Editing Loki (section)

==Archaeological record==

===Snaptun Stone===
[[Image:Lokistone.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Snaptun Stone]] may feature a depiction of Loki]]
In 1950, a semi-circular flat stone featuring a depiction of a mustachioed face was discovered on a beach near Snaptun, [[Denmark]]. Made of [[soapstone]] that originated in Norway or Sweden, the depiction was carved around the year 1000 CE and features a face with scarred lips. The figure is identified as Loki due to his lips, considered a reference to a tale recorded in ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]'' where [[sons of Ivaldi]] stitch up Loki's lips.{{sfnp|Madsen|1990|p=180}}

The stone is identified as a [[hearth]] stone; the nozzle of the [[bellows]] would be inserted into the hole in the front of the stone, and the air produced by the bellows pushed flame through the top hole, all the while the bellows were protected from the heat and flame. The stone may point to a connection between Loki and smithing and flames. According to Hans Jørgen Madsen, the Snaptun Stone is "the most beautifully made hearth-stone that is known." The stone is housed and on display at the [[Moesgård Museum]] near [[Aarhus]], Denmark.{{sfnp|Madsen|1990|p=180}}

===Kirkby Stephen Stone and Gosforth Cross===
A fragmentary late 10th-century cross located in [[St Stephen's Church, Kirkby Stephen]], [[Cumbria]], [[England]], features a bound figure with horns and a beard. This figure is sometimes theorized as depicting the bound Loki.{{sfnp|Orchard|1997|p=105}} Discovered in 1870, the stone consists of yellowish-white [[sandstone]], and now sits at the front of the Kirkby Stephen church. A depiction of a similarly horned and round-shouldered figure was discovered in [[Gainford, County Durham]] and is now housed in the [[Durham Cathedral|Durham Cathedral Library]].{{sfnp|Calverley|1899|p=218}}

The mid-11th century [[Gosforth Cross]] has been interpreted as featuring various figures from Norse mythology and, like the Kirkby Stephen Stone, is also located in Cumbria. The bottom portion of the west side of the cross features a depiction of a long-haired female, kneeling figure holding an object above another prostrate, bound figure. Above and to their left is a knotted serpent. This has been interpreted as [[Sigyn]] soothing the bound Loki.{{sfnp|Orchard|1997|p=13}}

<gallery>
File:Kirkby Stephen Stone by Petersen.jpg|The bound figure on the [[Kirkby Stephen]] Stone
File:Gosforth Cross Loki and Sigyn.jpg|Detail from the [[Gosforth Cross]]
</gallery>