Loki and the Yule Cat

Young Loki was a trickster,

Mischief always in his head.

On the eve of Yule,

His pranks got him banish-ed.

 

Crept from the feast table,

Put ashes in the ale.

Doused his poor brother’s head,

With cold water from a pail.

 

Now there he was in the woods,

Trudging through knee-deep snow.

His punishment seemed excessive,

But what did Loki know?

 

Young Loki walked blindly,

Through shadows dark as coal.

Until he fell face first,

Into a great big hole.

 

His cheeks were flushed from discomposure,

He wiped the snow from his jaw.

“This is not a hole,” he said.

“But the print of a great big paw.”

 

In the boughs above him,

Large yellow eyes shone.

And Loki suddenly missed

The comfortable warmth of home.

 

He thought of his new stockings,

Still hanging by the fire.

Because he had forgotten them,

He’d drawn the Yule Cat’s ire.

 

“Maybe it hasn’t noticed me,”

Loki said to the breeze.

Then he heard a soft thump,

That made his heart freeze.

 

The beast was the size of a house,

with fur black as the sky.

Loki swallowed hard because,

He knew the end was nigh.

 

The cat took one step forward,

claws larger than Loki’s head.

Bravery was for other folks,

So he turned his tail and fled.

 

He stumbled through the snow,

Yule Cat upon his heels.

It was only a matter of seconds,

Before the beast would have its meal.

 

Loki glanced over his shoulder,

And down a hill he fell.

He rolled until he smacked his head,

Upon a frozen well.

 

He rose and felt the blood

From the cut upon his head.

He had to think of something

Or soon he would be dead.

 

From the trees atop the hill

He heard a loud bellow.

Then he saw the old lost gloves,

half-buried in the snow.

 

He pulled the gloves upon his hands

His mouth curled into a smile

If he could not beat the cat through valor,

He’d conquer it with guile.

 

The cat appeared from the trees

Its fangs and claws were bared

Loki leaned against the well

To prove he was not scared.

 

Yule Cat raised its paw

To strike the final blow.

Loki laughed and showed his hands

then he shouted “No!”

 

“I know you, Cat. I’ve heard the tales.

You are no mystery.

And though these gloves have holes in them,

They are quite new to me.”

 

Yule Cat hung its head

Embarrassed by its defeat.

Then it slunk back into the forest

To find its evening meat.