Amy Chen, Period 6, 03/22/24

 Amy Chen, Period 6, 3/21/24

Modern Mythology 2024

Literature Circle - Modern Myths 

The Witch’s Heart

I did my norse project on Angrboda and her children, and through my research I found that there was basically no information written about her in the original sources. Through the recommendations, as well as my own interest in seeing an interesting character not fully expanded upon fleshed out. I decided to read The Witch’s Heart.  

The Witch’s Heart does not have chapters so I will just be reacting to various scenes from Part I, which takes up roughly half the book.

The book begins with an introduction of the witch, known in her current life as Gullveig and she teaches Odin and the Vanir seid. Odin wants her to give him information about the future, but Gullveig refuses. She is stabbed through the chest, burned and reborn 3 times. She eventually flees, but her heart is left behind. Immediately, the first questions I have are: who is she and how does she have the power that she has? I know from the Norse mythology unit that despite their immortality, even gods can be killed, so how is Gullveig able to resist death and be reborn three times. I expect these questions to be answered further into the book. Loki retrieves the heart and looks for the witch, who now has taken on the name, Angrboda. I’m surprised by Angrboda’s lack of reaction to meeting Loki. She has recently been betrayed and killed 3 times because of it, and somehow she is not wary of a stranger who has tracked her down. And even more so after Loki reveals himself to be the blood brother of Odin, the very man that had turned on her. Perhaps his return of her heart is enough of a gesture of goodwill to her, but I still find it odd that she would take a man she has only recently met into her home, despite the fact that she sees him as a “wild” and “sly” individual, two characteristics I would immediately stay wary of. 

Angrboda’s new home is a cave located in Ironwood and she begins building with the help of a huntress giant she meets in the woods. They establish a trade relationship, where Skadi trades the potions that Angrboda makes and splits the profits with Angrboda, that eventually develops into a friendship. The progression of the story is very nice and domestic, but I cannot help but be immediately apprehensive, since this is a drastic jump from the events of the previous part. It feels like the start of a calm, before the storm that will eventually hit. This feeling is exacerbated by the already existing door hinge, which I believe may have been Angrboda’s previous presence here in a past life, as well as the fact that Angrboda doesn’t know if she was not the mother of the wolves in the tales of the area, acknowledging it as a possibility. If Angrboda has built a life here once before, and it ended with the events that happened at the very beginning of the book, what's to say that events of a similar nature will not happen again? And then, the last part of the scene, “Maybe things will be different this year, Angrboda hoped. Every spring Ironwood seems a bit greener. But perhaps it’s just my imagination.” (Gornichec), basically confirms that something will definitely happen and go terribly wrong. 

Angrboda and Loki’s relationship continues to develop as he continues to visit her sporadically. They tease each other and Angrboda says at one point “‘I still am a powerful witch, and you would do well not to forget it.’” (Gornichec). Clearly Angrboda is powerful, if she is the one to teach the Vanir and Odin seid, as well as her gift of prophecy, and her ability to be reborn, but now I question why she did not fight back against the Aesir at any point when she was being burned and killed. Maybe she had not initially wanted to harm others, but after the first time she was reborn, why had she still not defended herself against people who were clearly willing to kill her? 

Loki eventually comes to Angrboda with his mouth sewn up, and Angrboda nurses his wound, taking out the harsh stitchings and applying a healing salve. Loki shares the story of how it came to be, him cutting off Sif’s hair, the dwarves, and the deal he makes. Both Loki and Angrboda seem to suffer from association with the gods, although Loki does bring it upon himself, despite the good that they have done for them. Angrboda teaches Odin seid, and Loki’s trickery does procure them “things” (nice ones), but in the end the gods do not care for them in the slightest in return as Odin turns the Aesir against Gullveig, and as Thor and Frey hold Loki down as the dwarves sew his mouth shut. Angrboda goes out berries the next day and hears the whispers in the woods, of women, children, and wolves. She discovers the ruins of where someone used to live. Which definitely cements the idea I previously had that she had lived in the area before and was the mother of the wolves in the stories or connected to them in some way. 

Loki leaves and when he returns again he tells her about the builder who has offered to build the Aesir gods a wall in exchange for Freyja, the sun, and the moon, and once again the difficult situation he has put himself in. The fact that Loki once again brings trouble to himself by opening his mouth, which he has been told to shut multiple times, makes me think perhaps he is a little stupid, despite the fact he is known to be sly and clever. Maybe the fact he is sly and clever is why he does these things. Maybe he lives for the thrill of life on the edge, tricking and outsmarting others under high stakes. And once again, Loki returns to Angrboda, with the consequences of the situation he has placed himself in, pregnant in the form of a horse, giving birth to Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse, who he gifts to Odin. Sleipnir is not well received, or rather Loki is not after the arrival of Sleipnir. The Aesir gods judge and scrutinize Loki, with disdain, but Loki says to Angrboda, “I would rather be considered disgusting and shameful among the rest of them than be alone like you” (Gornichec). Loki craves for companionship in any way he can get it, taking on his mothers name, Laufeyjarson, despite the fact he calls her “a piece of work”, in an attempt to appear more Aesir, as opposed to his father who was a giant. Why would Loki play cruel tricks, such as cutting off Sif’s hair, that do not gain him any favor amongst the gods if he is so desperate to stay with them? The actions he takes seems counter-intuitive, and his desperation for company is strange as well, which I speculate could stem some issues with his identity, not belonging with others, or maybe prior relationships like with his mother, who he seems to have a type of distaste for. 

Angrboda and Loki spend their first night together as their relationship continues to progress, and they continue to talk the morning after. Loki says “I tire of control…But I don’t want to be alone.” (Gornichec). Again Loki’s desire to not be alone is expressed and he does propose marriage to Angrboda, which I feel is irresponsible, considering the clear issues he has with relationships of any kind. Angrboda falls pregnant after the night with Loki, and as winter approaches, Skadi insists on Angrboda coming with her to her family’s home to keep her and her child safe, when her incompetent husband (who she doesn’t know if Loki) clearly is not around to do so. Skadi is extremely justified in her judgment of Loki, as he leaves Angrboda, as he always does, with child, although he does not know, and immediately after proposing marriage and desire to be with her. Before she sets off, Loki revisits Angrboda in the form of a bird and tells her of his business with giants and golden apples, another one of his misdemeanors of his own doing. The fact that she is his wife, but yet Loki only visits and does not live with her, is something that does not sit well with me. Angrboda is now with Skadi and her family. Eventually news that Skadi’s father, Thjazi, is killed because of Loki reaches them, and Skadi falls into a rage, demanding vengeance for her father’s death. The line “But the concept of vengeance was something she could not yet grasp” (Gornichec), caught my attention. When Angrboda (Gullveig) was burned by Odin, perhaps she did not fight back because she did understand what it meant, but it only opens further questions on why she does not know. 

After the winter passes, Angrboda returns to her own home and Loki comes to visit, with starling news. He has taken on an Aesir bride, Sigyn. His attitude is dismissive as he brings up his other wife’s pregnancy in front of another wife, which he has just learned to be with child as well. I was previously unsure if Loki knew of Skadi’s existence earlier when Thjazi was killed, but he confirms he did, and he got her father killed regardless, which further displays emotional incompetence or just callousness, as he is responsible for the death of his wife’s friend’s father, a relationship he should likely keep in his interests to maintain. Loki lives amongst the gods who do not trust him, but he wants to be with others, and I feel the two make for a painful, dysfunctional coexistence. 

Angrboda miscarries, but is able to bring her back to life with magic. A mysterious presence appears in Angrboda’s head, who she suspects is Odin. Angrboda goes into labor and Hel is born with an odd condition, where the flesh in her legs seem to be dead, which Angrboda believes to be a remnant of the magic she uses to bring Hel back to life. I like the explanation that Gullveig provides for Hel’s state of half-living and half-dead is actually explained. Hopefully the birth of Jormungandr and Fenrir will also be explained. Angrboda “Keeping a lookout for her troublesome husband, never getting her hopes up” (Gullveig), is something that she should not have to do. Loki knowing that she was pregnant, and claiming that he cared for her, should have given her the security that he would regularly come, not something that she has to “lookout” for. And Loki finally returns, 2 months after the birth of Hel. Claiming he couldn't come because he would never hear the end of it since Sigyn had just given birth a week ago. But, there were the two moons in between that and the birth of Hel, which he should have known was coming, and should have come to visit Angrboda in that time. 

Angrboda tells Loki of the dreams that she has, the presence in her head. Loki says does not want knowledge of the future like Odin does because it's “another form of control” (Gullveig), something he has previously stated to be tired of. But this brings up the question why does he not leave the aesir gods since he is entirely under their control there, such as his “forced” marriage to Sigyn. He would not be lonely anymore  without the gods, since he now has Angrboda and their daughter, Hel. Angrboda brings this up too as well, and he doesnt design her with an answer. How much does he really care for Angrboda if he still decided to take an Aesir wife despite being married to her and won’t stay with her even after Angrboda explicitly brings it up.

Once again, Loki leaves. Skadi comes for a visit. I agree with everything Skadi says about Angrboda’s husband using Angrboda like a plaything. Even if Loki does appear to care for Angrboda and Hel, he does not do enough and it is shown through their interactions. “Later on, Angrboda was the one who had to wash the sticky layers of honey” (Gullveig), because Loki is the absent parent. Loki comes, has his fun with Angrboda and Hel, but does not uphold the duties that he should as a father and husband, proving Skadi’s point. He is the fun parent to Hel, but only fun because he ultimately does not conduct the bulk of the care and effort it takes to raise children. Angrboda, once again pregnant, goes into premature labor and gives birth to Fenrir, a wolf, which Loki is disappointed by. She further contemplates her relationship with Loki and the chanter that she hears in her mind. Loki using “arrangement” and “keep it up” to address their marriage is definitely a big indicator of his dubious loyalties. Angrboda keeps track of this in her mind and doesn’t forgive him, but I feel as if she doesn’t do enough to fight him against it. She does not fight back, for her marriage and children, a reflection of the first scenes when she is killed, where she does not even fight back for her life. 

Loki returns once again, after Sigyn has now given birth to their second son. He finds that Fenrir had bitten Hel in a frenzy and calls his own child a savage. He himself acknowledges his shortcomings, “I don’t know why I do the things I do. I can’t stop myself.” (Gullveig). This might be true, might not be, but I feel it to be a weak excuse regardless. If Loki himself acknowledges this, he must be aware to an extent that he is not competent as a wife or father. And yet he has decided to take on two. Loki continues to make mistakes, calling his children with Angrboda “monsters” after Jormungandr, a serpent, is born, when he is worring about the stories that will be told about him. 

All in all, most of my thoughts from the first part of the book revolve around Angrboda’s relationship to Loki, and how Loki generally fails to be what he should and can be. Loki refuses to leave the gods, when Angrboda provides him with what he has wanted and he clearly can be happy with her. But, in the end, despite how he claims to not care about how he is perceived by others, he still wants the worship and reverence that is given to the other gods. Angrboda seems to be blinded by the love that she has for Loki to see, or to acknowledge, this aspect of Loki until the end.