Baldr
God of Light and Joy
Colour- Gold, White and Sky Blue
Animals- N/A
Rune- Dagaz
“The second son of Odin is Baldr, and good things are to be said of him. He is best, and all praise him; he is so fair of feature, and so bright, that light shines from him. A certain herb is so white that it is likened to Baldr’s brow; of all grasses it is whitest, and by it thou mayest judge his fairness, both in hair and in body. He is the wisest of the Aesir, and the fairest-spoken and most gracious; and that quality attends him, that none may gainsay his judgements. He dwells in the place called Breidablik, which is in heaven; in that place may nothing unclean be”-Prose Edda
Baldr is said to be the most beautiful of the Gods, He is often called Baldr the beautiful , he is liked by all and he is also the fairest spoken of the Aesir. His name means ‘Brave.’ He is the Son of Odin and Frigg, brother to Thor, Hodr, Bragi, Vidar and Vali and husband to the Goddess Nanna who gave him the Son, Forseti. He is the owner of Hringhorni ‘ the ship with a circle on the stem,’ described as the greatest of all ships, he is later laid to rest on it alongside his wife at his death, using it as a funeral pyre. He lives in the hall of Breidablik 'Broad gleaming' where nothing unclean may enter.
Baldr suffered from prophetic dreams, even dreaming of his own death. His mother Frigg made everything swear not to harm Baldr. She got the guarantee from everything except Mistletoe. When Loki heard of this he plotted to assassinate him. The gods had taken to throwing weapons at Baldr for sport as nothing, they thought, could now harm him, when Loki told Baldr’s blind brother Hodr to shoot a dart at Baldr, which was made of Mistletoe, which in turn killed Baldr. Loki fled and was later caught by the other Aesir, Hodr however was slain by the son of Odin and Rindr, named Vali who was born to fulfil the avenging of Baldr.
“The gods took Baldr’s body down to the sea-shore, where stood Hringhorn, Baldr’s vessel, the biggest in the world. When the gods tried to launch it into the water, in order to make on it a funeral fire for Baldr, the ship would not stir. Then they despatched one to Jotunheimr for the sorceress called Hyrrokin, who came riding on a wolf with twisted serpents by way of reins. Odin called for four Berserker to hold the horse, but they could not secure it till they had thrown it to the ground. Then Hyrrokin went to the stem of the ship, and set it afloat with a single touch, the vessel going so fast that fire sprang from the rollers, and the earth trembled. Then Thor was so angry that he took his hammer and wanted to cast it at the woman’s head, but the gods pleaded for her and appeased him. The body of Baldr being placed on the ship, Nanna, the daughter of Nep, Baldr’s wife, seeing it, died of a broken heart, so she was borne to the pile and thrown into the fire. Thor stood up and consecrated the pile with Mjolnir. A little dwarf, called Litur, ran before his feet, and Thor gave him a push, and threw him into the fire, and he was burnt. Many kinds of people came to this ceremony. With Odin came Frigga and the Valkyrie with his ravens. Frey drove in a car drawn by the boar, Gullinbursti or Slidrugtanni. Heimdall rode the horse Gulltopp, and Freyja drove her cats. There were also many of the forest-giants and mountain-giants there. On the pile Odin laid the gold ring called Draupnir, giving it the property that every ninth night it produces eight rings of equal weight. In the same pile was also consumed Baldr’s horse.”- Translation of the Prose Edda, Author Unknown
The Death of Baldr is the first sign that Ragnarok is Approaching, after Ragnarok Baldr and Hodr return from Helheimr to join the surviving new generation of gods on the the field of Idavollr.
