Baldur

Baldur, also Baldr or Balder in various translations, is a god in Norse mythology, one of the Æsir. In most accounts he is the son of Odin and Frigg and, in some sources, the husband of Nanna and the father of Forseti. He is associated with light, beauty, innocence, and goodness, and is often described as the fairest of the gods. In sources such as the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda, Baldur is treated as a central, benevolent figure whose death foreshadows the cataclysmic events of Ragnarok.

Baldr’s cult is not well-attested; there is no distinct Baldr worship or cult center in the surviving texts, but his character appears in ritual poetry and narrative as a symbol of radiant justice and peaceful order within Asgard.

The most well-known Baldr myth concerns his death. Frigg, who loves Baldr, extracts oaths from all things to refrain from harming him, but she overlooks the mistletoe because it seems insignificant. Loki crafts a dart of mistletoe and deceives Baldr’s blind brother Hod, or Hodr, into shooting him. Baldr dies, and the Aesir grieve deeply; Baldr’s wife Nanna also dies of grief.

Hermod is sent to Hel to negotiate Baldr’s return. Hel agrees Baldr will return if all things in the world weep for him; in one famous variant, the giantess Thokk, who is actually Loki in disguise, refuses to weep, and Baldr remains in Hel. In some traditions Baldr is foretold to return after Ragnarok to rule in a renewed world.

Baldr figures prominently in Norse literature, particularly the Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson and the Poetic Edda. The character has influenced later fantasy and popular culture, where Balder or Baldr appears in adaptations of Norse myth.