"Well yes, but you have to remember. Asgardians are some of the sturdiest and strongest beings in the nine-realms. Add to that the devil-may-care attitude that can come with youth..." But he might've been grinning. It was a fond memory.
"I do remember you mentioning it before, yes." Still, even at her most devil may care levels, Eilonwy didn't think it was a great plan to just pick a snake up. "A different kind of youth, I wouldn't have heard the end of it if I'd tried to collect a snake!"
"We were also a warrior people, Eilonwy." Loki reminded, but shrugged. "Perhaps our parents would've been different with a girl, but I doubt it. Especially having seen what our heretofore-unknown sister was actually like." Loki frowned, but really didn't want to dwell on all of that too. Bad enough he'd had his past brought up on Sleepr.
"In any case, what other questions can I answer? Preferably not about my family, please."
Eilonwy nodded. "Apologies, I said I didn't want details and then.." she shook her head, aware of the faux pas. She fell quiet for a moment in thought before she found another question to ask.
"You're well read, but do you ever write things yourself? Poems, short stories? Songs?"
Loki waved off the apology, but was glad she understood. He was a bit surprised by her question, but smiled. "Occasionally. My Yule gift to Puck was actually a play version of our shenanigans at the masquerade ball under the mistletoe. I've not done much writing lately for fun other than that."
"An entire play!" Eilonwy exclaimed. "That must have been a lot of work. But I haven't done much writing for fun either. Most of mine in Llyr involves record keeping or notes on what I'm studying. Maybe I'll try some later, to see how I like it."
"It wasn't terribly hard, as our shenanigans at the ball were very theatrical. It made it easy to adapt." Loki demurred, but still had a proud smile on his face. "What would you write for fun, while here? Besides notes of various kinds."
"Besides just notes.." Eilonwy trailed off and thought it over. "I think I'd try copying some of the myths from Prydain as a whole. But if you also mean besides copying things, probably poetry? It can be fun to write, and it's almost like writing song lyrics."
"I would love to read, or hear spoken aloud, myths from your home." Loki was not as well versed in many of the details of the various myths of the nine realms (especially Midgard) but he had at least learned the basics for most. It was fascinating to him, and not leastwise because of how one part of Midgard had viewed him and his brother and others as Gods.
"I'd be speaking for at least a day if I told you all of the parts of the four branches of the Mabinogi! But I could start with the first part since it explains everything and covers different characters."
Eilonwy knew enough about Prydain myths to fill at least two journals. Most of the other legends were passed down by word of mouth, as people traveled and shared between them. "Should I start now?"
"Whenever you'd like, written or spoken. I always found it interesting to learn the mythologies and legends of other cultures. Midgard in particular had a wide range that was quite impressive in variety." But Loki also didn't want to pressure Eilonwy. Having her there, in many ways reaffirming that yes, she was his friend and student, and she trusted him, was helping quite a bit.
Eilonwy thought back for a moment before she spoke again. "You'll need to know the first for any of the rest to make sense. As a whole, the branches make a connecting tree tying bloodlines together and relationships. Each branch covers a different collection of who we know as gods but are also figureheads for Prydain as a whole." She started to recall the names of specific figures as she explained things.
"The first covers Pwyll, a prince of Dyfed-- a kingdom in the southwest. In Prydain we call the after life Annwn. It's paradise-- there's everything you'd want, your loved ones, and no one ever gets sick or runs out of food. This is ruled over by King Arawn."
She stopped to sort out the next section but also to give Loki some time to ask questions if he wanted to.
"Tree symbolism is used in a lot of cultures. Including in Asgard, given Yggdrasil." Loki murmured, but also paying rapt attention. He nodded when she was finished, and idly wished he'd brought a notebook. Not his NOTE-notebook, but something write all this down with and on.
"So this first branch deals with Pwyll, and likely the afterlife Annwn yes?"
"Only for a little bit, actually! Pwyll and Arawn met and had the idea to swap places with each other. Arawn enjoyed the time away, and Pwyll got to see Annwn ahead of his own death. But King Hafgan, the other king of the afterlife wasn't pleased by any of it and challenged Pwyll to a fight." It really was more of a very nice backdrop for some interpersonal drama, and Eilonwy felt herself getting into the story as she recalled it.
"What was the difference in the afterlives? and I could see the king enjoying a break from his usual duties easily." But Loki was listening, and trying to not disrupt but more put things together for himself.
"Oh no, there's just one, but it has two kings!" Eilonwy explained. "They're always fighting, and this ties into things. Before Pwyll and Arawn traded places, Arawn told Pwyll that if Hafgan ever challenged him to a fight then he would need to make sure to end it with precisely one strike. No more, no less. Pwyll remembered this as Hafgan again challenged him to a fight, offended that Arawn had left in the first place. Pwyll accepted and prepared himself."
Loki listened, and held his question about why two kings? It could wait, and he was already pondering reasons why. Why Hafgan would need to be defeated in one blow. Was that a condition only for Pwyll? Was the other honor-bound (or otherwise) to accept the challenge?
"Hafgan held off on actually starting the fight, and the two met one year later. Pwyll was disguised as Arawn and the two fought properly this time. Pwyll still remembered the warning about Hafgan needing to be felled in one stroke. Arawn had explained that in the past when he had fought Hafgan and almost killed him, Hafgan had begged for one more hit. But this was a very clever trick by Hafgan! By taking anything more than one strike, he would recover as if he'd used magic and be able to fight again at full strength the next day."
It really was a smart strategy, and Eilonwy had asked how that had worked, but had never gotten any kind of explanation that worked for her.
"Ah." Loki said, in understanding. He could think of a number of reasons how that might be done. "I suspect I'd have to know more about the stories and delve deep, to determine just how Hafgan may have done that. But it is not impossible." A soft chuckle. "Not that I meant to interrupt, please continue."
"Honestly, I think it's some kind of spell, but no one has ever answered." Eilonwy answered before assuring him with, "No, that's fine! To continue; the fight began and Pwyll made very short work of brutally injuring Hafgan. As Hafgan lay on the ground wounded, he begged Pwyll to finish the job and strike him again. But since Pwyll had been told about Hafgan's trick, he refused and told Hafgan that even though it might be something he would regret in the future, Pwyll would leave him alive.
Hafgan was stuck-- he couldn't use his trick to heal, but his lords had just seen him be nearly defeated and in their mind, begging to be defeated instead of fighting and showing his courage. Hafgan told his lords that his death had been met, even if it wasn't physical and he would stop being their king. That's how Annwn went from two kings to one, with King Arawn being the only one recognized moving forward."
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whose_son_am_i) wrote2027-08-15 09:41 pm
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"In any case, what other questions can I answer? Preferably not about my family, please."
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"You're well read, but do you ever write things yourself? Poems, short stories? Songs?"
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Eilonwy knew enough about Prydain myths to fill at least two journals. Most of the other legends were passed down by word of mouth, as people traveled and shared between them. "Should I start now?"
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"The first covers Pwyll, a prince of Dyfed-- a kingdom in the southwest. In Prydain we call the after life Annwn. It's paradise-- there's everything you'd want, your loved ones, and no one ever gets sick or runs out of food. This is ruled over by King Arawn."
She stopped to sort out the next section but also to give Loki some time to ask questions if he wanted to.
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"So this first branch deals with Pwyll, and likely the afterlife Annwn yes?"
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It really was a smart strategy, and Eilonwy had asked how that had worked, but had never gotten any kind of explanation that worked for her.
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Hafgan was stuck-- he couldn't use his trick to heal, but his lords had just seen him be nearly defeated and in their mind, begging to be defeated instead of fighting and showing his courage. Hafgan told his lords that his death had been met, even if it wasn't physical and he would stop being their king. That's how Annwn went from two kings to one, with King Arawn being the only one recognized moving forward."