Baldur

bal'der, or Balder, in Scandinavian mythology, the son of Odin, called also Alfadur (all father), and his wife Frigg. Baldur was the wisest, the gentlest the most eloquent of the gods. He was called "the Good," and "the Beautiful." Wherever he went his coming was like the coming of sunshine, and all the beauty of summer was but the shining of his face." He dwelt where nothing impure could enter, and where all mysteries were made clear. Baldur was beloved by both gods and men. Loki, alone, the god of destruction, was jealous, and hated him.

The story runs that Baldur was tormented by dreams that his life was in danger. His mother, Frigg, exacted an oath from all things in heaven and earth to do him no harm. Fire and water, beasts and birds, trees, stones, and metals, diseases and poisons, all willingly promised not to hurt Baldur, for all loved him. One small tree only, the mistletoe, made no promise for Frigg thought it so young and feeble that an oath from it was unnecessary. Now, of course, Baldur was invulnerable. So the gods delighted to place him in their midst and hurl stones, darts, and battle axes at him. Since they could not hurt him, this treatment was an honor to Baldur. But jealous Loki could not endure the sight. He disguised himself as an old woman and, learning from Frigg that the mistletoe alone had failed to swear the oath of protection, he plucked the little tree and from it shaped an arrow. Among the gods enjoying the sport about Baldur was the blind Hodur. Loki slipped his arrow into Hodur's hand and asked him to shoot, himself guiding the direction the arrow should take. The arrow pierced the heart of Baldur and he fell dead. The lamentations for the beautiful god were loud and long. Finally, at Frigg's request, a messenger was sent to the abode of Hela, goddess of Death, to beg that Baldur might return to Asgard. Hela replied that if all things in heaven and earth would weep for Baldur, he might return. So messengers went forth from Asgard to tell the news, and throughout all the earth and the heavens there was weeping for Baldur. Only one old giantess, Thok, was found sitting in a cavern, who said:

Then she laughed a terrible laugh and the messengers knew it was Loki, disguised again, and that Baldur must remain in the abodes of Death.

Baldur's funeral pyre was built on the deck of his own ship, the Ringhorn. Nanna, his wife, died, heart-broken, and her body was laid beside his. A vast concourse of gods, men, and beasts watched while the funeral pyre was consumed. "Baldur had vanished forever, the summer was ended, and winter waited at the doors."

The story of Baldur is a sun myth. In him is personified the beauty of summer. While Baldur lived all was bright and beautiful in Asgard. With his death began the "twilight of the gods," when Asgard lay in cold shadows and there was wrangling, and murder, and war. So the long northern winter follows the beautiful summer. And as joy and light return after the long winter, so Baldur, after long ages of twilight, returned to the new earth.

Baldur has been made attractive in literature. Matthew Arnold's Baldur Dead is a beautiful poem in blank verse. Baldur's funeral is described by William Morris in The Lovers of Godrun, a poem in The Earthly Paradise. Longfellow's poem, Tegner's Drapa, has for its subject the death of Baldur. It was written after the death of Tegner, the Swedish poet. The word Drapa signifies death-song. The story of Baldur is told also in Hamilton Wright Mabie's Norse Stories.

See Asgard; Mythology; Odin; Loki; Valhalla; Ragnarok