Six Of The Craziest And Most Terrifying Gods Ever Described

Published June 8, 2017
Updated February 21, 2024

There were 12 major gods in Greek mythology, more than 300 in Nordic mythology, and over 2,000 worshiped in Ancient Egypt. We’ve narrowed that list down to the six craziest and most terrifying deities of all time.

Get on any of these gods and goddesses’ wrong side, and you’re pretty much doomed. Read more about them and you’ll understand why.

Mythological Gods: Loki

Loki Mythological Gods

Wikimedia CommonsLoki

Norse: Trickster god
Parents: Fárbauti and Laufey
Consort: Angrboða (also Sigyn and Svaðilfari)

Loki is somewhat of an enigma in Norse mythology, as many sources sharply vary in their retelling of his story.

In some accounts, he is helpful to the gods. In others, he tries to cause as many problems as possible.

Whether the portrayal is favorable or not, Loki is always identified as a trickster and shape-shifter.

The son of two giants, he essentially tricked his way into becoming a deity. When Asgard (the home of the Norse gods) was being built, Loki came offered his services to Odin (King of the gods) and his son, Thor (god of Thunder).

The Asgardians had run out of money to continue building Asgard, so Loki suggested hiring a giant to build it for them. As payment, the giant asked for the sun, the moon and the goddess Freya.

The gods thought this seemed like a little much for a simple construction job, but Loki assured them that the giant would never complete the work on time, especially on his own, and then the deal would be off and Freya would be safe.

Loki

Wikimedia CommonsLoki and Sigyn (1863)

Unfortunately, the giant did have a companion — the incredibly strong stallion Svaðilfari, who helped keep the city building right on schedule.

The gods began to worry, but Loki came up with yet another plan.

To distract the stallion, he transformed himself into a beautiful mare and led Svaðilfari off into a distant forest. That’s when Loki, still in mare form, became pregnant.

The giant didn’t complete his work in the allotted time and Loki returned to Odin and Thor having successfully negotiated the building of a city and given birth to an eight-legged stallion named Sleipnir to boot. He gave his spider horse baby to Odin as a gift and voila!. That’s all it takes to be made a god.

Craziest Gods Loki

Wikimedia CommonsLoki consumes a roasted heart (1911)

author
All That's Interesting
author
A New York-based publisher established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science to share stories that illuminate our world.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.