Pronunciation: Þórlákr: Pour - lah - kh; Abjörn: Ah - b - yorn; Fuðflogi means "man who flees the female sex organ." Some of the words are in Swedish, others are in Old Norse. The ones that are in Old Norse I researched, while the ones in Swedish are from Google Translate. Please tell me if they are wrong. Enjoy.
*
Loki was bored. And it was never a good thing for the god of mischief to be bored.
Sure, Loki got offerings daily from farmers and villagers who were scared that he would come and play a horrible prank on them. Yet, after a while, the offerings get boring and annoying, and Loki would want something new.
So he would get it himself.
Loki was wandering the lands, looking like his average self. Most people thought that he would take the form of a snake or an old woman, so when he traversed, he kept to his favorite, natural form.
Shoulder length black hair, tan skin, and ebony eyes created the mischievous god.
He finally came upon a tiny coastal village of Utterby in the Norrland kingdom. In Norrland, the people were spaced out and sparse. Utterby had a population of forty people usually. Several years ago, nine men built a ship and went eastward on the water in an attempt to bring back riches, whether it be legally or illegally, it did not matter.
The day that Loki found Utterby was the day the men came home.
All of the citizens were excited and moving around faster than normal in the cold, Scandinavian air. They wore thick woolen clothing that was dyed bright colors. They were celebrating.
The festivities confused Loki, and he went up to who seemed to be the only man who was not celebrating and instead was working.
He had long, thick brown hair and a goatee. His brown eyes were hard and his hands were calloused from years of work. He was working with some wood and seemed to be building a large trunk.
Loki looked into the mortal's mind and found out what had happened. And then, the god had a brilliant idea of how to entertain himself.
"God morgon!" Loki said brightly. The carpenter gave him a strange look.
"Who are you, stranger?" the man said. "I've never seen you round here before, and no one new ever comes to Utterby."
"You are a smart man," Loki said with a chuckle. "I am new. I came with the other men on the ship that arrived."
The carpenter gave him a look but said nothing.
"What can I do for you then?" he asked.
"Can you tell me your name first?" Loki asked.
"Grettisson," the carpenter replied. He returned to his work before adding, "Þórlákr Grettisson."
"Well, Láki--can I call you Láki?--I need your help with something."
"What do you need?"
Loki quickly looked inside Þórlákr's mind. "Let me come to your house when it is dark and Máni is at the highest point in the sky."
Þórlákr nodded to him and Loki left to look for another toy to play with Þórlákr.
***
Sol was almost done riding her cart through the sky and darkness was settling in when Loki chose his second prank victim.
The man was sitting in a large circle of people around a fire. He was talking to the people of his adventures as a Väringar. His bright blue eyes glittered in the firelight and his wavy blond hair was pulled back and tied with a strip of leather. His face was free of hair except for his light brown eyebrows.
His arms flexed and showed off his strong muscles as he gestured actively. He had a dark brown cape fastened around his neck that covered his deep blue woolen clothes.
When the man finished his story, Loki walked up to him and pulled him aside from the group of people.
"Who are you?" the man said with a silky smooth voice.
"God kväll, I am called Skojare. What is your name?" Loki asked.
The Viking stared at him for a moment with suspicion in his eyes. "Abjörn Sveinsson"
"Abjörn," Loki said, "Please come with me. My friend desperately needs your help."
Loki would have been worried that the distrustful mercenary wouldn't comply if he hadn't already looked into the man's mind and seen that he truly was good at heart.
As soon as Abjörn nodded his head in agreement, Loki told him to be ready at his house later that evening for Loki to bring him to where he was needed.
***
Loki came to Abjörn's home late into the night. Abjörn had been struggling to stay awake when he heard the pounding on the door. He pushed aside his furs and got up from his bed. Abjörn then pulled on his boots and cape before swinging the door open.
There stood the man he knew of as Skojare. Abjörn didn't trust the stranger; that much was a certainty. However, the kindhearted man wouldn't be able to sleep at night with the thought that there may be someone out there who desperately needed his help.
"Are you ready to go?" Loki asked as he fought off a smile.
Abjörn grunted and exited his empty house, shutting the door behind him.
"Lead the way," he told Loki.
Loki walked ahead of him for a couple of minutes until he stopped in front of a house. He knocked on the door and a man with long brown hair and a brown goatee answered.
"God kväll, Láki. I hope you don't mind that I brought a friend," Loki said.
Þórlákr shook his head and stepped aside to let the men into his home.
"What is it you needed my help with, sir?" Þórlákr asked.
"Patience," Loki chuckled. "Please, go sit down for now. All will be clear."
Both men were highly confused, but they found themselves doing as the strange man said. Once they were both seated comfortably on a bench built into the wall, Abjörn spoke.
"What is your full name?" he said.
"Þórlákr Grettisson. And you?"
"Abjörn Sveinsson. What is it that I can help you with?" Abjörn asked.
"Me?" Þórlákr said. "I was told that your friend needed aid with something."
"I was told that someone desperately needed my help."
Both men seemed confused, but couldn't continue the topic for at that moment, Loki walked in with three bowls of ale.
"Before you help me, let us have a drink. I brought it with me and brewed it myself."
While Abjörn and Þórlákr were wary of Loki, they weren't about to turn down a fine drink of ale. The men drank and didn't notice that Loki's bowl was empty in the first place.
Loki then had Þórlákr lead them to the bedroom and told them to sit down on the plain bed. The wood was a reddish color, most likely the result of a linseed oil varnish. Once the two men sat down on the furs of the bed, Loki created what appeared to be a chair with a woven seat. It was clearly a wealthy man's chair, and it had been magically created right before their eyes!
Loki smirked at the look of shock on the men's faces while leaning back and tipping the chair back and forth.
"Now, I must be honest with you both. You know, being that I lied earlier," Loki said.
He stopped rocking the chair and leaned forward.
"Let's start with introductions. My name's Loki, God of Mischief. And you know what? I'm terribly bored." Loki gave the men and evil grin.
The men were now horribly frightened at what this God would do in order to entertain himself.
Loki suddenly whipped out a small glass bottle filled with a whitish liquid. "So, I talked to my wife, Sigyn, and she gave me a wondrous gift. She's best friends with Freyja and pulled a few strings to get me this. Could either of you guess what it is?"
Both men seemed reluctant to speak.
"Guess!" Loki shrieked, causing the men to flinch.
Þórlákr gulped before asking quietly, "Could it be a love potion, sir?"
Loki's smile widened. "Good guess Láki, but no. It's only a lust potion, I'm not that mean."
Both men blanched and Abjörn managed to stutter out, "When di-did you plan to use that, s-sir?"
"Well, as it so happens, I've already used it. Since it's tasteless, it can easily be slipped into two drinks. Then, whoever has drunk it is fiercely attracted to whoever else has managed to drink it."
The men grew even whiter at Loki's words, causing Loki to chuckle. "And, as it so happens, I really wasn't thirsty earlier, so I decided not to drink my ale. But you boys drank it up like parched animals."
Loki smiled again and looked out the window at the night sky.
"Looks like in a few minutes, the potion will take effect. You two may want to get to know each other. I'll give you some time alone." Loki gave them one last smirk before getting up and leaving the room.
The men sat in silence for a moment before Abjörn stood up.