"Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."
Chinese Proverb
Balder
The most beloved of the Gods, Balder is often described as "the Glorious". He is associated with the sun, song, life, love, singing, bards and other happy things in life. He is the second son of Odin and Frigg and often accompanied His beloved brother Thor on travels and escades. His wife is Nanna and together they had one child. What Balder is most known for, however, is His part in the beginning of Ragnorok.
Balder was having nightmares and consulted Odin. Odin in turn consulted an ancient seeress who told Odin that Balder would be killed by His blind brother Hoder. In response, Frigg asked all the plants, animals, rocks and poisons of the earth to swear to never hurt Balder. All promised except the small mistleto who was too young to make such a promise. Thor created games of throwing dangerous items at Balder just to see how Balder never was hurt. Loki became jealous and changed His form into an old woman and visited Frigg. In the course of conversation, Loki discovered that the mistleto never promised to not hurt Baldor, and Loki crafted a small arrow of the wood. Hoder was standing nearby, unable to participate due to His blindness, and Loki again disguised Himself and tricked Hoder into throwing the arrow. Balder fell down dead, pierced through the heart, and was buried with much pomp and circumstance.
With much sorrow, Frigg sent another down to Hel to see if Balder could be freed. The condition set was that everything on earth and Asgard had to cry for Him, and if not, then He could not come back. All over the Earth, everything mourned except one old giantess called "Dry-Eyed" who took great pleasure in not crying for Balder. This giantess was actually Loki, and caused Loki to be bound underground until Ragnorok.
Balder remains in Hel, and will stay there until after Ragnorok when He will arise to help re-establish Asgard and the middle-earth.
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Brightest of Blessings