Loki (comics) Journey into Mystery What is the relation between Loki and MC2 I don't know. What is the relation between Loki and Journey to Mystery? Loki revealed to his brother that he was attempting to learn more about Earth and humans, to which Thor approves. What happened after that? On returning to Earth, he witnessed Odin striking down Thor.
What did Odin did next?
What did Odin did after striking Thor in the comics, Journey into Mystery ?
With the Asgardian population other than Thor still wary of Loki, Loki revealed to his brother that he was attempting to learn more about Earth and humans, to which Thor approves. When a magpie exploded in his quarters carrying a key, it led to a chain of events where at the end, Loki was contacted by an echo of his former incarnation, who revealed he chose to sacrifice himself fighting the Void as part of a greater plan which would involve his death and return. The child Loki refused to follow this path, wanting to be his own person, and transformed the spirit of his former self into a magpie named Ikol. On returning to Earth, he witnessed Odin striking down Thor.  Odin prepared all of Asgard for an unknown battle and imprisoned Thor for attempting to protect Midgard from being scoured. Loki, who disagreed with Odin's actions, was put to work by Volstagg into cleaning the stables of Thor's goats to keep him out of trouble and danger. Using the wool of one of the goats, Loki descended into the roots of the World Tree at the advice of Ikol to ask questions from the Nornish women who live there. After receiving his answers, Loki wept but decided to turn to the imprisoned Thor for his opinion before making his final decision. Breaking into the prison by stealth, Loki asked his brother what he would do if he had to let something bad happen in order to prevent something worse from happening and what if it cost him everything. With Thor's answer, Loki decided to free one of the imprisoned Hel Wolves and bind it to him in servitude using the bridle of Thor's goats. He revealed he needed help from one more 'personage' before heading for the realm of Hela.  Having recovered Thor's hammer after he was killed and erased from memory following the war against the Serpent, Loki was able to work with the Silver Surfer to restore the hammer to its natural state and send it to Thor in the afterlife, restoring his memory and allowing him to fight his way back into the realm of the living. After Thor's return, Ikol would afterwards reveal that circumstances had been manipulated to force the young Loki to allow his former personality to subsume him and live again, his former slate wiped clean by the "new" Loki's actions. During his adventures, the young Loki had inadvertently helped create and was tied to a powerful artifact that was about to be used by Mephisto to conquer all the Hells and ultimately everything. However, if the new Loki ceased to be, the artifact would lose all power. Seeing no other option, Loki allowed Ikol to become Loki again, ceasing to be, but he warned beforehand that the Ikol personality was incapable of true change and believed this older persona would ultimately be stopped by those who always stopped him before, his brother included. CANNOTANSWER
Odin prepared all of Asgard for an unknown battle and imprisoned Thor for attempting to protect Midgard from being scoured.
The neck riddle is a riddle where the riddler (typically a hero in a folk tale) gains something with the help of an unsolvable riddle.

The name comes from the folk tales of type "Out-riddling the judge" (Aarne–Thompson classification system for folk tales #927), when the hero "saves his neck" (that is, avoids being sentenced to a death by hanging) after outwitting a judge with riddles.

Verlyn Flieger devotes an essay on Bilbo's neck riddle in The Hobbit. Flieger (citing Williamson, Archer Taylor and Hilda Ellis Davidson) defines Neck riddles as "questions that are unanswerable except by the asker, who thus saves his neck by the riddle, for the judge or executioner has promised release in exchange for a riddle that cannot be guessed.". Bilbo's Riddle to Gollum: "What have I got in my pocket", Odin's final riddle to Vafþrúðnir and again Odin, disguised as Gestumblindi with the same riddle to King Heidrek ("What did Odin whisper in Balder's ear before Balder was cremated?"), are neck riddles.

References

Riddles Vafþrúðnismál (Old Norse: "The Lay of Vafþrúðnir") is the third poem in the Poetic Edda. It is a conversation in verse form conducted initially between the Æsir Odin and Frigg, and subsequently between Odin and the giant Vafþrúðnir. The poem goes into detail about the Norse cosmogony and was evidently used extensively as a source document by Snorri Sturluson in the construction of the Prose Edda who quotes it. The poem is preserved in Codex Regius and partially in AM 748 I 4to. There are preservation problems relating to stanzas 40-41. Vafþrúðnismál is believed to be a 10th century poem.

Synopsis

The lay commences with Odin asking advice and directions of Frigg as to whether it would be wise to seek out the hall of Vafþrúðnir. Frigg counsels against this course of action, saying that Vafþrúðnir is an extremely powerful giant, the most powerful one she knows. Nevertheless Odin continues with his quest.

On arriving at Vafþrúðnir's hall, Odin seeks to obtain Vafþrúðnir's wisdom through the classic mechanism of a wisdom contest. Vafþrúðnir's response is to accept the wanderer in his hall and only allow him to leave alive if Odin proves to be wiser. Odin, a master of dissimulation, attempts to pass himself off as Gagnráðr (trans. "victory"), and beseeches the traditional hospitality which should be afforded to wayfarers. Vafþrúðnir, wrong-footed, invites him in and to seat himself. A game of riddling then ensues between the pair.

During the course of stanza 19, Vafþrúðnir was unwise enough to wager his head in the case of defeat: victory for Odin will result in his death. In stanza 55, at the conclusion of the contest, Vafþrúðnir is obliged to capitulate to Odin's cunning when Odin asks him what Odin whispered in Baldr's ear prior to Baldr's body being placed on the funerary ship, a question to which only Odin knows the answer; it is a rule of the wisdom contest that questions could only be asked to which the questioner knew the answer and so it is at this point that Vafþrúðnir recognizes his guest for who he is:

You alone know that, what long ago
You said in the ears of your son.
I doomed myself when I dared to tell
What fate will befall the gods,
And staked my wit against the wit of Odin,
Ever the wisest of all.
Vafþrúðnismál 55, translated by Auden and Taylor

References

Bibliography

Further reading
 
Vafþrúðnismál, T. W. Machen (ed.), Turnhout, 2008, Brepola Publishers, 
 McGillivray, Andrew. Influences of Pre-Christian Mythology and Christianity on Old Norse Poetry: A Narrative Study of Vafþrúðnismál. Northern Medieval World. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, 2018.

External links

 Vafþrúðnismál Sophus Bugge's edition of the manuscript text
 Vafþrúðnismál Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling

Eddic poetry
Frigg
Sources of Norse mythology Gestumblindi is a character in Norse mythology who appears in Hervarar saga and in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum as Gestiblindus. Later, he also appears in several Scandinavian folk tales as Gest Blinde.

Hervarar saga
According to Hervarar saga, Gestumblindi was a powerful man in Reidgotaland, i.e. a Goth, who had angered king Heidrek by refusing to pay him tribute.

King Heidrek had in his hird twelve men who were entrusted to take care of all the legal disputes in the kingdom. If anyone had any complaint, they had the right to approach these men and would have right to both life and limb on the condition that they asked the king a number of riddles that the king could not answer.

Heidrek sent a message to Gestumblindi that if he did not appear at the court at a certain date, he would be imprisoned.

In desperation, Gestumblindi sacrificed to Odin asking him for assistance. Shortly thereafter, a stranger appeared at Gestumblindi's homestead, and this stranger also called himself Gestumblindi. The two men were so similar that no one could tell them apart. They changed clothes and Gestumblindi went away to hide.

Everyone thought that the new man was the real Gestumblindi and then the stranger went to king Heidrek and between them was the most exquisite contest in wisdom. Gestumblindi told riddles, mostly about nature but also about Norse mythology, and Heidrek answered them all (these riddles are presented in detail and they are among the most interesting riddles in Norse mythology).

Finally, Odin/Gestumblindi told Heidrek the same riddle that he had once asked Vafthruthnir, i.e. "What did Odin whisper in Balder's ear before Balder was cremated?" Heidrek, realising that Gestumblindi was Odin, became very angry and wanted to strike Odin with his cursed sword Tyrfing. Odin turned into a hawk, but Heidrek's sword cut off a piece of the bird's tail, which is why the hawk has the tail he has.

Gesta Danorum
Saxo Grammaticus relates that Gestiblindus was a king of the Geats who gave himself and his kingdom up to Frodi, the king of Denmark on condition that Frodi would defend him against Alrik, the king of Sweden.

Tyrfing cycle
Legendary Norse people
Kings of the Geats
Odin