Loki, causing him to writhe with such violence that all of the earth shook from the force, resulting in what are now known as earthquakes. In the poem Þrymskviða , Thor wakes and finds that his powerful hammer, Mjöllnir , is missing. Thor turns to Loki first, and tells him that nobody knows that

1008-452: A bridal gift from "Freyja", and the jötnar bring out Mjöllnir to "sanctify the bride", to lay it on her lap, and marry the two by "the hand" of the goddess Vár . Thor laughs internally when he sees the hammer, takes hold of it, strikes Þrymr, beats all of the jötnar, and kills the "older sister" of the jötnar. Loki appears in both prose and the first six stanzas of the poem Reginsmál . The prose introduction to Reginsmál details that, while

1120-506: A deceased völva in Hel , and questions her repeatedly about his son Baldr 's bad dreams. Loki is mentioned in stanza 14, the final stanza of the poem, where the völva tells Odin to ride home, to be proud of himself, and that no one else will come visit until "Loki is loose, escaped from his bonds" and the onset of Ragnarök . Loki is referenced in two stanzas in Völuspá hin skamma , found within

1232-436: A gift to his daughter Þóra Town-Hart after which it grows into a large serpent which encircles the girl's bower and bites itself in the tail. The serpent is slain by Ragnar Lodbrok who marries Þóra. Ragnar later has a son with another woman named Kráka and this son is born with the image of a white snake in one eye. This snake encircled the iris and bit itself in the tail, and the son was named Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye . It

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1344-686: A means of complex communication that often can have multiple levels of meaning. Symbols are the basis of all human understanding and serve as vehicles of conception for all human knowledge. Symbols facilitate understanding of the world in which we live, thus serving as the grounds upon which we make judgments. In this way, people use symbols not only to make sense of the world around them but also to identify and cooperate in society through constitutive rhetoric . Human cultures use symbols to express specific ideologies and social structures and to represent aspects of their specific culture. Thus, symbols carry meanings that depend upon one's cultural background. As

1456-552: A particular symbol's apparent meaning. Consequently, symbols with emotive power carry problems analogous to false etymologies . The context of a symbol may change its meaning. Similar five-pointed stars might signify a law enforcement officer or a member of the armed services , depending upon the uniform . Symbols are used in cartography to communicate geographical information (generally as point, line, or area features). As with other symbols, visual variables such as size, shape, orientation, texture, and pattern provide meaning to

1568-444: A pike), which Andvari jumps into. The stanzas of the poem then begin: Loki mocks Andvari, and tells him that he can save his head by telling Loki where his gold is. Andvari gives some background information about himself, including that he was cursed by a " norn of misfortune" in his "early days". Loki responds by asking Andvari "what requital" does mankind get if "they wound each other with words". Andvari responds that lying men receive

1680-612: A pisspot", urinating in his mouth (an otherwise unattested comment). Njörðr responds that this was his reward when he was sent as a hostage to the Æsir, and that he fathered his son (Freyr), whom no one hates, and is considered a prince of the Æsir. Loki tells Njörðr to maintain his moderation, and that he will not keep it secret any longer that Njörðr fathered this son with his sister (unnamed), although one would expect him to be worse than he turned out. The god Tyr defends Freyr, to which Loki replies that Tyr should be silent, for Tyr cannot "deal straight with people", and points out that it

1792-401: A prose section details that after Loki left the hall, he disguised himself as a salmon and hid in the waterfall of Franangrsfors , where the Æsir caught him. The narrative continues that Loki was bound with the entrails of his son Nari , and his son Narfi changed into a wolf. Skaði fastened a venomous snake over Loki's face, and from it poison dripped. Sigyn, his spouse, sat with him holding

1904-481: A result, the meaning of a symbol is not inherent in the symbol itself but is culturally learned. Heinrich Zimmer gives a concise overview of the nature, and perennial relevance, of symbols. Concepts and words are symbols, just as visions, rituals, and images are; so too are the manners and customs of daily life. Through all of these, a transcendent reality is mirrored. There are so many metaphors reflecting and implying something which, though thus variously expressed,

2016-588: A reward for his lies. Loki replies that Bragi is brave when seated, calling him a "bench-ornament", and that Bragi would run away when troubled by an angry, spirited man. The goddess Iðunn interrupts, asking Bragi, as a service to his relatives and adopted relatives, not to say words of blame to Loki in Ægir's hall. Loki tells Iðunn to be silent, calling her the most "man-crazed" of all women, and saying that she placed her washed, bright arms around her brother's slayer. Iðunn says that she will not say words of blame in Ægir's hall, and affirms that she quietened Bragi, who

2128-536: A second time, and states that Tyr's wife (otherwise unattested) had a son by Loki, and that Tyr never received any compensation for this "injury", further calling him a "wretch". Freyr himself interrupts at this point, and says that he sees a wolf lying before a river mouth, and that, unless Loki is immediately silent, like the wolf, Loki shall also be bound until Ragnarök . Loki retorts that Freyr purchased his consort Gerðr with gold, having given away his sword, which he will lack at Ragnarök . Byggvir (referred to in

2240-417: A serpent biting its tail symbolised eternity and the soul of the world. The Gnostic Pistis Sophia (c. 400 CE) describes the ouroboros as a twelve-part dragon surrounding the world with its tail in its mouth. The famous ouroboros drawing from the early alchemical text, The Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra ( Κλεοπάτρας χρυσοποιία ), probably originally dating to the 3rd century Alexandria , but first known in

2352-509: A stylised ouroboros as their logo for the first 20 years of the company's existence. The logo is a silhouetted dragon twisted into the shape of an infinity symbol, devouring its own tail. In 2019, the promotion dropped the infinity dragon logo in favour of a shield logo. A variation of the Ouroboros motif is an important symbol in the fantasy novel The Neverending Story by Michael Ende : featuring two snakes, one black and one white, biting

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2464-438: A symbol always "points beyond itself" to something that is unquantifiable and mysterious; symbols open up the "depth dimension of reality itself". Symbols are complex, and their meanings can evolve as the individual or culture evolves. When a symbol loses its meaning and power for an individual or culture, it becomes a dead symbol. When a symbol becomes identified with the deeper reality to which it refers, it becomes idolatrous as

2576-499: A system whose structure is maintained through the self-production of and through that structure. In the words of Kauffman, is "the ancient mythological symbol of the worm ouroboros embedded in a mathematical, non-numerical calculus". The calculus derives from the confluence of the cybernetic logic of feedback, the sub-disciplines of autopoiesis developed by Varela and Humberto Maturana , and calculus of indications of George Spencer Brown . In another related biological application: It

2688-446: Is "much imbued with malice", that no worse woman has ever been among the "Æsir's children", and calling her a bad "serving-wench". Thor arrives, and tells Loki to be silent, referring to him as an "evil creature", stating that with his hammer Mjöllnir he will silence Loki by hammering his head from his shoulders. Acknowledging that Thor has arrived, Loki asks Thor why he is raging, and says that Thor will not be so bold to fight against

2800-645: Is a common belief among indigenous people of the tropical lowlands of South America that waters at the edge of the world-disc are encircled by a snake, often an anaconda, biting its own tail. The ouroboros has certain features in common with the Biblical Leviathan . According to the Zohar , the Leviathan is a singular creature with no mate, "its tail is placed in its mouth", while Rashi on Baba Batra 74b describes it as "twisting around and encompassing

2912-679: Is an ouroboros. The symbol plays a significant role in the alchemical plot of the story. The Ouroboros is the adopted symbol of the End Times -obsessed Millennium Group in the TV series Millennium . It also briefly appears when Dana Scully gets a tattoo of it in The X-Files Season 4 episode " Never Again " (1997). " Ouroboros " is an episode of the British science-fiction sitcom Red Dwarf , in which Dave Lister learns that he

3024-423: Is brought to marry Þrymr. The two return to Freyja, and tell her to dress herself in a bridal head dress, as they will drive her to Jötunheimr. Freyja, indignant and angry, goes into a rage, causing all of the halls of the Æsir to tremble in her anger, and her necklace, the famed Brísingamen , falls from her. Freyja pointedly refuses. As a result, the gods and goddesses meet and hold a thing to discuss and debate

3136-475: Is cursed as Andvari is, and that it will be the death of Hreidmar and Regin both. Hreidmar responds that if he had known this before, he would have taken their lives, yet that he believes those are not yet born whom the curse is intended for, and that he does not believe him. Further, with the hoard, he will have red gold for the rest of his life. Hreidmar tells them to leave, and the poem continues without further mention of Loki. In Baldr draumar , Odin has awoken

3248-402: Is due to her having not consumed anything for eight entire days before arriving due to her eagerness to arrive. Þrymr then lifts "Freyja's" veil and wants to kiss "her" until catching the terrifying eyes staring back at him, seemingly burning with fire. Loki states that this is because "Freyja" had not slept for eight nights in her eagerness. The "wretched sister" of the jötnar appears, asks for

3360-478: Is foretold to eventually break free from his bonds and, among the forces of the jötnar , to go to battle with the gods, during which time his children play a key role in the destruction of all but two humans over the events of Ragnarök . Loki has a particular enmity with the god Heimdallr . The two are in fact prophesied to kill one another during Ragnarök. Loki is attested in the Poetic Edda , compiled in

3472-756: Is his own father through time travel. In Season 1 (2012) of Ninjago titled " Ninjago: Rise of the Snakes ", the Lost City of Ouroboros (also referred to as the Ancient City of Ouroboros) serves as a pivotal location in the Serpentine's plan for vengeance against Ninjago. Once a massive Serpentine city, Ouroboros was buried beneath the Sea of Sand after the Serpentine War. The city was key to Pythor and

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3584-401: Is ineffable, though thus rendered multiform, remains inscrutable. Symbols hold the mind to truth but are not themselves the truth, hence it is delusory to borrow them. Each civilisation, every age, must bring forth its own." In the book Signs and Symbols , it is stated that A symbol   ... is a visual image or sign representing an idea – a deeper indicator of universal truth. Semiotics

3696-465: Is involved in that world's periodic renewal. The symbol persisted from Egyptian into Roman times , when it frequently appeared on magical talismans , sometimes in combination with other magical emblems. The 4th-century CE Latin commentator Servius was aware of the Egyptian use of the symbol, noting that the image of a snake biting its tail represents the cyclical nature of the year. In Gnosticism ,

3808-466: Is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a cycle of life, death and rebirth ; the snake's skin-sloughing symbolises the transmigration of souls . The snake biting its own tail is a fertility symbol in some religions: the tail is a phallic symbol and the mouth is a yonic or womb-like symbol. One of the earliest known ouroboros motifs is found in the Enigmatic Book of

3920-454: Is often presented with its mouth biting its tail. In Spanish it receives the name of pescadilla de rosca (" torus hake"). Both expressions Uma pescadinha de rabo na boca "tail-in mouth little hake" and La pescadilla que se muerde la cola , "the hake that bites its tail", are proverbial Portuguese and Spanish expressions for circular reasoning and vicious circles . The Kobe , Japan-based Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling promotion used

4032-488: Is otherwise unattested. Njörðr (Freyja and Freyr's father) says that it is harmless for a woman to have a lover or "someone else" beside her husband, and that what is surprising is a "pervert god coming here who has borne children". Loki tells Njörðr to be silent, recalling Njörðr's status as once having been a hostage from the Vanir to the Æsir during the Æsir-Vanir War , that the "daughters of Hymir" once used Njörðr "as

4144-417: Is quite a bit of evidence that Loki in premodern society was thought to be the causer of knots/tangles/loops, or himself a knot/tangle/loop. Hence, it is natural that Loki is the inventor of the fishnet, which consists of loops and knots, and that the word loki ( lokke , lokki , loke , luki ) is a term for makers of cobwebs: spiders and the like." Though not prominent in the oldest sources, this identity as

4256-416: Is remarkable, that Rosen's insight, that metabolism is just a mapping ..., which may be too cursory for a biologist, turns out to show us the way to construct recursively , by a limiting process, solutions of the self-referential Ouroborus equation f(f) = f, for an unknown function f, a way that mathematicians had not imagined before Rosen. Second-order cybernetics , or the cybernetics of cybernetics, applies

4368-425: Is said to be speedy. Loki tells him to be silent, that Byggvir does not know how to apportion food among men, and that he hides among the straw and dais when men go to battle. The god Heimdallr says that Loki is drunk and witless, and asks Loki why he will not stop speaking. Loki tells Heimdallr to be silent, that he was fated a "hateful life", that Heimdallr must always have a muddy back, and serve as watchman of

4480-597: Is substituted for another in order to change the meaning. In other words, if one person does not understand a certain word or phrase, another person may substitute a synonym or symbol in order to get the meaning across. However, upon learning the new way of interpreting a specific symbol, the person may change his or her already-formed ideas to incorporate the new information. Jean Dalby Clift says that people not only add their own interpretations to symbols, but they also create personal symbols that represent their own understanding of their lives: what she calls "core images" of

4592-406: Is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn ) and Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr . Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Nari and Váli . By the jötunn Angrboða , Loki is the father of Hel , the wolf Fenrir and the world serpent Jörmungandr . In the form of a mare , Loki was impregnated by the stallion Svaðilfari and gave birth to

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4704-513: Is the study of signs, symbols, and signification as communicative behavior. Semiotics studies focus on the relationship of the signifier and the signified, also taking into account the interpretation of visual cues, body language, sound, and other contextual clues. Semiotics is linked with linguistics and psychology. Semioticians not only study what a symbol implies but also how it got its meaning and how it functions to make meaning in society. For example, symbols can cause confusion in translation when

4816-482: The Prose Edda , this son, Nari or Narfi, is killed by another of Loki's sons, who is also called Váli . 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. Loki

4928-448: The prima materia of the art was man himself. The Ouroboros is a dramatic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e. of the shadow. This 'feedback' process is at the same time a symbol of immortality since it is said of the Ouroboros that he slays himself and brings himself to life, fertilizes himself, and gives birth to himself. He symbolizes the One, who proceeds from

5040-427: The Poetic Edda poem Völuspá , a völva tells Odin that, among many other things, she sees Sigyn sitting very unhappily with her bound husband, Loki, under a "grove of hot springs ". In stanza 51, during the events of Ragnarök , Loki appears free from his bonds and is referred to as the "brother of Býleistr " (here transcribed as Byleist ): A ship journeys from the east, Muspell's people are coming, over

5152-573: The homunculi race are identified by having the symbol carved/tattooed/branded/marked on them. The Abiranariba in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is based on the ouroboros. Splatoon 3 has a serpent-like Salmonid creature named after it, the Horrorboros. The Legend of Heroes: Trails features the enigmatic Society of Ouroboros, whose members serve as recurring antagonists in the series. In Xenoblade Chronicles 3 ,

5264-411: The "symbol is taken for reality." The symbol itself is substituted for the deeper meaning it intends to convey. The unique nature of a symbol is that it gives access to deeper layers of reality that are otherwise inaccessible. A symbol's meaning may be modified by various factors including popular usage, history , and contextual intent . The history of a symbol is one of many factors in determining

5376-598: The "wolf's father") may sit at the feast, and so that he may not speak words of blame to the gods in Ægir's hall. Víðarr stands and pours a drink for Loki. Prior to drinking, Loki declaims a toast to the gods, with a specific exception for Bragi. Bragi responds that he will give a horse, sword, and ring from his possessions so that he does not repay the gods "with hatred". Loki responds that Bragi will always be short of all of these things, accusing him of being "wary of war" and "shy of shooting". Bragi responds that, were they outside of Ægir's hall, Bragi would be holding Loki's head as

5488-806: The 13th century from earlier traditional sources: the Prose Edda and Heimskringla , written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson ; the Norwegian Rune Poems , in the poetry of skalds , and in Scandinavian folklore. Loki may be depicted on the Snaptun Stone , the Kirkby Stephen Stone and the Gosforth Cross . Scholars have debated Loki's origins and role in Norse mythology, which some have described as that of

5600-572: 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 'Lokke's web') and Faroese lokki ~ grindalokki ~ grindalokkur , 'daddy-long-legs' referring both to crane flies and harvestmen , as well as modern Swedish lockespindlar ("Locke-spiders"). Some Eastern Swedish traditions referring to

5712-509: The Netherworld , an ancient Egyptian funerary text in KV62 , the tomb of Tutankhamun , in the 14th century BCE. The text concerns the actions of Ra and his union with Osiris in the underworld . The ouroboros is depicted twice on the figure: holding their tails in their mouths, one encircling the head and upper chest, the other surrounding the feet of a large figure, which may represent

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5824-524: The Nindroid crisis, Pythor once again used Ouroboros as a base of operations. Here, he led an army of Nindroids and launched a giant rocket into space in search of the comet that held the remnants of the Golden Weapons. In Season 1 (2018) of the cyberpunk Netflix series Altered Carbon , the protagonist Takeshi Kovacs gets an ouroboros tattoo in shape of an infinity symbol , and it features in

5936-573: The Serpentine's efforts to awaken the Great Devourer, which had been imprisoned beneath the city. After retrieving the four Fangblades, Pythor returned to Ouroboros and successfully released the Great Devourer, causing significant damage to the city. Despite the destruction, the Serpentine continued to use the city as a temporary base before abandoning it to journey to the tomb of the Stone Army. In Season 3 (2014), Ninjago: Rebooted , during

6048-516: The air. The name Hveðrungr (Old Norse '?roarer') is also used in reference to Loki, occurring in names for Hel (such as in Ynglingatal , where she is called hveðrungs mær ) and in reference to Fenrir (as in Völuspa ). In the Poetic Edda , Loki appears (or is referenced) in the poems Völuspá , Lokasenna , Þrymskviða , Reginsmál , Baldrs draumar , and Hyndluljóð . In stanza 35 of

6160-532: The character Jane wears an Ouroboros ring, "the worm Ouroboros, the world snake". The short story later inspired the movie Predestination (2014). In the SCP Foundation universe, the proposal tale "The Ouroboros Cycle" spans the story of the SCP Foundation from its creation to its ending. In the A Discovery of Witches novels and television adaptation, the crest of the de Clermont family

6272-533: The children of the Æsir, she is singularly blameless. Loki "takes the horn", drinks it, and says that she would be, if it were so, and states that Sif and Loki had been lovers, despite her marriage to Thor (an affair that is otherwise unattested). Beyla (referred to in the prose introduction to the poem as a servant of Freyr) says that all of the mountains are shaking, that she thinks Thor must be on his way home, and when Thor arrives he will bring peace to those that quarrel there. Loki tells Beyla to be silent, that she

6384-431: The clash of opposites, and he, therefore, constitutes the secret of the prima materia which ... unquestionably stems from man's unconscious. The Jungian psychologist Erich Neumann writes of it as a representation of the pre-ego "dawn state", depicting the undifferentiated infancy experience of both mankind and the individual child. The German organic chemist August Kekulé described the eureka moment when he realised

6496-407: The cybernetic Ouroboros principle to musical improvisation. Hence the snake eating its tail is an accepted image or metaphor in the autopoietic calculus for self-reference, or self-indication, the logical processual notation for analysing and explaining self-producing autonomous systems and "the riddle of the living", developed by Francisco Varela . Reichel describes this as: an abstract concept of

6608-445: The earth, and that she had once taken Odin's brothers Vili and Vé into her embrace. Frigg responds that if there was a boy like her now-deceased son Baldr in the hall, Loki would not be able to escape from the wrath of the gods. Loki reminds Frigg that he is responsible for the death of her son Baldr. The goddess Freyja declares that Loki must be mad, stating that Frigg knows all fate, yet she does not speak it. Loki claims each of

6720-444: The eight-legged horse Sleipnir . Like other gods, Loki is a shape shifter and in separate sources appears in the form of a salmon , a mare , a fly , and possibly an elderly woman named Þökk (Old Norse 'thanks'). While sometimes friendly with the gods, Loki engineers the death of the beloved god Baldr . For this, Odin 's specially engendered son Váli binds Loki with the entrails of one of his sons, where he writhes in pain. In

6832-609: The entire world". The identification appears to go back as far as the poems of Kalir in the 6th–7th centuries. In the Aitareya Brahmana , a Vedic text of the early 1st millennium BCE, the nature of the Vedic rituals is compared to "a snake biting its own tail." Ouroboros symbolism has been used to describe the Kundalini . According to the medieval Yoga-kundalini Upanishad : "The divine power, Kundalini, shines like

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6944-399: The falls, Ótr (in the form of an otter) catches a salmon and eats it on a river bank, his eyes shut, when Loki hits and kills him with a stone. The gods think that this is great, and flay the skin from the otter to make a bag. That night, the three gods stay with Hreidmar (the father of Regin, Andvari, and the now-dead Ótr) and show him their catches, including the skin of the otter. Upon seeing

7056-449: The fates of men may equal Odin's own. Loki says that Odin does a poor job in handing out honor in war to men, and that he's often given victory to the faint-hearted. Odin responds that even if this is true, Loki (in a story otherwise unattested) once spent eight winters beneath the earth as a woman milking cows, and during this time bore children. Odin declares this perverse. Loki counters that Odin once practiced seiðr (a type of sorcery) on

7168-417: The feast, and that, before the end of the feast, he will induce quarrelling among the gods, and "mix their mead with malice". Eldir responds that "if shouting and fighting you pour out on" to the gods, "they'll wipe it off on you". Loki then enters the hall, and everyone there falls silent upon noticing him. Breaking the silence, Loki says that, thirsty, he had come to these halls from a long way away to ask

7280-434: The feather cloak whistling, away from Jötunheimr and back to the court of the gods. Thor asks Loki if his efforts were successful, and that Loki should tell him while he is still in the air as "tales often escape a sitting man, and the man lying down often barks out lies". Loki states that it was indeed an effort, and also a success, for he has discovered that Þrymr has the hammer, but that it cannot be retrieved unless Freyja

7392-508: The form of Ouroboros. In Mexican Gothic the symbol is used throughout the story, portraying the immortality of the home and the family, as well as the persistence of outdated ideologies. In The Wheel of Time and its 2021 television adaption , the Aes Sedai wear a "Great Serpent" ring, described as a snake consuming its own tail. In the science fiction short story " All You Zombies " (1958) by American writer Robert A. Heinlein ,

7504-494: The gates of Nágrind . In response to Thor, Loki says that he "spoke before the Æsir", and "before the sons of the Æsir" what his "spirit urged" him to say, yet before Thor alone he will leave, as he knows that Thor does strike. Loki ends the poetic verses of Lokasenna with a final stanza: Ale you brewed, Ægir, and you will never again hold a feast; all your possessions which are here inside— may flame play over them, and may your back be burnt! Following this final stanza

7616-425: The gods and elves that are present have been Freyja's lover. Freyja replies that Loki is lying, that he just wants to "yelp about wicked things" that gods and goddesses are furious with him, and that he will go home thwarted. In response, Loki calls Freyja a malicious witch, and claims that Freyja was once astride her brother Freyr , when all of the other laughing gods surprised her and Freyja then farted. This scenario

7728-747: The gods for a drink of "the famous mead". Calling the gods arrogant, Loki asks why they are unable to speak, and demands that they assign him a seat and a place for him at the feast, or tell him to leave. The skaldic god Bragi is the first to respond to Loki by telling him that Loki will not have a seat and place assigned to him by the gods at the feast, for the gods know what men they should invite. Loki does not respond to Bragi directly, but instead directs his attention to Odin, and states: Do you remember, Odin, when in bygone days we mixed our blood together? You said you would never drink ale unless it were brought to both of us. Odin then asks his silent son Víðarr to stand up, so that Loki (here referred to as

7840-475: The gods. The goddess Skaði says that while Loki now appears light-hearted and "playing" with his "tail-wagging", he will soon be bound with his ice-cold son's guts on a sharp rock by the gods. Loki says that, even if this is his fate, that he was "first and foremost" with the other gods at the killing of Skaði's father, Þjazi . Skaði says that, with these events in mind, "baneful advice" will always come from her "sanctuaries and plains" to Loki. Loki says that Skaði

7952-460: The hall and to the woods. The gods then return to the hall, and continue drinking. Loki comes out of the woods and meets Eldir outside of the hall. Loki greets Eldir (and the poem itself begins) with a demand that Eldir tell him what the gods are discussing over their ale inside the hall. Eldir responds that they discuss their "weapons and their prowess in war" and yet no one there has anything friendly to say about Loki. Loki says that he will go into

8064-430: The hammer has been stolen. The two then go to the court of the goddess Freyja , and Thor asks her if he may borrow her feather cloak so that he may attempt to find Mjöllnir. Freyja agrees, saying she would lend it even if it were made of silver and gold, and Loki flies off, the feather cloak whistling. In Jötunheimr , the jötunn Þrymr sits on a burial mound , plaiting golden collars for his female dogs, and trimming

8176-478: The head. Rees stressed "the intimate links between the microworld and the cosmos, symbolised by the ouraborus ", as tail and head meet to complete the circle. W. Ross Ashby applied ideas from biology to his own work as a psychiatrist in "Design for a Brain" (1952): that living things maintain essential variables of the body within critical limits with the brain as a regulator of the necessary feedback loops. Parmar contextualises his practices as an artist in applying

8288-472: The hero Sigurd was being fostered by Regin , son of Hreidmar , Regin tells him that once the gods Odin, Hœnir , and Loki went to Andvara-falls, which contained many fish. Regin, a dwarf, had two brothers; Andvari , who gained food by spending time in the Andvara-falls in the form of a pike , and Ótr , who would often go to the Andvara-falls in the form of an otter . While the three gods are at

8400-409: The island of Samsey (now Samsø , Denmark), and, appearing as a wizard, traveled among mankind, which Loki condemns as perverse. Frigg , a major deity who is married to Odin, says that what Loki and Odin did in the ancient past should not be spoken of in front of others, and that ancient matters should always remain hidden. Loki brings up that Frigg is the daughter of Fjörgyn , a personification of

8512-636: The jötnar will be able to invade and settle in Asgard . The gods dress Thor as a bride, and Loki states that he will go with Thor as his maid, and that the two shall drive to Jötunheimr together. After riding together in Thor's goat-driven chariot , the two, disguised, arrive in Jötunheimr. Þrymr commands the jötnar in his hall to spread straw on the benches, for Freyja has arrived to marry him. Þrymr recounts his treasured animals and objects, stating that Freyja

8624-454: The manes of his horses. Þrymr sees Loki, and asks what could be amiss among the Æsir and the Elves ; why is Loki alone in the Jötunheimr? Loki responds that he has bad news for both the elves and the Æsir: that Thor's hammer, Mjöllnir, is gone. Þrymr says that he has hidden Mjöllnir eight leagues beneath the earth, from which it will be retrieved if Freyja is brought to marry him. Loki flies off,

8736-415: The matter. At the thing, the god Heimdallr puts forth the suggestion that, in place of Freyja, Thor should be dressed as the bride, complete with jewels, women's clothing down to his knees, a bridal head-dress, and the necklace Brísingamen. Thor rejects the idea, and Loki (here described as "son of Laufey ") interjects that this will be the only way to get back Mjöllnir, and points out that without Mjöllnir,

8848-403: The nature of the individuation process than we moderns do, expressed this paradox through the symbol of the Ouroboros, the snake that eats its own tail. The Ouroboros has been said to have a meaning of infinity or wholeness. In the age-old image of the Ouroboros lies the thought of devouring oneself and turning oneself into a circulatory process, for it was clear to the more astute alchemists that

8960-486: The neuter noun symbolum refer to "a mark or sign as a means of recognition." The Latin word derives from Ancient Greek : σύμβολον symbolon , from a verb meaning 'put together', 'compare', alluding to the Classical practice of breaking a piece of ceramic in two and giving one half to the person who would receive a future message, and one half to the person who would send it: when the two fit perfectly together,

9072-399: The other's tail, this symbol represents the powerful AURYN and the infinite nature of the story. The symbol is also featured prominently on the cover of both the fictional book and the novel. The Worm Ouroboros is a high-fantasy novel written by E. R. Eddison . Much like the cyclical symbol of the ouroboros eating its own tail, the novel ends as it begins. The main villain has a ring in

9184-467: The ouroboros, where it is used among symbols of the sun, moon, and mercury. In Norse mythology , the ouroboros appears as the serpent Jörmungandr , one of the three children of Loki and Angrboda , which grew so large that it could encircle the world and grasp its tail in its teeth. In the legends of Ragnar Lodbrok , such as Ragnarssona þáttr , the Geatish king Herraud gives a small lindworm as

9296-852: The person. Clift argues that symbolic work with these personal symbols or core images can be as useful as working with dream symbols in psychoanalysis or counseling. William Indick suggests that the symbols that are commonly found in myth, legend, and fantasy fulfill psychological functions and hence are why archetypes such as "the hero", "the princess" and "the witch" have remained popular for centuries. Symbols can carry symbolic value in three primary forms: Ideological, comparative, and isomorphic. Ideological symbols such as religious and state symbols convey complex sets of beliefs and ideas that indicate "the right thing to do". Comparative symbols such as prestigious office addresses, fine art, and prominent awards indicate answers to questions of "better or worse" and "superior or inferior". Isomorphic symbols blend in with

9408-534: The player's party wields a power named after Ouroboros, which is subversively used to oppose the world's cycle of death and rebirth, rather than representing it. Ouroboros , an immersive, public sculpture by Australian artist Lindy Lee at the National Gallery of Australia forecourt. Symbol In the arts, symbolism is the use of a concrete element to represent a more abstract idea. In cartography , an organized collection of symbols forms

9520-452: The poem Hyndluljóð . The first stanza notes that Loki produced "the wolf" with the jötunn Angrboða , that Loki himself gave birth to the horse Sleipnir by the stallion Svaðilfari , and that Loki (referred to as the "brother of Býleistr ") thirdly gave birth to "the worst of all marvels". This stanza is followed by: Loki ate some of the heart, the thought-stone of a woman, roasted on a linden-wood fire, he found it half-cooked; Lopt

9632-593: The principle of self-referentiality, or the participation of the observer in the observed, to explore observer involvement. including D. J. Stewart's domain of "observer valued imparities". The genus of the armadillo girdled lizard , Ouroborus cataphractus , takes its name from the animal's defensive posture: curling into a ball and holding its own tail in its mouth. A medium-sized European hake , known in Spanish as pescadilla and in Portuguese as pescada ,

9744-402: The prose introduction to the poem as a servant of Freyr) says that if he had as noble a lineage and as an honorable a seat as Freyr, he would grind down Loki, and make all of his limbs lame. Loki refers to Byggvir in terms of a dog, and says that Byggvir is always found at Freyr's ears, or twittering beneath a grindstone. Byggvir says that he is proud to be here by all the gods and men, and that he

9856-493: The receiver could be sure that the messenger bearing it did indeed also carry a genuine message from the intended person. A literary or artistic symbol as an "outward sign" of something else is a metaphorical extension of this notion of a message from a sender to a recipient. In English, the meaning "something which stands for something else" was first recorded in 1590, in Edmund Spenser 's Faerie Queene . Symbols are

9968-466: The receiving figure responds with a single stanza, and then another figure chimes in. The poem begins with a prose introduction detailing that Ægir , a figure associated with the sea, is hosting a feast in his hall for a number of the gods and elves . There, the gods praise Ægir's servers Fimafeng and Eldir . Loki "could not bear to hear that", and kills the servant Fimafeng. In response, the gods grab their shields, shrieking at Loki, and chase him out of

10080-629: The same figure use forms in n - like Nokk(e) , but this corresponds to the * luk - etymology insofar, as those dialects consistently used a different root, Germanic * hnuk -, in contexts where western varieties used * luk -: " nokke corresponds to nøkkel " ('key' in Eastern Scandinavian) "as loki ~ lokke to lykil " ('key' in Western Scandinavian). While it has been suggested that this association with closing could point to Loki's apocalyptic role at Ragnarök , "there

10192-600: The same symbol means different things in the source and target languages. A potential error documented in survey translation is the symbol of "x" used to denote "yes" when marking a response in the English language surveys, but "x" usually means "no" in the Chinese convention. Symbols allow the human brain continuously to create meaning using sensory input and decode symbols through both denotation and connotation . An alternative definition of symbol , distinguishing it from

10304-510: The show’s title sequence, tying in to the themes of rebirth and the twisting of the natural cycle of life and death. In the season 2 premiere of the television series Loki , a character named Ouroboros (played by Ke Huy Quan ) is introduced. He is an employee of the Time Variance Authority. In the fourth episode, he also references a snake biting its own tail. In the anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood , members of

10416-402: The skin, Regin and Hreidmar "seized them and made them ransom their lives" in exchange for filling the otterskin bag the gods had made with gold and covering the exterior of the bag with red gold. Loki is sent to retrieve the gold, and Loki goes to the goddess Rán , borrows her net, and then goes back to the Andvara-falls. At the falls, Loki spreads his net before Andvari (who is in the form of

10528-525: The stem of a young lotus; like a snake, coiled round upon herself she holds her tail in her mouth and lies resting half asleep as the base of the body" (1.82). Storl (2004) also refers to the ouroboros image in reference to the "cycle of samsara ". Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung saw the ouroboros as an archetype and the basic mandala of alchemy. Jung also defined the relationship of the ouroboros to alchemy: Carl Jung, Collected Works , Vol. 14 para. 513. The alchemists, who in their own way knew more about

10640-565: The structure of benzene , after he saw a vision of Ouroboros: I was sitting, writing at my text-book; but the work did not progress; my thoughts were elsewhere. I turned my chair to the fire and dozed. Again the atoms were gamboling before my eyes. This time the smaller groups kept modestly in the background. My mental eye, rendered more acute by the repeated visions of the kind, could now distinguish larger structures of manifold conformation: long rows, sometimes more closely fitted together; all twining and twisting in snake-like motion. But look! What

10752-829: The surrounding cultural environment such that they enable individuals and organizations to conform to their surroundings and evade social and political scrutiny. Examples of symbols with isomorphic value include wearing a professional dress during business meetings, shaking hands to greet others in the West, or bowing to greet others in the East. A single symbol can carry multiple distinct meanings such that it provides multiple types of symbolic value. Paul Tillich argued that, while signs are invented and forgotten, symbols are born and die. There are, therefore, dead and living symbols. A living symbol can reveal to an individual hidden levels of meaning and transcendent or religious realities. For Tillich

10864-454: The symbol. According to semiotics , map symbols are "read" by map users when they make a connection between the graphic mark on the map (the sign ), a general concept (the interpretant ), and a particular feature of the real world (the referent ). Map symbols can thus be categorized by how they suggest this connection: A symbolic action is an action that symbolizes or signals what the actor wants or believes. The action conveys meaning to

10976-448: The term sign was proposed by Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung . In his studies on what is now called Jungian archetypes , a sign stands for something known, as a word stands for its referent. He contrasted a sign with a symbol : something that is unknown and that cannot be made clear or precise. An example of a symbol in this sense is Christ as a symbol of the archetype called self . Kenneth Burke described Homo sapiens as

11088-404: The three gods give Hreidmar the money from the gold hoard and flatten out the otter skin, stretch out its legs, and heap gold atop it, covering it. Hreidmar looks it over, and notices a single hair that has not been covered. Hreidmar demands that it be covered as well. Odin puts forth the ring Andvarinaut, covering the single hair. Loki states that they have now handed over the gold, and that gold

11200-415: The unified Ra-Osiris ( Osiris born again as Ra ). Both serpents are manifestations of the deity Mehen , who in other funerary texts protects Ra in his underworld journey. The whole divine figure represents the beginning and the end of time. The ouroboros appears elsewhere in Egyptian sources, where, like many Egyptian serpent deities, it represents the formless disorder that surrounds the orderly world and

11312-465: The viewers. Symbolic action may overlap with symbolic speech , such as the use of flag burning to express hostility or saluting the flag to express patriotism. In response to intense public criticism, businesses, organizations, and governments may take symbolic actions rather than, or in addition to, directly addressing the identified problems. Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology . He

11424-400: The waves, and Loki steers There are the monstrous brood with all the raveners, The brother of Byleist is in company with them. In stanza 54, after consuming Odin and being killed by Odin's son Víðarr , Fenrir is described as "Loki's kinsman". The poem Lokasenna (Old Norse "Loki's Flyting ") centers around Loki flyting with other gods; Loki puts forth two stanzas of insults while

11536-432: The wolf when he swallows Odin at Ragnarök . Thor again tells Loki to be silent, and threatens him with Mjöllnir, adding that he will throw Loki "up on the roads to the east", and thereafter no one will be able to see Loki. Loki states that Thor should never brag of his journeys to the east, claiming that there Thor crouched cowering in the thumb of a glove, mockingly referring to him as a "hero", and adding that such behaviour

11648-419: Was Loki's son, the wolf Fenrir, who tore Tyr's hand off. (According to the prose introduction to the poem Tyr is now one-handed from having his arm bitten off by Loki's son Fenrir while Fenrir was bound.) Tyr responds that while he may have lost a hand, Loki has lost the wolf, and trouble has come to them both. Further, that Fenrir must now wait in shackles until the onset of Ragnarök . Loki tells Tyr to be silent

11760-514: Was a direct consequence of the symbol of "blubber" representing something inedible in his mind. In addition, the symbol of "blubber" was created by the man through various kinds of learning . Burke goes on to describe symbols as also being derived from Sigmund Freud 's work on condensation and displacement , further stating that symbols are not just relevant to the theory of dreams but also to "normal symbol systems". He says they are related through "substitution", where one word, phrase, or symbol

11872-401: Was all that he was missing in his wealth. Early in the evening, the disguised Loki and Thor meet with Þrymr and the assembled jötnar. Thor eats and drinks ferociously, consuming entire animals and three casks of mead . Þrymr finds the behaviour at odds with his impression of Freyja, and Loki, sitting before Þrymr and appearing as a "very shrewd maid", makes the excuse that "Freyja's" behaviour

11984-527: Was during the Renaissance in the mid-16th century that the word took on the meaning that is dominant today, that of 'a natural fact or object evoking by its form or its nature an association of ideas with something abstract or absent'; this appears, for example, in François Rabelais , Le Quart Livre , in 1552. This French word derives from Latin, where both the masculine noun symbolus and

12096-418: Was impregnated by a wicked woman, from whom every ogress on earth is descended. In the second of the two stanzas, Loki is referred to as Lopt . Loki's consumption of a woman's heart is otherwise unattested. In the poem Fjölsvinnsmál , a stanza mentions Loki (as Lopt ) in association with runes . In the poem, Fjölsviðr describes to the hero Svipdagr that Sinmara keeps the weapon Lævateinn within

12208-447: Was made talkative by beer, and that she does not want the two of them to fight. The goddess Gefjun asks why the two gods must fight, saying that Loki knows that he is joking, and that "all living things love him". Loki responds to Gefjun by stating that Gefjun's heart was once seduced by a "white boy" who gave her a jewel, and who Gefjun laid her thigh over. Odin says that Loki must be insane to make Gefjun his enemy, as her wisdom about

12320-455: Was once gentler in speech to him (referring to himself as the "son of Laufey ") when Skaði once invited him to her bed (an event that is unattested elsewhere), and that such events must be mentioned if they are to recall "shameful deeds". Sif goes forth and pours Loki a glass of mead into a crystal cup in a prose narrative. Continuing the poem, Sif welcomes Loki and invites him to take a crystal cup filled with ancient mead, and says that among

12432-456: Was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of its own tail, and the form whirled mockingly before my eyes. As if by a flash of lightning I awoke; and this time also I spent the rest of the night in working out the consequences of the hypothesis. Martin Rees used the ouroboros to illustrate the various scales of the universe, ranging from 10 cm (subatomic) at the tail, up to 10 cm (supragalactic) at

12544-495: Was unlike Thor. Thor responds by telling Loki to be silent, threatening him with Mjöllnir, and adding that every one of Loki's bones will be broken with it. Loki says he intends to live for a long while yet despite Thor's threats, and taunts Thor about an encounter Thor once had with the Skrýmir ( Útgarða-Loki in disguise). Thor again commands Loki to be silent, threatens Loki with Mjöllnir, and says he will send Loki to Hel , below

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