Balder truly was the most beloved of all the gods. He was fair of face and fair of hair. Beautiful to behold and wise to speak with, he was always kind, always happy and smiling. But one day, his brow began to look troubled. It was only a matter of time before Odin noticed his son’s sadness. Odin and Frigga, persistent parents that they are, coaxed the matter from their beloved son. Lately his sleep had been greatly troubled by heavy, burdensome dreams that left him little rest.
Troubled by their son’s nightmares, Odin and Frigga took steps to ease his mind. Frigga sent her servants out in all directions to seek out everything thing, living or not, and ask them to take a most solemn vow not to harm Balder in any way. Only the mistletoe was overlooked, it being thought to weak and inoffensive to cause any harm to anyone. Relived, Frigga returned to her spinning and weaving, grateful that her son was safe.
Meanwhile, Odin traveled to Helheim in disguise and consulted with one of the Valas, or prophetesses, on the matter of his son. She revealed that Balder would soon be slain by his blind brother Hodur, god of darkness. His death would be avenged by a half-brother, Vali, who was yet to be born of Odin and Rinda, the earth goddess. Indeed, Vali’s sole purpose in life was to avenge the death of his one brother by killing the other.
Returning home, Odin learned of the precautions his wife had taken began to relax. Perhaps Balder would be safe after all. He ordered feasting and games. Throwing sundry objects at Balder became a source of great merriment to the other gods – all except for Loki. Disguised as an old woman, he happened to be in the right place at the right time and was stopped by Frigga as he passed by her window. The goddess asked what all of the laughter was about, to which Loki replied that the deities were throwing all manner of things at Balder, none of which were hitting the god. The spinning Frigga smiled and, laughing, replied that it was ok since everything had taken an oath to never harm her favorite son. A further question from the disguised trickster lead to the revelation that the mistletoe had not been asked to swear to Balder’s safety.
Learning of this weakness, Loki hurried to the castle gates, where he knew a mistletoe grew. Using his magic he made it grow tall and strong, forming a sturdy spear. The god of fire then joined the fun and asked what was happening. Hodur replied that the others were taking turns throwing objects at his twin, Balder. He lamented that, since he couldn’t see he also couldn’t take part in the fun. This was the opportunity Loki’d been waiting for. Handing Hodur the spear, Loki promised to turn him so he was facing the right direction to throw it at his brother. Everyone watched with anticipation has Hodur hefted the weapon and let it fly, striking Balder in the chest and killing him.
At Frigga’s bidding, Hermod set off for Helheim to seek Hel’s goodwill towards Balder. Odin gave him Sleipnir, his eight-footed mount, to speed him on his way. At first the dark goddess would have none of it. Once someone died, they died. Visits to her abode were permanent. Finally she relented, allowing Balder to return to the living if every thing – living and non-living would shed only one tear for the bright god. This every object under creation gladly did, except for the giantess Thok, who was perhaps Loki once again in disguise. She refused to shed a tear, claiming Balder had never done anything for her, so why did she care if he lived or not?
And so Balder remains a guest of Hel, although his stay isn’t lonely. His loving wife Nanna (Blossom) died of a broken heart upon seeing her husband laid out on his funeral pyre. The assembled gods tenderly laid her next to her husband before setting it aflame. The two await the end of the world, when they will once more join the other gods in the final battle.
Encyclopedia Mythica. [http://www.pantheon.org/articles/b/balder.html]
Guerber, H. A. Myths of Northern Lands. New York: American Book Company, 1895. (An absolutely wonderful little book. It even feels nice just to hold it.)
Norse Mythology. [http://www.ugcs.Caltech.edu/~cherryne/myth.cgi/Balder.html]
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Originally
composed September 2001.
Copyright
Laurel Reufner, 2001. Comments? Email me!