The Death of Baldr: The Fall of the Beloved

The Shadow of the Dream Baldr, the son of Odin and Frigg, was the most beloved of all the gods. He was the god of light, joy, and beauty; so radiant was he that light shone from his very skin. However, Baldr began to have dark, prophetic dreams of his own death. Fearing for her son’s life, his mother Frigg traveled across the nine realms. she extracted an oath from every living thing—fire, water, iron, stone, trees, and animals—that they would never harm Baldr.

The Invulnerable God Once the oaths were taken, the gods made a game of Baldr’s invulnerability. They would throw spears, stones, and axes at him, and everything would simply bounce off or veer away. Baldr stood in the middle of the circle, laughing and unharmed. But Loki, the god of mischief, watched this with growing jealousy. Transforming himself into an old woman, Loki tricked Frigg into revealing a secret: there was one tiny plant she had deemed too young and harmless to ask for an oath—the Mistletoe.

The Mistletoe Arrow Loki quickly gathered a branch of mistletoe and fashioned it into a sharp dart. He returned to the gods' assembly and found Baldr’s blind brother, Hödr, standing apart because he could not join the game. Loki placed the mistletoe dart in Hödr’s hand and said, "I will guide your aim so you too can honor your brother." Hödr threw the dart. Instead of bouncing off, the mistletoe pierced Baldr’s heart, and the god of light fell dead instantly. The laughter of the gods turned into a silence so deep that it was felt across the universe. This was the first sign that the end of the world—Ragnarök—was near.