by Glenn “Maghnus” Wright
Baldr was the wisest and noblest among all the gods in Asgard. Baldr’s mother Frigg tried to keep Baldr away from danger by devoting her life to taking oaths from all plants, creatures, elements, and metals that they not harm him. By doing so, Baldr became immune to pain caused by objects and weapons thrown at him. Loki, however, discovered that Baldr could in fact be harmed by the Mistletoe plant, for Frigg claimed that it was too young to ask a pledge of it. Baldr was innocently killed by his brother Hod, the blind god, when Loki persuaded him to fling a shaft of this deadly shrub. It pierced Baldr like a spear, and Baldr was sent to the realm of Hel.
What is it then that makes Baldr so important in the Germanic/Norse Hearth Culture? Baldr is primarily known for the story of his death because Baldr’s death is a transitional point in mythology. His death marks the beginning of the end of the world and it is a warning sign that destruction draws nearer. Loki now grows progressively more evil in nature and the nine worlds under the Yggdrasil tree start to crumble. The poem Völuspá tells that Baldr’s mother, Frigg, wept not for Baldr, but for Valhöll’s woe. She recognized, as did Óðin, that the death of Baldr presaged the death of the gods at Ragnarök.
Baldr is also known as the patron god of sunlight and the incarnation of the life principle. There were runes engraved on his tongue which provided him with great eloquence. (Jobes, 174) His legends also suggest that he may be a tree god with his soul residing in the mistletoe, the very plant that killed him. He associated with water and well worship since wells were believed to have sprung up horse’s hoofmarks and water defends his burial mound or ship.
The unique nature of deity in the Germanic/Norse pantheon is often overlooked, perhaps because it is so obvious, especially in the myth of Baldr. Gods die. Like humans in Midgard, the Shining Ones have a lifespan, and can be killed prematurely. This is a crucial difference between Norse pagan belief and most other religions. Christians, for example, have had to expostulate a dual nature for Christ in order for him to die and yet retain his godhood. The Norse had no such problem, and in fact presaged Paraclesus with a reversal of his famous dictum – as below, so above.
Baldr is a fascinating and crucial deity in Germanic/Norse cultural beliefs. The myth of Baldr stands at the very center of their beliefs about the afterlife and, along with Voluspá and Vafðrúðnismál in the Poetic Edda, gives us our deepest knowledge of Germanic/Norse eschatology and cosmogony. It represents the cosmic change that reflects the change we see around us every day. In this myth we gain key insights: what is lost will return, what is left will survive.
Bibliography
Jobes, Gertrude. Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols, Vol I. Print. New York 1962. The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
