B8
Balder( Baldr) The beloved son of the great god Odin and his wife, Frigg. The story of the god Balder is one of the most famous and one of the most complete in Norse mythology. It has been retold many times over the centuries, from Snorri Sturluson’ s account in the Prose Edda to the story by the Danish scholar Saxo Grammaticus and the poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold(“ Balder Dead”).
Balder’ s Dreams When Balder became a young man, he began to have fearful dreams that seemed to foretell his death. None of the gods could understand the meaning of these dreams. His unhappiness cast sadness over all who lived in Asgard, the home of the Aesir gods.
Odin, determined to solve the mystery of his son’ s dreams, mounted his horse, Sleipnir, and made the long journey to the underworld, Niflheim. There he called up a seeress, one of the Volva. When she arose from her tomb, Odin introduced himself as Vegtam, the Wanderer, son of Valtam.
Odin asked the Volva why the halls of Hel were decked with gold and the tables set for a grisly feast. The seeress replied that it was for Balder.
Odin asked who would slay Balder. The seeress answered that the blind Hodur would cast a fatal branch at his brother.
Odin then asked who would avenge Balder’ s death. The seeress answered that Odin would take Rinda as a wife, and their son would be Vali( 2), who would take vengeance when he was only one night old.
Odin asked who would refuse to weep for Balder. At this question, which revealed that Vegtam knew or guessed more of the future than an ordinary mortal could, the Volva realized that Vegtam was in fact Odin, or Alfodr.
She refused to answer any more questions and sank into her tomb, vowing to speak no more until Loki’ s chains were unbound— that is, until the end of the world. This story is found in Baldrs Draumar( Balder’ s Dreams) in the Poetic Edda.
Frigg and the Mistletoe When Frigg realized that her son Balder’ s life was in danger, she sent her messengers to every corner of the world to extract promises not to harm her beloved son. Stones and metals, water and wind, fish and birds, reptiles and mammals, trees and flowers, insects, spiders, and scorpions, all creatures alive and all objects large and small swore that they would not harm Balder. Only one small green plant, the mistletoe, which grew on the mighty oak tree, was not asked to make the promise, for it was so frail that no one paid attention to it.
The Gods at Play Word soon spread through Asgard that Balder was absolutely invulnerable: Nothing could harm him. The young gods, always ready for fun, made a game of throwing things at Balder: stones, knives, sticks. Whatever they threw glanced off Balder’ s body, leaving him totally unharmed, to the merriment of all.
Only Loki did not join in the fun. Instead he disguised himself as a woman and paid a visit to Frigg. Pretending to be astonished and disgusted at the sport the gods were making of Balder, Loki tricked Frigg into revealing the information he sought: that there was indeed one object in the world that had not taken the vow to be harmless to Balder. That object was the mistletoe that grew on the branches of the oak tree outside Valhalla.
Loki hurried away, plucked a sprig of mistletoe, and hastened to the field of Idavoll, where the merry young gods were still at play. Only the blind god, Hodur, hung back, for he could not see.
Loki approached Hodur, put the mistletoe branch into his hands, and offered to guide his aim. Hodur gladly accepted.
The Death of Balder Hodur threw the fatal weapon and killed Balder. When Balder fell dead, a terrible silence fell upon the gods, and then they cried