What Language Loki Sings In (And What His Song Means)

In Loki episode 3, “Lamentis,” the titular God of Mischief entertains passengers on a train (and his fellow variant, Sylvie) with a drinking song from Asgard, but what language is he really singing in, and what do the lyrics mean?

Rather than inventing entirely new languages, the Marvel Cinematic Universe uses existing languages for its fictional worlds. For example, the “Wakandan” spoken in Black Panther and more recently in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is actually isiXhosa, the “Sokovian” in WandaVision is loosely based on Serbian, and the “Asgardian” in Loki’s drinking song is Norwegian.

The song is called “Jeg Saler Min Ganger,” and was written for Loki by author Erlend O. Nødtvedt and musician Benedicte Maurseth. Speaking to Bergens Tidende, Nødtvedt said that the full song actually contains four verses, only one of which is sung in Loki episode 3, and that the full song will be available on the show’s soundtrack. The writer added that he was impressed by Tom Hiddleston’s pronunciation of the song’s Norwegian lyrics. Here is a translation of Loki‘s episode 3 song:

In storm-blackened mountains I wander alone

Across glaciers I travel forth

In the apple orchard the fair maiden stands

And sings, “When will you come home?”

(Chorus in English) When she sings, she sings, “Come home.”

Marvel Studios requested an Asgardian drinking song for the episode, and so Nødtvedt and Maurseth put together “a traditional folk song.” The lyrics have a particular poignancy, given that Loki learned about the destruction of Asgard in the previous episode. The “storm-blackened mountains” bring to mind the ominous landscape of Svartalfheim, the land of the Dark Elves, which appeared in Thor: The Dark World (though this version of Loki has not lived through the events of that movie). The “glaciers” bring to mind Jotunheim, the realm of the Frost Giants and the place of Loki’s birth, and the “fair maiden” can be interpreted as a reference to Sylvie, or perhaps to Loki’s fair-haired mother, Frigga.

Though the chorus of Loki’s drinking song is cheerful and upbeat, the Asgardian verse is far more melancholy. The song captures Loki’s self-imposed isolation and loneliness, born out of his arrogance and hatred towards Thor and his father. Loki turned his back on Asgard, and now he can’t return to the only home he ever knew. It’s a moment of vulnerability that’s shown only to Sylvie, since the people of Lamentis-1 don’t speak Asgardian, and her response to the song suggests that she understands Loki’s loneliness all too well.

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Hannah Shaw-Williams
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