Baldr & the Mistletoe

Lately, I’ve been obsessively playing Assassins Creed’s Valhalla. The game is an open-world RPG that explores Norway and England with a Norse main character, Eivor, and is full of Norse stories and knowledge. I have spent many hours invested in this game, and as December rolls in I am reminded of one of the most popular Norse tales-that of the mighty god Baldr and the mistletoe.

Baldr was the favorite among the gods. He was the son of the AllFather Odin and the goddess Freyja, sometimes known as Frigg. Baldr was known for his beauty, fairness, and wisdom. He was so handsome that a pure light shone off of him, and his wisdom in settling disputes between men and between gods rivaled even that of the AllFather himself.

Baldr lived in a palace called Breidablik, the "broad-gleaming." Odin described the home as the most peaceful of all places. Baldr married the goddess Nanna and had a son named Forseti.

The story begins when Baldr started to have recurring dreams about his death. After also having the dream, his mother became worried, so she extracted an oath from everything in the world to not harm her beloved son. She was successful, and when she finished all the gods rejoiced.

They were so secure in Freyja’s actions that it became commonplace to use Baldr for sword practice or play. Gods and goddesses would throw their weapons at him, and each would fail at touching or hurting him.

Freyja had made a mistake though. She had glanced over the weed mistletoe, believing the plant to be too insignificant to harm anyone, nonetheless her magnificent son. She neglected to extract an oath from it.

Loki, the trickster god, was the only one who had ill favor toward Baldr. Loki sensed an opportunity for mischief and disguised himself as a woman. He learned of Freyja’s mistake from her own lips and immediately went to the forest to gather some of the weed. When he had enough, Loki made a dart tip from the plant.

When he returned there were many gods playfully throwing weapons at Baldr. Loki approached Baldr’s blind brother, Hodr, with the dart. He insisted that Holdr join in the revelry and Holdr, not knowing what he was taking, threw the dart. Loki had assisted in aiming it, and the dart of mistletoe hit Baldr in the heart. The favorite was struck down and dead.

All the gods but Loki lamented the passing of Baldr. Odin sent Hamod to the underworld dominion of the goddess Hel to plead for the god’s return. Hel agreed, but only if all things in the world, either alive or dead, wept for the god.

Much like Freyja’s attempt, everyone in the world wept for Baldr except for one. Loki, disguised as a giant (or sometimes a witch) named Thokk, refused to shed a tear for Baldr. In doing so Loki forced Baldr to remain with Hel until the doom of Ragnarok.

The gods wrapped Baldr’s body in crimson cloth and used his famous longship, the Ringhorn or Hringhorni, as his flaming funeral pyre. By his side was his wife, dead from the grief of losing Baldr, and his horse.

Both Hodr and Loki were punished for their actions in time. The new son of Odin, Vali, was born and grown in a single day for the sole purpose of avenging Baldr’s death. Hodr was quickly killed and then Vali went after Loki. Loki has a few stories between that of Baldr and the binding, but not long after the favored god’s death, Vali captured Loki. The trickster god was then bound by the entrails of his son, Nari, and tied to three rocks. Above him drips the venom of a poisonous snake. Loki’s wife, Sigyn, is said to stand at his side to catch the poisonous drops, but every once in a while she has to leave his side to empty the bowl. The Norse believed earthquakes were the god shaking the earth in pain as the poisonous drops reached his face in those moments.

The mistletoe never meant much before this story, but it is remembered now because of such tales. Freyja’s mournful tears fell onto the mistletoe after Baldr’s death, and they turned into the white, pearl-like berries. The Norse thus treated the plant as a symbol of Freyja’s dedicated love. The druids of England also recognized the mistletoe as a sign of joy and peace. If enemies met under a mistletoe tree, they were to make a truce until the following day. Today Americans have developed the two ideas together and believe that two people who meet under mistletoe should kiss.

I love seeing how stories affect us and our cultures and love more when such stories persist through time unchanged. I never liked mistletoes or the tradition of it before learning of Baldr. This Christmas, though, I might consider the weed a guest in my home in remembrance of Baldr and the love he inspired.