The Death of Balder Snorri Sturluson Translated by Me.

III Baldr The other son of Odin was Baldr, and the account made of him runs thus: that he is of all those in heaven the best, and all the gods praise him. He is so fair in appearance and his countenance so bright that it shines from him. There is one flower only that is so white that it compares with Baldrs brow, and it is among all plants that grow the whitest. And upon this all the gods mark his beauty, both that of his hair and of his form; He is the wisest of all the gods, and his beauty and kindness are renowned. But this peculiarity follows him, that he will not hold anything against his conscience. He dwells in heaven, in the place called Breitha-Blik: and in that place there is no impurity, so that here it is said: Breitha-Blik it is called, there where Baldr has built his hall: In this land in which I lie, I know that here wickedness is least.

IV The Death of Baldr This is the beginning of the tale; that Baldr the good dreamed a dream, of omens dangerous and great which loomed about his life. And it is said that when he spoke to the gods of these dreams they took council amongst themselves, and the council decided to demand protection for Balder from danger of every kind; and Frigg took oaths for this; from the fire and the water that they should spare Baldr, and the iron and metal too of every kind, and from the stones, the earth, the tress, sicknesses, beasts and birds, from snakes and poison. And when this was done and recognized, then it was an amusement among Baldr and the rest of the gods; that he should stand up in the midst of the conclave, and all the others would cast various things at him; some struck at him with swords, some threw at him with stones. And this is how it turned out, he was not injured, and they thought this was a great advantage for all of them. But then Loki, the son of Laufeyr saw this, and it pleased him ill when Baldr was not injured. And he went to Fen-salr and to Frigg, and transformed himself into the image of a woman; and he asked Frigg if she knew what the gods had been doing in their meetings. She replied to him that they all made casts at Baldr, and that when they did, that he was not injured. Then Frigg added, Neither arms nor anything else may harm Baldr. I have received oaths from all of them. Then he questioned the wife of Odin, Have all the parts of the world promised then to spare Baldr? And Frigg replied to him, There is one plant, it grows west of Valhalla; he is called mistletoe, and he seemed to me too young to demand an oath from. Immediately Loki turned from the woman and went on his way. Loki found the mistletoe and pulled it up, and went to the conclave. Now Hor happened to be standing outside the ring of men, for the reason that he was blind. And Loki said to him: why are you not throwing at Baldr? He answered him, because I cannot see where Baldr is, and also for this reason, that I am weaponless. Then Loki spoke to him saying, Do thou nonetheless in the manner of other men and give honour to Baldr like they do; I shall guide you to where he is standing; cast at him with this shaft. Hor took the mistletoe then, and cast at Baldr with the guidance of Loki; then the missile pierced him, and he fell dead to the earth; and this act was among all the deeds of gods and men the most unhappy. Then when Baldr was slain, words failed all the gods, and their hands also to raise him up, and the one looked at the other, and they all had the same feelings toward the one had who had carried out this act, but they might not be avenged in that place, as it was a mighty sanctuary. And then when the sir tried to speak to him, just as they had before he was struck, then great weeping came upon them, so that none could speak to the other of his grief. And Odin would bear this

grief worse than they, since he perceived with great insight, how great an injury and loss to the gods was suffered in the death of Baldr. And when the god came to his senses, then he took council with Frigg and asked, whether one among the gods, who wished to gain all her love and favour, whether he might take the road to hell and try if he could to obtain a meeting with Baldr, and offer ransom to the lady of the underworld, to see if she would allow Baldr to return to his home in Asgard. And one among them, named Hermor the swift, the son of Odin, volunteered for this journey. Then Sleipnir was brought. This was the horse of Odin, and he led him forth, and Hermor setting himself on the horses back spurred him on his way. And the gods took the body of Baldr and took it down to the sea. Ringhorn was it called, the ship of Baldr, and it was the greatest of all ships; the gods wished to send him forth upon it, and to make upon it Baldrs funeral pyre; but the ship would not go forth anywhere. Then a messenger was sent to the home of the giants, in search of one of the giantesses called Hyrrokin; and she came, riding upon a wolf, and the reins were vipers, then she leapt down from her steed, and Odin called upon four of his servants, berserkers, to tend to the wolf. But they were not able to restrain him, except by felling him to the ground. But Hyrrokin took the prow of the ship, and launched it on the first push, so that fire broke out on the ramp, and all the lands shook. And Thor was furious, and he grasped his hammer, and might have smashed her head in, except that all the gods had offered her peace already. Then the body of Baldr was born out onto the ship; and when his wife, Nanna, the daughter of Nep, saw this, she broke down from grief, and died; she was placed on the funeral pyre alongside him, and the fire was lit. Then Thor stood alongside, and hallowed the pyre with his hammer Mjollnir; but beneath his feet ran a certain dwarf, whose name was Lit. And Thor kicked at him with his feet, and pushed him into the fire, and burned him. And from this fire came every sort of illness. But it is said regarding Odin, that he came with his wife Frigg and the Valkyrie and his raven, and Frigg drove in her chariot with her boar (which may be called either Gullin-bursti or Slirug-tann)i; and Heimdall rode his horse which is called Gull-Toppr; and Freyja brought her cats. There came there also a great crowd of frost giants, and hill giants too. Then Odin cast into a flame the gold-ring called Draupnir; this nature was peculiar to it, when nine nights had transpired it would produce eight equally broad gold rings out of itself. Baldrs horse was also led onto the funeral pyre too along with all its harness. But this is what is said regarding Hermor, that he rode for nine nights through valleys deep and dark so that he was not able to see, until he came to the shores of the river Gjallar, and he rode over the bridge of Gjallar; and the place was roofed with shining gold. The maiden named Mugur guarded that bridge; and she demanded that he name himself and his kin. For it is said that before him on that day five huge troops of dead men had passed over the bridge; and she said these bridges certainly do not tremble the less under one of you. Thou dost not have the appearance of a dead man, why dost thou ride here on the road to the underworld? He answered her, I shall ride to hell to seek Baldr; hast thou seen him pass here on the road hence? And she said that Baldr had indeed passed there over the bridge of Gjallar; but downwards and northwards lies the hell-way. And Hermor road in haste then until he came to the gates of the underworld; and he dismounted his horse, and girding himself with strength, re-mounted, and put the spurs to his horse, and the horse leapt forward so swiftly, that he flew over the gates, and landed far beyond them. And Hermor rode to the home of the dead and hells inner halls, and he got down from his horse, and he went into those halls, and there on a great throne sat Baldr, his brother. And Hermor remained there for the night. But in the morning, then Hermor asked if Baldr would ride home from the underworld with him, and he told him how great the grief was among the sir. But Hel, the goddess of the infernal regions, said that she wished to test this, whether Baldr was as beloved as was reported; and if all those from his homeland, both those living and dead, really mourn him, then he will be permitted to return back to the gods, but will have to remain with goddess of hell, if anyone speaks against him, or if someone will not mourn him. Then Hermor stood straight up, and led Baldr out of those halls, and he took the ring Draupnir, and sent it back to Odin as a remembrance, and to Nanna and Frigg he sent gifts of linen robes, and to Fulla a gold ring also. Then Hermor rode away leading his brother, and he came to Asgard, and shouted the tidings of all the things which he had seen and heard.

Thereupon the sir sent messengers to everyone around Asgard, to bid them to mourn that Baldr escape from the underworld; and they all did just this, the men, indeed all living things, and the earth, the stones, the tress, and all metals. Just as you may have thought, all these things wept, as if they had come out of the frost and into the heat. Then when the gods messengers returned home, and they had carried out their errand well, they suddenly found in a cave a certain giantess sitting down; she was named Thokk. And they bid her likewise to mourn Baldr out of hell. She answered:

Thokk shall weep dry tears For the funeral flames of Baldr I profited not from the Odins son dead or alive May Hell therefore hold what is hers! And this it is deemed by men, that this one was none other than Loki, Laufeyrs son, whose evil had worked such great harm among the sir.