Loki Steals the Moon

This is a cute little story, meant to inspire more of a laugh than a deep thought. Think of it more as… Divine Fan Fiction… rather than anything else.

One night Loki just couldn’t get to sleep. He grew to be so restless and fidgety, pacing around his house aimlessly looking for something to do, that Sigyn got out of bed and shoved him out the door.

“Go for a walk and settle your nerves love,” she told him with a yawn. “You’ll wake the boys like this.”

So Loki went out to walk among the long houses of the Aesir and while he was walking he noticed how bright the full Moon shone that night, lighting up the path before him like a river of silver.

“THAT’S IT!” thought Loki. “I can’t sleep because of the Moon!”

“I’ll just have to steal the Moon,” said Loki thoughtfully to himself, stroking his chin as he walked past the house of his friend and neighbor Thor. “But in what shape should I steal it?”

It was then that Loki spied a flash of orange and white slipping around behind Thor’s chicken coop. Quick as a wink, the flash of color was back out of the coup. Now quite clearly a fox with a fine young hen already silenced in it’s jaws. Off into the forest the fox ran with its prize, trailing tell tale feathers as it darted past the highly amused God and away into the darkness.

“Well done my fine furred friend,” whispered Loki as with a wave of his hand he conjured a wind to carry those fallen feathers away and so erase the trail the fox had left and leave his sometime traveling companion with a mystery come morning. “And I must say, those are some fine colors to be wearing for a bit of theft,” said the Trickster with a sly smile as his face grew long and his body short. Fur of bright orange and white with black mittens and a black tip on a somewhat more lustrous than necessary tail, for Loki was vain after a fashion, took the place of shirt and breeches and the God became a fox.

Up jumped the fox in great springing leaps from one cloud to the next, till finally he spied his prize. There it was, the great shining silver orb lashed with ropes made of the strongest silk to the cart driven by Mani. Mani the Moon God seemed quite relaxed. He leaned back in the cart with his hands supporting his head, the horse’s reins in his lap. He was chatting idly with a great shaggy pale colored monster of a wolf who trotted along beside the cart.

“That can’t be right,” thought Loki to himself. “Wasn’t Hati trying to capture the Moon himself to eat it? All the Aesir say so. No matter. The Moon will be my prize soon enough! And then I think I’ll string it on a silver chain and give it to Sigyn. That should put her in a better mood come morning.”

With these thoughts in mind the Trickster in fox form willed the wisps of cloud that held Him aloft to obscure his from and make a path for him to come up behind the Moon. On silent black paws he stole up behind the Moon and leaped upon the pale shining stone. Crouched low on the cool surface the fox listened with perked ears and watch with sharp eyes, but neither wolf nor driver had noticed his presence.

With silent glee the fox stood up on his paws and took in a great breath of the night air. Lowering his muzzle he blew soft and slowly down upon the Moon. The warm breath of the Trickster spread out along the smooth sphere and cradled it in a cocoon of magic. Like a giant balloon whose air was slowly drawn out the Moon shrunk down with the fox on top of it till it was only a shimmering gem caught between Loki’s teeth.

Quick as lightning Loki darted away down from cloud to cloud as he had come, while high above Mani’s horses stopped with a jerk. Driver and wolf looked at each other, the wolf’s teeth bared in a snarl while the relaxed old God threw back his head and laughed to see the Moon had been taken from its moorings.

“What’s so funny?” demanded the Hati. “The Aesir will be furious when they find the Moon no longer travels the night sky.”

“Oh nothing really,” replied Mani, a twinkle in his eye as he calmed the horses from their fright. “Only it’s been some time since I was the one to fall for a trick, and there is only one God I know with the spirit to try.”

“Loki!” exclaimed Hati, and off he went down to Asgard.

Having been given the gift of true flight Hati traveled faster through the air than Loki on a makeshift stairway of clouds and with his sharp eyes the wolf spied the God in fox guise just as Loki entered his home. “Loki!” snarled Hati as he charged into the house. “Give back the Moon!” he cried as he lunged for the fox with his fangs.

Thinking he had made his escape unseen and not counting on canny Mani to guess whom would dare steal the moon Loki was caught by surprise and nearly lost his silky tail to Hati’s jaws. He darted out of the way and tried to circle around back out the door with the Moon still caught in his jaws but Hati quickly moved to block his path. So back into his house Loki went with Hati fast at his tail, snapping and snarling and crashing into all manner of furniture and cookware. Their game of fox and hound woke the twins, Vali and Nari, who of course thought it was a wonderful game and started cheering on the chase around the longhouse.

Sigyn however, when woken from her sleep was not amused. Neither wolf nor fox saw her creep up behind them in her nightdress, armed with a frying pan with which she SMACKED her husband turned fox sharply on the head. Knocked clean out of his fox form and into his own skin, Loki sprawled ungracefully on the floor and lost his grip on the Moon which rolled on the floor. He scrambled to pick it up but Sigyn scooped it up before he could reach it. She gave Hati a WHACK on his nose when he tried to lunge for the jewel as well, sharply commanding “No!” as if the massive wolf was a tame dog.

Hati was startled into obedience by the stern Goddess and sat back on his haunches with a whimper of pain as he pawed at his bruised nose. Sigyn with her frying pan resting on her hip in her right hand considered the glowing stone in her left, and glared at her husband over top of it.

“Looookiiiii…” said Sigyn, drawing out her husband’s name and letting him know he was in serious trouble. “What Did You Do?” she demanded to know.

“My Love and My Heart,” replied Loki, struggling to smile and soothe despite only half rising to a sitting position on the floor and feeling the weight of his wife’s burning stare. “I… I brought You the Moon.”

“YOU DID WHAT!?!?” shrilled Sigyn in anger causing her husband to shield his head with his arms for fear of another blow. Further blows did come, but not from the frying pan. Rather in a torrent of biting words chiding the Trickster for every possible consequence of his theft.

While the loving couple were speaking Hati saw his chance to take the Moon from Sigyn again, only to find two young boys who had crept from their beds to stand at his sides. Being curious young boys, Vali and Nari insisted on introducing themselves and peppering Hati with all manner of questions about who he was and what being a wolf was like. All while enthusiastically exploring his fur with their hands of course. Hati being the sort of wolf who could never bring himself to show anything but patience and kindness to a pup, even a human shaped one, was trapped.

“Oh, don’t be so hard on him Sigyn,” came a warm baritone voice from the door, cutting through the angry din with a kindness like an old clock tower bell that stopped everyone in their tracks. Leaning on the door frame with his arms folded across his chest and a broad smile on his face stood Mani. “You can hardly blame him for acting on his nature. Besides, it’s been sometime since I’ve been caught like that. Hati needed the run, and he was thinking of you.”

“That doesn’t excuse… “ Sigyn began waving her frying pan at Mani, then stopped when Vali and Nari lept up to race for the door. “Boys!” She cried, but it was too late. “Uncle Mani!” cried the twins as they raced up to hug the Moon God, each around one leg.

“They’re fine,” assured Mani, already ruffling the boys’ hair as te greeted them. “Growing into fine young lads too I see. Now, go and mind your mother lads,” He said shooing the boys off. “Can we pet Hati more Uncle Mani?” the twins pleaded. “Yes yes now off with you!”

Vali and Nari ran up to Hati who again found himself trapped between the two growing boys. “Hati!?” asked Sigyn incredulously. “But wasn’t he the one that was trying to eat the Moon?”

Mani shrugged. “So we’ve let everyone think. Loki,” said the Moon God looking seriously at the Trickster. “I’m willing to forget this whole thing, so long as you never speak a word of how I manage the Moon to that one eyed traveling companion of yours, agreed?” explained Mani, speaking of course of Odin, whom all knew shared close council with Loki.

Loki could only nod sheepishly as both Mani and Sigyn stared him down and say. “Yes Sir.”

“Good, that’s settled then,” replied Mani as he received the Moon back from Sigyn and called Hati to him. “And you two can visit Hati again some other night, so long as you keep that a secret between us, alright boys?” the God offered to the disappointed twins who brightened instantly.

“We will Uncle Mani!” called Vali and Nari as Mani left with Hati beside him just as the first touches of dawn were showing in the eastern sky, vanishing behind a cloud of silvery mist.

Sigyn sighed, shaking her head with her hands on her hips and looking down on her husband still half sprawled on the floor. “You just wanted to get the moonlight out of your eyes thinking that would help you sleep, didn’t you?” she scolded.

“Well… yes but I also thought that you would like…” CLANG!!! Came Sigyn’s pan down on the hard headed Trickster, much to the amusement of their two growing sons.