Loki, the god of mischief, saw this as a great opportunity. The other gods thought that this was hilarious and took pleasure in throwing all sorts of things at Balder to watch them bounce harmlessly off him. Thanks to these oaths, Balder essentially became invincible. When Odin told Frigg about what was prophesied to befall their son, she went to every single thing in the cosmos and got an oath from them that they would not harm Balder. It would then turn out that the seeress had foreseen Balder’s death and they were preparing a suitable welcome for someone of this status. When Odin got there (in disguise) the underworld was decorated and set for a party. Odin got on his horse, Sleipnir, and literally hoofed it to the underworld, where a deceased female seer resided. The wise Odin took up the task of finding a final solution. Fearing that these dreams were prophetic, they sought a solution to prevent his death from coming to pass. Since everyone loved him so much, this was also worrying and disturbing to the other gods. A Dark ProphecyĪt some point, Balder began to have terrible dreams foretelling his death. Of course, it’s likely that such a perfect and beloved character was created specifically with the purpose of sharpening the edge of the tragedy, but the fact is that Balder’s death is the god’s greatest and lasting legacy.
His name’s meaning is the subject of much argumentation, but the most likely answer is that is simply comes from the Old Norse word for “bold,” which Balder certainly was not, so if this is the correct name, it’s a bit of a mystery as to why.įor a god that is beloved, it’s ironic that what he is mostly remembered for in tales is his tragic death.
Origin and HistoryĪs with nearly all the gods and creatures from Norse mythology, the main source of information we have on Balder comes from the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda. Their son is the god of justice in the Norse tradition. His wife was Nanna, who was a daughter of the god Nep. He had a twin brother by the name of Hodr, who was blind. Baldr is one of the two sons of Odin and Frigg.
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