“Thor was beginning to think he might be happy in Midgard. Not yet, of course; not while the news of his father’s death and his mother’s rejection was still so fresh, not while he could still feel the ache in his muscles from straining to lift Mjölnir, in vain. But someday. He would court Jane slowly, as befit a lady of her standing and education. Selvig, who seemed to stand in place of a father for her, had given his implicit permission.
“So it came as a complete surprise when Lady Darcy called from the front room of the Midgardians’ strange abode, ‘Thor? There’s someone here for you… she says she’s your mother?’
“Thor’s hesitant spark of hope was instantly smothered. What could she be here for, but to let him feel the full measure of her fury and disappointment?
“He emerged from the room where he had been reading one of Jane’s texts of Midgardian physics (a wondrously bizarre way of viewing the world) with his head bowed, bracing himself against the onslaught. But when he dared to raise his eyes, Frigga’s expression seemed wrong; it was worry, not anger, that creased her brow and tightened her lips.”
@shine-of-asgard‘s giveaway fic is now completely posted on AO3, Parts I and II as Chapter 1 (Paradise Lost), Parts III and IV as Chapter 2 (Paradise Regained). It’s probably easier to read there than as 4 parts on Tumblr…
Tag: loki and odin
Prince of Darkness – Chapter 2: Paradise Regained – Philosopher_King – Thor (Movies) [Archive of Our Own]
“Thor was beginning to think he might be happy in Midgard. Not yet, of course; not while the news of his father’s death and his mother’s rejection was still so fresh, not while he could still feel the ache in his muscles from straining to lift Mjölnir, in vain. But someday. He would court Jane slowly, as befit a lady of her standing and education. Selvig, who seemed to stand in place of a father for her, had given his implicit permission.
“So it came as a complete surprise when Lady Darcy called from the front room of the Midgardians’ strange abode, ‘Thor? There’s someone here for you… she says she’s your mother?’
“Thor’s hesitant spark of hope was instantly smothered. What could she be here for, but to let him feel the full measure of her fury and disappointment?
“He emerged from the room where he had been reading one of Jane’s texts of Midgardian physics (a wondrously bizarre way of viewing the world) with his head bowed, bracing himself against the onslaught. But when he dared to raise his eyes, Frigga’s expression seemed wrong; it was worry, not anger, that creased her brow and tightened her lips.”
@shine-of-asgard‘s giveaway fic is now completely posted on AO3, Parts I and II as Chapter 1 (Paradise Lost), Parts III and IV as Chapter 2 (Paradise Regained). It’s probably easier to read there than as 4 parts on Tumblr…
Prince of Darkness – Chapter 1: Paradise Lost – Philosopher_King – Thor (Movies) [Archive of Our Own]
“After Odin fell into the Sleep, Loki kept going back to the Vault every few hours to stand before the plinth where the Casket of Ancient Winters lay. Like a guilty man returning to the scene of the crime. But what was the crime, he wondered, and whose? Loki’s driving his father past the brink of exhaustion by confronting him with the truth? Or Odin’s abandoning his son when he most needed his father’s guidance? Or was it earlier: the lie he had told Loki for his whole life only to reveal the truth in the wrong way, at the wrong moment, and then escape taking responsibility for the aftermath? …
“He saved my life, Loki reminded himself; I would have died if he hadn’t taken me. But was that even true? Could he believe Odin’s word about anything, now? Was he a rescued castoff or a hostage? … Loki was starved for knowledge, and he knew he would not get it from Odin. Nor could he expect truth from his mother, from Frigga: Odin might well have told her the same lies. No, there was only one person he could ask: Laufey himself. As a king to another king, Laufey owed him the courtesy of truth.”
Posting my giveaway fic for @shine-of-asgard on AO3 in two parts with a bit of a delay, for exposure reasons. (Do you have an AO3 account, so I can list it as a gift?) Prompt: “Loki/Lucifer and Odin/God. Variation of the ‘Lightbringer’ theme where Loki rebels against Odin and tries to steal the Casket of Winters to give it back to the Jotnar. It can follow the ‘biblical’ version with Odin striking Loki down and Loki falling from Asgard or you can spin it any other the way you want. Bonus points for the appearance of Thor as a conflicted good archangel who loves his brother but won’t go against God for him.”
Prince of Darkness – Chapter 1: Paradise Lost – Philosopher_King – Thor (Movies) [Archive of Our Own]
“After Odin fell into the Sleep, Loki kept going back to the Vault every few hours to stand before the plinth where the Casket of Ancient Winters lay. Like a guilty man returning to the scene of the crime. But what was the crime, he wondered, and whose? Loki’s driving his father past the brink of exhaustion by confronting him with the truth? Or Odin’s abandoning his son when he most needed his father’s guidance? Or was it earlier: the lie he had told Loki for his whole life only to reveal the truth in the wrong way, at the wrong moment, and then escape taking responsibility for the aftermath? …
“He saved my life, Loki reminded himself; I would have died if he hadn’t taken me. But was that even true? Could he believe Odin’s word about anything, now? Was he a rescued castoff or a hostage? … Loki was starved for knowledge, and he knew he would not get it from Odin. Nor could he expect truth from his mother, from Frigga: Odin might well have told her the same lies. No, there was only one person he could ask: Laufey himself. As a king to another king, Laufey owed him the courtesy of truth.”
Posting my giveaway fic for @shine-of-asgard on AO3 in two parts with a bit of a delay, for exposure reasons. (Do you have an AO3 account, so I can list it as a gift?) Prompt: “Loki/Lucifer and Odin/God. Variation of the ‘Lightbringer’ theme where Loki rebels against Odin and tries to steal the Casket of Winters to give it back to the Jotnar. It can follow the ‘biblical’ version with Odin striking Loki down and Loki falling from Asgard or you can spin it any other the way you want. Bonus points for the appearance of Thor as a conflicted good archangel who loves his brother but won’t go against God for him.”
Prince of Darkness, Fourth and Final Part
Two months after I got the prompt, I finally finished @shine-of-asgard‘s fic from my 666-follower giveaway. Jeezy Chreezy.
Thor
and his companions made camp on the glacier. They ate from the travel rations
they had packed because there was no hunting or forage to speak of. The sun
scarcely seemed to dip below the horizon for an hour, and it never truly grew
dark. Thor’s friends seemed to be able to sleep, shielded from the unrelenting
light by the thick fabric of their tent, but Thor could not.He
left Volstagg’s snoring and Sif’s quiet nonsensical muttering and sat alone on
a fur blanket on the snow-covered ice, watching the sky slowly change from light
blue tinged with pink at the horizon to a deepening lilac. As the sky darkened,
a ribbon of acid-green light became visible, like a great serpent wrapped
around the Earth. Thor remembered this from his visits to Midgard in his youth:
the Northern Lights. He remembered asking Loki if he had cast some sort of
illusion, and Loki had shaken his head, his mouth slightly open in awe, and
said, “No, it’s just the sky.”The
sun was well above the horizon again when his friends emerged from the tent and
began busying themselves with rebuilding the fire. None of them asked Thor
whether he had slept at all, for which he was grateful. After a light
breakfast of toasted waybread and slices of cured meat, they quenched the fire
with snow and headed toward the cluster of black tents where Coulson’s
comrades—the “agents of Shield,” he had called them—had made camp.They
met Coulson and a few of his black-clad agents partway between their two camps.
“Loki has agreed to meet with you,” Coulson said. “I’ll escort you to the Jötun
encampment.”Perfect ending! I didn’t know what to expect, but Loki actually not wanting to rule Jotunheim is perfect, as is his carving his place somewhere else entirely and not going by any titles.
“Blood will out” lol. Fuck Odin. And Frigga to some degree. And Thor should grow up. So yeah, perfect story
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you’re happy with it 🙂
Prince of Darkness, Fourth and Final Part
Two months after I got the prompt, I finally finished @shine-of-asgard‘s fic from my 666-follower giveaway. Jeezy Chreezy.
Thor
and his companions made camp on the glacier. They ate from the travel rations
they had packed because there was no hunting or forage to speak of. The sun
scarcely seemed to dip below the horizon for an hour, and it never truly grew
dark. Thor’s friends seemed to be able to sleep, shielded from the unrelenting
light by the thick fabric of their tent, but Thor could not.He
left Volstagg’s snoring and Sif’s quiet nonsensical muttering and sat alone on
a fur blanket on the snow-covered ice, watching the sky slowly change from light
blue tinged with pink at the horizon to a deepening lilac. As the sky darkened,
a ribbon of acid-green light became visible, like a great serpent wrapped
around the Earth. Thor remembered this from his visits to Midgard in his youth:
the Northern Lights. He remembered asking Loki if he had cast some sort of
illusion, and Loki had shaken his head, his mouth slightly open in awe, and
said, “No, it’s just the sky.”The
sun was well above the horizon again when his friends emerged from the tent and
began busying themselves with rebuilding the fire. None of them asked Thor
whether he had slept at all, for which he was grateful. After a light
breakfast of toasted waybread and slices of cured meat, they quenched the fire
with snow and headed toward the cluster of black tents where Coulson’s
comrades—the “agents of Shield,” he had called them—had made camp.They
met Coulson and a few of his black-clad agents partway between their two camps.
“Loki has agreed to meet with you,” Coulson said. “I’ll escort you to the Jötun
encampment.”
Reblogging so the “Keep reading” link will show up on mobile and also to tag people who have been reading or might be interested: @acebakes, @angrymadsygin, @banded-bulbous-bilgesnipe, @darklittlestories, @fuckyeahrichardiii, @illwynd, @imaginetrilobites, @incredifishface, @loxxxlay, @lucianalight, @princess-ikol, @sparklingmarvel, @wnnbdarklord
Prince of Darkness, Fourth and Final Part
Two months after I got the prompt, I finally finished @shine-of-asgard‘s fic from my 666-follower giveaway. Jeezy Chreezy.
Thor
and his companions made camp on the glacier. They ate from the travel rations
they had packed because there was no hunting or forage to speak of. The sun
scarcely seemed to dip below the horizon for an hour, and it never truly grew
dark. Thor’s friends seemed to be able to sleep, shielded from the unrelenting
light by the thick fabric of their tent, but Thor could not.
He
left Volstagg’s snoring and Sif’s quiet nonsensical muttering and sat alone on
a fur blanket on the snow-covered ice, watching the sky slowly change from light
blue tinged with pink at the horizon to a deepening lilac. As the sky darkened,
a ribbon of acid-green light became visible, like a great serpent wrapped
around the Earth. Thor remembered this from his visits to Midgard in his youth:
the Northern Lights. He remembered asking Loki if he had cast some sort of
illusion, and Loki had shaken his head, his mouth slightly open in awe, and
said, “No, it’s just the sky.”
The
sun was well above the horizon again when his friends emerged from the tent and
began busying themselves with rebuilding the fire. None of them asked Thor
whether he had slept at all, for which he was grateful. After a light
breakfast of toasted waybread and slices of cured meat, they quenched the fire
with snow and headed toward the cluster of black tents where Coulson’s
comrades—the “agents of Shield,” he had called them—had made camp.
They
met Coulson and a few of his black-clad agents partway between their two camps.
“Loki has agreed to meet with you,” Coulson said. “I’ll escort you to the Jötun
encampment.”
“Just
‘Loki’?” Volstagg asked, sarcastic. “Not ‘King Loki’? ‘Emperor Loki’?”
Coulson
frowned at him. “He didn’t specify a title. He did specify that he wanted to
talk to Thor only, without his… ‘lackeys’ was the word he used.”
“Do
you think we’re stupid enough to leave our prince alone with that snake?” Sif
demanded.
Coulson
raised his eyebrows. “They won’t be alone. I have two of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s best
agents monitoring the Jötnar constantly, and I’ll stay nearby, along with
Agents Triplett and Mackenzie.” He gestured to the imposing men who flanked
him. The larger one nodded in greeting; the slimmer one smiled and gave a
little wave.
“I’ll
be fine, Sif,” Thor said. “Loki will not harm me.” He wished he believed that,
aside from the presence of the human warriors. Not that they could truly stop
Loki and his Jötun soldiers if he wanted to hurt Thor; but Loki was playing
some longer game, and would not wish to endanger his truce with the humans.
Thor
followed Coulson and his agents toward the coast, where the glacier seemed to
pour between gray stone cliffs, stopping just short of the sea. The Jötnar had
made crude shelters of ice—though perhaps they did not need much in the way of
shelter—and laid down furs in the lees they formed from the wind. Some had been
sitting on these furs, talking or perhaps playing games with rune-stones, but
stood when they saw Thor approaching with Coulson.
Loki
was impossible to miss. He was flanked by two giants of normal height, but
stood between them as proudly is if he were half again their height rather than
scarcely half of it. Thor’s fear that he would be unable to recognize Loki by
anything but his height turned out not to be entirely justified: though his
features were hard to make out when carved from lapis rather than marble, Thor
recognized his posture and the cut of his hair, which he had not shaved in the
custom of his Jötun compatriots, but had adorned with a simple circlet of the
pale jade that the Jötnar favored for jewelry and armor. Nor did he, who in
Asgard had always covered himself from neck to wrist, wear the loincloth
customary among Frost Giants; instead he wore a tunic of soft gray hide that
came to his knees, with a collar high on his chest and a belt around his waist
ornately carved of the same jade.
“Prince
Thor of Asgard,” Loki greeted him, very formally; then, turning to his escort,
“Agent Coulson.” His careful, correct tone never changed, nor did his
calculating scarlet gaze.
“Prince
Loki,” Coulson replied, just as polite. “How have you been getting along with
Agents Romanoff and Barton?” At that, a red-haired Midgardian woman in black
looked up from where she was sitting, playing at rune-stones with one of the
Jötnar, and waved.
“They
have been fine guests,” Loki said. “Agent Romanoff has quite taken to our games
of strategy. Barton is less proficient, but has been learning to throw blades
made of ice.”
Thor,
finding this ritual small talk maddening, bulled his way through it. “Loki, brother,
why have you done this?”
Loki
turned that cold gaze back on him, and did something flicker beneath the ice,
or was it only contempt? “Done what, precisely?”
“All
of it!”
Loki’s
eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared, and Thor could see his moody,
condescending brother beneath the veneer of diplomatic calm. “All of it? Well,
I took the Casket from Odin because he had no right to it; I returned it to
Jötunheim because the realm was dying without it. I killed Laufey because he
tried to kill me and showed no remorse. I waged war against Asgard because it
has waged unjust war against all of the realms in its dominion. I came here
because… because Jötunheim still has no place for those like me. I will make a home
here for those who have no place in Jötunheim—those born small; those
dispossessed by the war, or left homeless by the latest attack from Asgard. Our attack.” He stopped; his voice had
been rising, his breath quickening, and he needed to collect himself. Loki
could never let himself be seen losing control of his emotions.
“Your
home is in Asgard, not here—not this frozen wasteland, in this backward realm.”
Loki
flicked his eyes over to Coulson, who had backed away to stand at a polite
distance, and murmured, “Don’t let our good host hear you. And yes, it is all
that, but… a little corner of it can be mine, to shape and cultivate as I wish.
There is nothing for me in Asgard.”
“That
is not true, Loki. You have a family that loves you.”
Loki
raised his eyebrows in a show of cool skepticism; Thor was unsure whether the
disgusted twist of his mouth was voluntary. “Yes, I’m sure Odin All-Father’s
demand to ‘turn over the traitor Loki Laufeyson’ was only so that he could show
me how much he loves me, name change notwithstanding.”
Thor
flinched, but refused to be put off so easily. “He is very angry with you, but
that does not mean he no longer loves you.”
“No,
indeed. ‘No longer’ presupposes that he once loved me.”
“Of
course he did, and does,” Thor protested, but Odin’s brittle voice echoed in
his head: “Blood will out. The boy was always
a liar and a sneak.” “He was angry enough to cast me out—you saw it—but he
has welcomed me back.”
“Yes,
because he needed his true son to vanquish the false one… and because you
suddenly seemed a model of loyal obedience once he saw what real rebellion was.”
Thor
shook his head; this was going nowhere. “Loki, please, come home. Mother has
not been herself…”
“Then
perhaps she should have come to treat with me, as invited. But instead Odin
sent you—I think not as a peace envoy.”
“No,
but… Loki, I do not wish to fight. You are my brother; nothing can change that.
I want my brother at my side again.”
“Ah,
there we are. After all the deflection—‘Mother’ this, ‘Father’ that—at last you
speak for yourself.”
Thor’s
anger flared at that—but part of what fueled his anger was the knowledge that
Loki was right. So he quashed it and said, “I speak only for myself when I say:
you have a brother who loves you.”
At
last a hint of softness came into those strange yet wholly familiar red eyes.
But they quickly hardened again and Loki said with a bitter laugh, “Of course
you’d only get around to showing it when you saw there was a real chance you
wouldn’t have me at your back anymore. That’s quite the improvement from ‘Some
do battle, others just do tricks’ and ‘Know your place, brother.’”
Shame
burned in Thor’s gut to hear his own words thrown back at him. “I’m no longer
the reckless, arrogant boy who took all his blessings for granted. I’ve
changed.”
Loki laughed again, ironic and pitying. “And so have
I. I’ve learned a great deal about myself, not least of which is this: I’d
rather rule in Hel than serve in Valhalla.”
Something about this scene really struck me. In this scene, why does Loki deny Frigga? The correct answer is obviously ‘yes.’ It’s obvious he wants to say ‘yes.’ There’s no spiteful pleasure or sarcastic glee in his face when he says it, so he’s not enjoying it. So why does he say no?
Because the way this conversation has been set up, admitting that Frigga is his mother consequently means he admits he was lying (or at least, recants) his denial that Odin is his father. He can’t have one without the other. By yoking the two together in this way, Frigga is basically holding her motherhood of Loki hostage on the condition of Loki admitting that Odin has parental authority over him and that is something Loki will not – can not – do.I’m certain that the equivocation (if not the cruelty inherent in it) was deliberate on Frigga’s part. Frigga has always played the role of peacemaker in this family – she did in the first movie and she’s doing it again here. She asked the question in that way precisely because she wants to force Loki to admit that Odin is his father. She’s angling to get Odin and Loki to reconcile – whether as part of a campaign to get Loki’s sentence reduced, part of a campaign to get Loki’s services available once more to the crown, or simply aiming to reduce the conflict in their household (or possibly all three.)
But to Loki, Odin is not only the man who put him here, but the liar and the hypocrite who fucked up his life in ways beyond counting. Frigga wants him to submit to Odin’s authority not only as a king, but as a parent, meaning that Odin not only has the right to sentence him legally but also to chastise him emotionally and Loki simply can not stand that, not now. So he denies Frigga – even though it is obviously hard and painful for him to do so – because it would hurt him more to have Odin as father than it would help him to have Frigga as mother.
Loki said what he did not to be cruel and spiteful to Frigga, but because he was backed into a corner. Which is kind of the story of his life lately, really.
Prince of Darkness, Part I
I still haven’t finished writing @shine-of-asgard‘s fic for my Satan-themed 666-follower giveaway… I shouldn’t even do fic giveaways, I can’t keep myself to a schedule or a word limit. Oy. I have written what I think is the majority of it, though, and I got to a good cliffhanger-y chapter break (and a little past), so I’m going to post it in two parts so that you don’t have to keep waiting.
Here was the prompt: “Loki/Lucifer and Odin/God. Variation of the ‘Lightbringer’ theme where Loki rebels against Odin and tries to steal the Casket of Winters to give it back to the Jotnar. It can follow the ‘biblical’ version with Odin striking Loki down and Loki falling from Asgard or you can spin it any other the way you want. Bonus points for the appearance of Thor as a conflicted good archangel who loves his brother but won’t go against God for him.”
I did it as a fairly straightfoward canon-divergent AU… well, you’ll see.
After Odin fell into the Sleep, Loki kept going back to the
Vault every few hours to stand before the plinth where the Casket of Ancient
Winters lay. Like a guilty man returning
to the scene of the crime. But what was the crime, he wondered, and whose?
Loki’s driving his father past the brink of exhaustion by confronting him with
the truth? Or Odin’s abandoning his son when he most needed his father’s
guidance? Or was it earlier: the lie he had told Loki for his whole life only
to reveal the truth in the wrong way, at the wrong moment, and then escape
taking responsibility for the aftermath? Couldn’t
he have thought of another lie? Any story, any explanation other than the
truth that Loki had already guessed?The Casket wasn’t the
only thing you took from Jötunheim that day.Loki felt a strange kinship with the Casket—like it was a
long-lost brother. Perhaps that was what kept drawing him back to it. We don’t belong here, either of us. Perhaps
that had been the true crime: those twin thefts more than a thousand years ago.He saved my life, Loki
reminded himself; I would have died if he
hadn’t taken me. But was that even true? Could he believe Odin’s word about
anything, now? Was he a rescued castoff or a hostage? I hoped we could unite our kingdoms one day—bring about an alliance,
bring about a permanent peace—through you. How would that have worked, if
Laufey had never wanted him? And how could Odin know he was Laufey’s son, if he
had been left alone to die?Loki was starved for knowledge, and he knew he would not get
it from Odin. Nor could he expect truth from his mother, from Frigga: Odin
might well have told her the same lies. No, there was only one person he could
ask: Laufey himself. As a king to another king, Laufey owed him the courtesy of
truth.Love it, love it, love it! But how cruel are you, to give Loki not one but two asshole, uncaring sires? Maybe he can off Laufey, fool Odin and reign on Jotunheim with the help of the Casquet… He’d make a good job of it. One can dream…
Glad you’re enjoying so far! Yeah, I know, I’m terribly mean to Loki… but so many fic writers have already done the “he wasn’t really abandoned” thing, I’ve decided it’s my job to write a version of Jotunheim where they do expose the small infants and it’s not a good thing but it doesn’t necessarily make them monsters (it’s not an uncommon practice, historically). As for where Loki’s going to end up… you’ll see 😉
Prince of Darkness, Part I
I still haven’t finished writing @shine-of-asgard‘s fic for my Satan-themed 666-follower giveaway… I shouldn’t even do fic giveaways, I can’t keep myself to a schedule or a word limit. Oy. I have written what I think is the majority of it, though, and I got to a good cliffhanger-y chapter break (and a little past), so I’m going to post it in two parts so that you don’t have to keep waiting.
Here was the prompt: “Loki/Lucifer and Odin/God. Variation of the ‘Lightbringer’ theme where Loki rebels against Odin and tries to steal the Casket of Winters to give it back to the Jotnar. It can follow the ‘biblical’ version with Odin striking Loki down and Loki falling from Asgard or you can spin it any other the way you want. Bonus points for the appearance of Thor as a conflicted good archangel who loves his brother but won’t go against God for him.”
I did it as a fairly straightfoward canon-divergent AU… well, you’ll see.
After Odin fell into the Sleep, Loki kept going back to the
Vault every few hours to stand before the plinth where the Casket of Ancient
Winters lay. Like a guilty man returning
to the scene of the crime. But what was the crime, he wondered, and whose?
Loki’s driving his father past the brink of exhaustion by confronting him with
the truth? Or Odin’s abandoning his son when he most needed his father’s
guidance? Or was it earlier: the lie he had told Loki for his whole life only
to reveal the truth in the wrong way, at the wrong moment, and then escape
taking responsibility for the aftermath? Couldn’t
he have thought of another lie? Any story, any explanation other than the
truth that Loki had already guessed?The Casket wasn’t the
only thing you took from Jötunheim that day.Loki felt a strange kinship with the Casket—like it was a
long-lost brother. Perhaps that was what kept drawing him back to it. We don’t belong here, either of us. Perhaps
that had been the true crime: those twin thefts more than a thousand years ago.He saved my life, Loki
reminded himself; I would have died if he
hadn’t taken me. But was that even true? Could he believe Odin’s word about
anything, now? Was he a rescued castoff or a hostage? I hoped we could unite our kingdoms one day—bring about an alliance,
bring about a permanent peace—through you. How would that have worked, if
Laufey had never wanted him? And how could Odin know he was Laufey’s son, if he
had been left alone to die?Loki was starved for knowledge, and he knew he would not get
it from Odin. Nor could he expect truth from his mother, from Frigga: Odin
might well have told her the same lies. No, there was only one person he could
ask: Laufey himself. As a king to another king, Laufey owed him the courtesy of
truth.I adore that you’ve included Loki’s brothers. I’m always sad when they’re not included (and it seems they really don’t exist in the MCU…). The entire confrontation is excellently done! Poor Loki 😦 Yeah, I’d stab Laufey, too. He could have at least worded it a little nicer. Then again, flowery language doesn’t really seem like Laufey’s style. Not who Loki inherited his silver tongue from.
Thanks! It’s pretty standard fanfiction practice to include Loki’s brothers, even in human AUs where Thor and Loki come from different families, but the MCU seems to have decided (oddly) that Laufey doesn’t have any other kids. Careless of him not to secure the succession. And if Loki is the “rightful king of Jotunheim” (per those dimwitted hacks Markus & McFeely), who’s been in charge there for the past 7 years? Do they have a Gondor-style Steward who keeps things running while waiting for the king to return?
If Loki inherited his eloquence from anyone, it was Farbauti; more likely he learned it from Frigga.
Loki is the Philosopher King 