The golden age of the Aesir came to a staggering halt with the death of Baldr the Good. Baldr, the son of Odin and Frigg, was the most beloved of all the gods, a figure of purity and light whose presence ensured the stability of the cosmos. His death, orchestrated through the cunning and malice of the trickster Loki, was not merely a personal tragedy for the divine family but a cosmic omen that the end of the world—Ragnarok—was drawing near. When the mistletoe dart, guided by the blind god Hodr under Loki’s instruction, pierced Baldr’s heart, the joy of Asgard withered. The gods knew that such a crime could not go unpunished, for Loki had not only killed a god but had also sabotaged the efforts to bring him back from the realm of Hel.
Loki, sensing the shift in the winds of Asgard and seeing the righteous fury in the eyes of Thor and Odin, fled the golden city. He sought refuge in the remote, jagged landscapes of Midgard, eventually finding his way to a high mountain near a waterfall. There, he built a house with four doors, one facing each cardinal direction, so that he might keep a constant watch for the approach of the Aesir. During the day, he often transformed himself into a salmon, hiding in the cold, churning waters of Fránangr's Falls, believing that the gods would never look for him beneath the silver surface of the river. In his solitude, Loki’s mind remained restless; he took scraps of linen yarn and began to weave them together, creating the world's first fishing net. He mused that if the gods were to try and catch him in his fish-form, this was the tool they would use.
However, the wisdom of Odin was not to be underestimated. From the high seat of Hlidskjalf, Odin surveyed the nine realms and eventually spotted the smoke from Loki’s hearth. When the gods approached the mountain house, Loki, in a panic, threw his newly fashioned net into the fire and leaped into the river as a salmon. When the Aesir entered the house, the wise Kvasir noticed the white ash left by the burnt net. Recognizing the pattern, he realized that this was a device for catching fish. The gods quickly recreated the net based on the impressions in the ash and took it to the river. After several attempts where Loki nearly escaped by leaping over the mesh, Thor finally waded into the middle of the stream. As Loki tried to vault over the net once more, Thor’s mighty hand clamped down on the salmon's tail. It is said in the Eddas that this is why the salmon’s body tapers toward the back—because of the strength of Thor’s grip.
Having captured the trickster, the gods showed no mercy. They dragged Loki to a dark, damp cavern deep within the earth, away from the warmth of the sun. They also brought Loki’s sons, Narfi and Vali. In a display of divine justice that was as cruel as it was final, the gods transformed Vali into a ravenous wolf. Driven by a magical frenzy, Vali turned upon his brother Narfi, killing him. The Aesir then took the cold entrails of Narfi and used them to bind Loki to three sharp, upright stones. One stone was placed under his shoulders, one under his loins, and one under the hollows of his knees. Through divine power, these fleshy bonds were transformed into iron-hard shackles that would not break or rot until the end of time.
Skadi, the giantess and goddess of the hunt, whose father Thjazi had also fallen due to Loki’s machinations, sought her own final vengeance. She went to the depths of the earth and found a serpent of the most virulent nature. She fastened this snake to the ceiling of the cavern, positioned directly above Loki’s head. The serpent’s fangs were perpetually moist with a burning, acidic venom that dripped down, drop by drop, toward Loki’s exposed eyes and skin. The pain was intended to be eternal, a physical reflection of the discord Loki had sown throughout the realms.
Yet, Loki was not entirely alone in the darkness. His wife, Sigyn, whose loyalty surpassed even the judgment of the gods, did not abandon him. She came to the cavern and took up a position by his side. Holding a large copper basin, she stood over her husband, reaching up to catch the falling drops of poison before they could touch his flesh. For centuries, she remained in that damp, lightless place, her arms aching and her spirit tested by the relentless rhythm of the venom. Her presence was the only thing that stood between Loki and a torment beyond even his endurance.
However, even a goddess’s vessel has its limits. Eventually, the basin would fill to the brim with the dark, corrosive liquid. At that moment, Sigyn would be forced to turn away and carry the heavy bowl to the edge of a pit to empty it. In the brief interval while she was gone, the protection was lifted. The venom from the serpent would fall directly onto Loki’s face. The searing pain of the poison was so intense that Loki would writhe and thrash against his iron-hard bonds with such violence that the very earth above him would tremble. These violent convulsions were, according to the ancient Norse, the true cause of earthquakes. When the earth shook, the people of Midgard knew that the basin was full and that Sigyn was stepping away to empty the bowl.