Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps

that it's a long time ago, right? It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream

van plays music when it's out of ice cream. Listen to evil genius on BBC Sounds.

Hello, by Odin's beard and Thor's Hammer.

Is it possible that the badass god of Asgard, Loki, the one who got the golden boy boulder killed off,

resulting in the general ruin of the ancient world, just might be the Norse deity with most to say to us today?

That's the view of one of my guests, the novelist Joanne Harris,

whose works include Chocola and have won her a faithful readership all over the world.

In her latest book, The Gospel of Loki,

Joanne brings a fresh synthesis to the rise and fall of Asgard,

from the beginning of the nine worlds through to Ragnarok, the final apocalypse,

and lets the god we used to love to hate tell the story.

Joining this Radio 3 free thinking session on Making Mischief

is Eleanor Rosamond Baraklough of Durham University,

a specialist in Old Norse literature and a one-time new generation thinker.

Eleanor is currently exploring the Vikings' global expansion through the Old Norse sagas

and finds that wild world has a resonance for some of our preoccupations today.

Joanne, most of us need a reminder of who's who in the Norse pantheon.

So maybe we could have your Loki do the introductions for us.

Okay.

This is from the beginning of the book.

It's from where Loki arrives in Asgard, the citadel of the gods,

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