Baldr (deity)

Symbols: Balder’s brow (a white flower)

Culture: Norse

Mother: Frigga

Father: Odin

Siblings: Thor (half-brother); Hoder; Hermod; Tyr; Bragi

Children: Forseti

Balder was a Norse god known for his goodness. He was pure and innocent, and his life held evil at bay. With golden hair and fair appearance, he was often called Balder the Beautiful. Balder was a son of Odin and Frigga, and he was the most beloved of all the gods. Only the malevolent Loki, the trickster Giant, hated Balder, perhaps because he was so popular. The stories of Balder’s death—due to Loki’s trickery—and of his resurrection after Ragnarok, which marks the end of the world and the beginning of a new one, are two of the central Norse myths.

Some scholars think that the resurrection aspect of Balder’s story may reflect the influence of Christianity. Others believe that Balder was linked to ancient beliefs in the sacrifice of a god to ensure the annual rebirth of fertility. Even that explanation poses difficulties, though. While the world weeps for Balder—a frequent motif in these stories of the death of a god—he does not immediately return to life, which should occur to fit the theme of seasonal rebirth. Still, Balder was linked to the sun and summer, which does connect him to fertility. His wife Nanna was goddess of night and the moon. Their son Forseti was the god of justice.

In Mythology

The chief myth about Balder is the story of his death. The main version is from the Prose Edda, a thirteenth-century work by Snorri Sturluson, a poet from Iceland.

In the story, Balder was riding with his father Odin when his horse injured his leg. Balder was disturbed by the incident. Then he began to have troubling dreams of his death, which alarmed all the gods. Frigg—who had clear sight into all things except her son’s fate—sent forth her maidens to all parts of the world to extract a promise from every creature, plant, and substance not to harm Balder. Odin remained troubled and went to see a prophetess, who told him of Balder’s death and of who would be responsible.

Not knowing what Odin had heard, the other gods were all reassured by the oath taking. Convinced that Balder was now invincible, they decided to have some fun. They hurled javelins at him, and he remained unharmed. They threw stones at him, again with no effect. Some struck him with swords; he was unhurt. The gods laughed as they continued to assault Balder, who could not be injured.

But jealous Loki could not bear to see Balder withstand all these attacks. In the disguise of a woman, he asked Frigg if Balder was indeed protected from all things. She revealed that the oath had not been extracted from the humble mistletoe, a small shrub that seemed too inconsequential to bother with. Loki immediately shaped some mistletoe into a sharp point. He then tricked the blind god Hoder to throw the dart at his brother. The dart pierced Balder’s body, and the god died instantly, his spirit transported to Hel. The other gods were horrified. They put Balder’s body on a ship laden with treasure and lit his funeral pyre. Odin gave him his ring, Draupnir, and whispered something to his fallen son, perhaps that Balder would be reborn. Nanna died of grief, and her body was placed on the ship to accompany him.

At Frigg’s frantic begging, Balder’s brother Hermod rode to Hel to seek Balder’s return. He learned that Balder could return to life if every living thing on Earth grieved for him. All did—all except an old woman—probably Loki in disguise—who said that Balder’s life did nothing for her. As a result, Balder remained in Hel.

Balder only stayed there until Ragnarok, however. At that time, the powers of order that had been imposed on the world’s initial chaos could no longer hold. Chaos reigned once again, and the world was destroyed, with all living creatures perishing. After the destruction, though, Balder would come back with other sons of the gods—including Hoder—and reign over a newly reborn world. Humans would return to this new world as well, first in the form of Lif and Lifthrasir, who would give birth to a new population of people.

Origins and Cults

Fragments of Balder’s story date to hundreds of years before the Prose Edda. These bits and pieces show that Sturluson was drawing on a well-established tradition. There are also images dating from hundreds of years before Sturluson showing some significant events in the story. They include Balder’s death by mistletoe and Odin’s placing of his ring Draupnir on Balder’s chest before his funeral pyre is lit. These verbal and pictorial fragments suggest that the Balder myth is very ancient.

While there are few other stories about Balder, one that does exist gives an alternate view of the god. It is in another thirteenth-century text, written by the Dane Saxo Grammaticus, and it seems to link Balder to the Danish royal house. Saxo wrote in Latin and included stories of legendary Danish kings as well as what he claims to be histories of Danish rulers. In Saxo’s account, Balder was a warrior who fought his brother Hoder for the hand of Nanna. Hoder won at first, but then Balder triumphed and became king. Hoder killed him, however, with a sword made of the only steel that could bring down the heroic king. Hoder’s involvement and the singularly fatal material link this version to Sturluson’s.

Balder’s home, called Breidablik, was said by Sturluson to be the most magnificent of all homes. Researchers have linked this mythical home to a Danish site called Bredebliche. A few locations in Norway and England have place names that may be linked to Balder. James George Frazer, in The Golden Bough, described a shrine dedicated to Balder in Norway at a site called Balder’s Grove. "So great was the awe with which the [Norse] regarded the place that no man might harm another there, nor steal his cattle," Frazer wrote.

In Popular Culture

Balder was reborn again in the twenty-first century. He is a character in Marvel Comic’s Thor storyline, part of the Asgardian universe. He is Thor’s half-brother—as he had been in Norse mythology—and his closest friend. He also rules Asgard after Odin’s death.

Bibliography

Davidson, H. R. Ellis. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. London: Penguin, 1965. Print.

Ferguson, Robert. The Vikings: A History. New York: Viking, 1999. Print.

Frazer, Sir James George. The Golden Bough. Abridged ed. 1922. Mineola: Dover, 2002. Print.

Simek, Rudolph. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Trans. by Angela Hall. Cambridge: Brewer, 1996. Print.

Simonson, Walter. Thor: Balder the Brave. Illustrated by Sal Buscema. New York: Marvel, 2009. Print.

Sturluson, Snorri. The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology. Trans. by Jesse L. Byock. London: Penguin Classics, 2005. Print.