Light does not always last.
And not all who shine are spared.

​

Baldr is the most beloved of the gods.
The golden son of Frigg and Óðinn.
The one whose death cracked the order of things and set the end in motion.

​

We know him from many sources.
The Poetic Edda. The Prose Edda. The Merseburg Incantations. Saxo’s Gesta Danorum.
His name survives across lands and centuries.
But it is his death that echoes most.

​

Baldr dreamt of his death.
Night after night, shadows fell across him.
Frigg, in fear, went to every thing in the Nine Realms—stone, fire, tree, beast, blade—and asked them to swear they would never harm him.
They all agreed.
All except mistletoe.
It was too young, she said. Too harmless to bother.

​

Loki disagreed.

​

He placed a slender branch of mistletoe into the hand of Baldr’s blind brother, Höðr,
and guided it toward the shining god.
Baldr fell.
And the gods stood still.

​

They tried to reverse it.
They begged Hel to release him.
She agreed—on one condition. That every thing in existence weep for him.
And they did.
All except one.
Þökk.
An old woman who refused.
Who may have been Loki in disguise.
So Baldr remained in Hel’s hall.

​

A funeral was held. The greatest there ever was.
His ship, Hringhorni, became a pyre.
Óðinn placed Draupnir on his son's body. Whispered a secret into Baldr’s ear.
Nanna died of grief and was laid beside him.
A giantess named Hyrrokin pushed the ship into the sea.
Fire rose. The earth shook.

​

It is said that Baldr did not stay dead.
That he lives in Hel’s hall, waiting for Ragnarök to pass.
And that when the smoke clears, he will return—along with Nanna, Höðr, Váli, Víðarr, and Thor’s sons—to build something better.

​

Saxo tells another version.
In his telling, Baldr is no god, but a mortal hero.
A fierce warrior. A rival in love. A man undone by jealousy and fate.
Saxo tried to strip the gods of their divinity, but even in his version, Baldr’s presence burns bright.
Brave. Desired. Wronged.

​

The kennings call him light.
Call him brave.
Call him white blossoms and clean sun.
He is the god of beauty. Of peace. Of noble death.
He is the warrior no one wanted to lose.

​

He is born on the Winter Solstice.
He dies at Summer’s peak.
And in many traditions, both Höðr and Nanna are honored with him.
For no one stands alone in these stories.
Not even the brightest.

​

Signs and Symbols
The sun at its highest. And its last gleam before night.
Mistletoe. Funerals. Bonfires. Pyres at sea.
The golden beauty of youth. The quiet sorrow of things cut short.
Chamomile. Daisies. White blossoms at graves.
Sky-blue. Pale gold. Radiant white.
The rune Dæg. The edge of light turning.

​

Associated Names
Balder. Balderus. Baldur. Baldere. Palter. Bealdor. Balþaz. Baltas. Baldag. Bældæg.
Beldeg. Belobog. Berhta. Phol. Herebeald.