Auden’s Blessing
Bragi, the Aesir god of poetry, had once prophesied that the reborn Odin would be a fully mature and steady adult man, while Loki would be red-haired, flamboyant and unruly, a god whose temperament lay somewhere between youth and adulthood.
“So,” she had asked me, “which one do you think Lan resembles?”
Now, watching Lan as strands of soft hair fell loosely across his forehead while he studied the map with complete concentration, I realized that even without Shia’s explanation, I already knew the answer. Loki was wild and unrestrained; Odin was calm and composed.
Lan was neither.
For some reason, deep down, I found myself hoping he was not a Prime God at all.
Lan braced both hands against th