Baldr (also known Balder and Baldur) is the god of light, joy, purity, beauty, innocence, peace, and reconciliation. He is the second son of Odin and Frigg. His wife was Nanna, the daughter of Nep, and their son, the god of justice, was named Forseti.
Overview[]
Baldr had the largest ship ever built, called the Ringhorn, or Hringhorni, which was known as the "greatest of all ships". His hall was known as Breidablik, which means "broad splendour", and according to both the Grímnismál and the Gylfaginning, Breidablik is the fairest of dwellings where nothing evil or unclean can exist.
Other than his great courage and honor, he is known primarily for the myth about his death, which is seen as the first in a chain of events that will ultimately lead to the destruction of the gods at Ragnarök. According to Völuspá, Baldr will be reborn in the new world.
History[]
Foreshadowing Dreams[]
He had a dream of his own death and his mother had the same dream. Since dreams were usually prophetic, this depressed him, so his mother Frigg made every object on earth vow never to hurt Baldr. All objects made this vow except mistletoe—a detail which has traditionally been explained with the idea that it was too unimportant and nonthreatening to bother asking it to make the vow, but which Merrill Kaplan has instead argued echoes the fact that young people were not eligible to swear legal oaths, which could make them a threat later in life.
This plan was almost perfect except that she had missed one thing that she had thought too insignificant, the weed mistletoe. The trickster God, Loki, took a disguise and asked Frigg if anything could harm Baldr. Thinking nothing of it, she told him about the mistletoe. At the same time, several of the gods were playing a game with Baldr where they were throwing projectiles at him in an attempt to strike him; however, since all objects had vowed to never harm Baldr, he could not be touched by the gods' attempts.
Death of Baldr[]
When Loki, the mischief-maker, heard of this, he made a magical spear from this plant (in some later versions, an arrow). He hurried to the place where the gods were indulging in their new pastime of hurling objects at Baldr, which would bounce off without harming him. Loki gave the spear to Baldr's brother, the blind god Höðr, who then inadvertently killed his brother with it (other versions suggest that Loki guided the arrow himself). For this act, Odin and the asynja Rindr gave birth to Váli, who grew to adulthood within a day and slew Höðr.
Baldr was ceremonially burnt upon his ship, Hringhorni, the largest of all ships. As he was carried to the ship, Odin whispered in his ear. The dwarf Litr was kicked by Thor into the funeral fire and burnt alive. Nanna, Baldr's wife, also threw herself on the funeral fire to await Ragnarök when she would be reunited with her husband (alternatively, she died of grief). Baldr's horse with all its trappings was also burned on the pyre. The ship was set to sea by Hyrrokin, a giantess, who came riding on a wolf and gave the ship such a push that fire flashed from the rollers and all the earth shook.
Love in Death[]
Upon Frigg's entreaties, delivered through the messenger Hermod, Hel promised to release Baldr from the underworld if all objects alive and dead would weep for him. All did, except a giantess, Þökk (often presumed to be the god Loki in disguise), who refused to mourn the slain god. Thus Baldr had to remain in the underworld, not to emerge until after Ragnarök, when he and his brother Höðr would be reconciled and rule the new earth together with Thor's sons.
Despite his confinement within the realm of the dead, Baldr was treated with fine hospitality from the Underworld goddess although she would be cold and distant from the light god due to his contrasting theme and characteristics from her own. At some point, Baldr eventually fell in love with the death goddess to whom she returned the feelings of affection which surprised her subjects as Hel would not be one to mingle herself with the concept of romance but nevertheless, she relented as Baldr was known to be quite respectful and affectionate towards her, and it is said to be one of the reasons why Hel did not wish for Baldr to leave the underworld. Regardless, Hel and Baldr have conceived a child together with child being Krampus himself.
