ABSTRACT
Such was the reverence with which the name Baldr was held, that it was rarely used among men in Viking times. Baldr, after all, was the brightest and best of the Gods, the fairest spoken and most gracious. The Gods’ favourite recreation was hurling stones at him in the knowledge that they would simply bounce off, because his mother, Frigg, had elicited a vow from every object on earth not to harm him. The Mischief Maker, Loki, exploits Frigg’s single oversight – mistletoe – and Baldr is killed accidentally by his own brother, Hörður. His mistletoe arrow or spear is literally given a helping hand by Loki as he takes unwitting aim: Hörður, in a twist typical of so many classical myths, is blind. Even Frigg’s efforts to redeem Baldr from the underworld, by getting everything in the universe to weep for him, are deviously thwarted by Loki. Thus Baldr awaits Ragnarok, a Viking Armageddon, after which he is to rule a new world with his brothers, in a new era of peace.
