On the Nature of a Skratta

I find that there is a huge gap between what modern-day people understand after reading the sources of ancient Norse and Germanic lore (or any lore, really), and what may have actually been meant by the authors of such lore. For one, modern-day people have a tendency to take the lore as literal, rather than metaphorical, truth. And for another, they tend to not understand the metaphors and implications even when they are presented as pointedly obvious by the authors, simply because the cultural language has been eroded over the centuries since Christianization. We simply don’t recognize the clues given to us in the lore because we’ve lost the ability to interpret them.
As an example of something that is culturally obvious, in modern-day North America, you are reading a story and a character is introduced who is a fat old man with a long, white beard, wearing a red suit, carrying a large sack on his back, and whose catchphrase appears to be, “Ho, ho ho!” If I then ask you, “What is that guy carrying in the sack?” would your answer be:

A) kits and cats
B) the contents of the buffet at the Golden Corral restaurant
C) all of those “ho’s” he is talking about
D) Lots of toys for good girls and boys

If you answered “D”, you are probably a bona fide comprehender of modern North American culture. I didn’t even need to tell you that this man’s name is Santa Claus. You just knew who he was, or made an assumption that that was who the character was meant as. I don’t need to tell you that he has eight tiny reindeer pulling his sleigh, even if they aren’t tagging along with him in this particular story, you know he *has* them. You know his home is at the North Pole, and he surrounds himself with Elves, who are the ones making all the toys he carries around with him.
In reading the ancient lore, unless you have that sort of cultural understanding, you won’t be able to grasp the entire meaning behind even the smallest passages, and, in fact, might miss the majority of the intended meaning.
One of the things that should be standard in translations of lore is that English translations of personal names should be explained. If they are not understood, a huge part of the meaning behind the character’s motivations is lost.
In the tale about Odin stealing the mead of inspiration for the Gods, he claims the name of Bolverk. If one doesn’t understand that the name means “Evildoer” or “Evil Deed” then one is missing an important point of the story.
There is a culturally significant character presented in the ancient Norse lore that has gone almost entirely unnoticed. People hearing the traditions passed down orally would have recognized this character, and understood the significance of what they were hearing without having it explained to them explicitly. The character has the following characteristics:

A) He’s associated with snakes and monsters.
B) He can shapeshift, especially into women or female animals.
C) He can perform feats of magic (he’s a wizard or sorcerer.)
D) He receives these powers through his connections with a Goddess or Goddesses.
E) He can walk between the worlds and talk to spirits or other-worldly beings (he is a spirit-walker or what is commonly called today a “shaman.”)
F) He can obtain magical items or favors from the Earth Elementals (Dwarves.)
G) Is strongly associated with sex, usually sex that is outside the realm of what is socially acceptable to the time period.
H) Is strongly associated with other activities that are outside the realm of socially acceptable behavior.

We’ll call this character a skratta, which was an Old Norse term that had several connected meanings, including sorcerer, eunuch, hermaphrodite, monster, and prostitute (or promiscuous.) Yes, a eunuch was considered sexually voracious! Eunuch priests of the Goddess have been referred to as such for thousands of years. Sacred sex has been their specialty.
This character was *well known* to the ancient Norse, as well known as Santa Claus is to us today.
People hearing the stories back then wouldn’t need to be told what sort of activities Loki was engaged in with Odin, they would *already know* this information, just as surely as we know that Santa Claus is going to eat that cookie we leave out for him. Not because I need to tell you Santa likes cookies, but we *already know* he likes cookies.
Just like the followers of Cybele knew that Her priests, called Attis, after Her castrated son/lover, performed such services for their male clients. Did I mention that Attis means “goat?” No? Well, skratta has a meaning, too. Look it up, just for laughs.