"and possesses a resounding horn; the jötunn Loki, who brings tragedy to the gods by engineering the death of the goddess Frigg's beautiful son Baldr; and numerous other deities. Most of the surviving mythology centres on the plights of the gods and their interaction with various other beings, such as humanity and the jötnar, beings who may be friends, lovers, foes or family members of the gods. The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank a central cosmological tree, Yggdrasil. Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as deities or beings. Various forms of"
"the ""Gesta Danorum"" version of the story, Baldr and Höðr are rival suitors, and Höðr kills Baldr with a sword named Mistilteinn (Old Norse ""mistletoe""). In addition, a sword by the same name appears in various other Norse legends. Mistletoe figured prominently in Greek mythology, and is believed to be the Golden Bough of Aeneas, ancestor of the Romans. Also in Greek mythology mistletoe was used by heroes to access the underworld. The Romans associated mistletoe with peace, love and understanding and hung it over doorways to protect the household. Hanging mistletoe was part of the festival of Saturnalia. When"
"four hundred and twenty men, including the Swedish king Semingr. Hrómundr used Mistilteinn during the battle between Óláfr and two Swedish kings both named Haldingr. He killed Helgi ""inn frækni"" (the Valiant), who had slain his brothers. He then lost Mistilteinn in the water out of witchcraft. He deeply felt this loss but soon recovered his sword, which was found in the stomach of a pike. But Mistilteinn was of no help when he fought king Haldingr, whom he eventually killed with a club. In ""Gesta Danorum"", Mistiltainn is the weapon used to kill Baldr. Mistilteinn Mistilteinn (""Mistletoe""), also known"
"with a sickle.) Modern druids may use the Native American ""Phoradendron leucarpum"" as well as other mistletoe species. According to the 13th century ""Prose Edda"", the goddess Frigg had all living and inanimate things swear an oath not to hurt her son Baldr. At a gathering, other gods tested the oath by hurling stones, arrows and fire at him, all in vain. But Frigg had not demanded the oath from mistletoe, because ""it seemed too young"" for that. By a scheming of Loki, Baldr's brother, the blind god Höðr made an arrow from mistletoe and killed Baldr with it. In"
"trying weapons on Baldr and seeing them fail to do any harm. Loki, the mischief-maker, upon finding out about Baldr's one weakness, made a spear from mistletoe, and helped Höðr shoot it at Baldr. In reaction to this, Odin and the giantess Rindr gave birth to Váli, who grew to adulthood within a day and slew Höðr. The Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus recorded an alternative version of this myth in his ""Gesta Danorum"". In this version, the mortal hero Høtherus and the demi-god ""Balderus"" compete for the hand of Nanna. Ultimately, Høtherus slays Balderus. In the ""Gylfaginning"" part of Snorri"
"the blind god Hodur into murdering his own twin brother Balder with an arrow made of mistletoe wood, being the only plant to which Balder was vulnerable. Some versions of the story have mistletoe becoming a symbol of peace and friendship to compensate for its part in the murder. The Romans associated mistletoe with peace, love and understanding and hung it over doorways to protect the household. Hanging mistletoe was part of the Saturnalia festival. In the Christian era, mistletoe in the Western world became associated with Christmas as a decoration under which lovers are expected to kiss, as well"
"took heart of grace and again met Høtherus in a stricken field. But he fared even worse than before. Høtherus dealt him a deadly wound with a magic sword, named Mistletoe, which he had received from Mimir, the satyr of the woods; after lingering three days in pain Balderus died of his injury and was buried with royal honours in a barrow. There are also two lesser known Danish Latin chronicles, the ""Chronicon Lethrense"" and the ""Annales Lundenses"" of which the latter is included in the former. These two sources provide a second euhemerized account of Höðr's slaying of Baldr."
"eyes closed and Loki guiding his aim to indicate that Loki was the true cause of Baldr's death and Höðr was only his ""blind tool."" Rydberg theorized that the author of the ""Gylfaginning"" then mistook the description of the symbolic artwork in the Húsdrápa as the actual tale of Baldr's death. Höðr Höðr (Old Norse: ""Hǫðr"" [hɔðr]; often anglicized as Hod, Hoder, or Hodur) is a blind god, the twin brother of Baldr and a son of Odin and Frigg in Norse mythology. Tricked and guided by Loki, he shot the mistletoe arrow which was to slay the otherwise invulnerable"
"brought him through. Loki pretends to be a norn named Þökk and tells Baldr he has a poison that will make him be able to kill Baldr. Loki gives a disgusting soup and takes a mistletoe, without much thought, and turns it into an arrow shape and tells Höðr it is a magic arrow. Höðr throws it at Baldr, hitting his heart and killing him. Frigg explains that the mistletoe does not live on the earth, it lives on trees, and because of that made no promise to Frigg. The other gods think of it as a horrible accident, but"
"the earlier stories, rather than cause Baldr's death he would try to stop it, fearing he would be blamed. The authors focused on that the universal feature of the story was that Baldr was killed by his brother Höðr with mistletoe. Since they were not going with Snorri's version they used the story found in ""Gesta Danorum"" by Saxo Grammaticus, which had the brothers being human princes fighting over a princess. They also changed Nanna from a goddess to a valkyrie, reasoning that since Brynhildr was a princess who had become a valkyrie, Nanna could have been the same. The"
"Mistilteinn Mistilteinn (""Mistletoe""), also known as Misteltein or Mystletainn, is Hrómundr Gripsson's sword in ""Hrómundar saga Gripssonar"", a legendary saga from Iceland. Mistilteinn first belonged to Þráinn, who had been king in Valland before he retired in his burial mound with his wealth. The Danish king Óláfr and his men, among whom Hrómundr Gripsson, learnt about that and found the barrow. Þráinn, who had become a ""draugr"" (living dead) was sitting inside. No one but Hrómundr dared to enter. After a long and fierce fight, he defeated Þráinn and took his treasure, especially his sword, with which Þráinn had killed"
"him, Loki went to Fensalir appearing as a woman. In his disguise, Loki there asked Frigg why Baldr was not harmed by the objects. Frigg revealed that it is due to the oath they have taken. The disguised Loki asks if nothing can hurt Baldr, and Frigg reveals that only mistletoe can, for it seemed to her too young to demand an oath from. After this, Loki immediately disappears, and subsequently engineers the death of Baldr with a mistletoe projectile. In the ""Prose Edda"" book ""Skáldskaparmál"", Fensalir receives a third and final mention. In chapter 19, ways to refer to"
"cuts off the swan's leg as he swings his sword, and is no longer protected by Kára's magic. Hrómundr kills Helgi but is severely wounded. His rival at Olaf's court, Vali, gets Mistletoe away from him before Hrómundr kills him as well. After recuperating and finding Mistletoe again, Hrómund slays the last Swedish king Haldingr. This section of the saga reflects parts of the lost ""Káruljóð"" which is mentioned in the prose section of ""Helgakviða Hundingsbana II"". This section says that Helgi Hundingsbane and his lover, the Valkyrie Sigrún are reborn as Helgi Haddingjaskati and Kára. It also reflects others"
"of Aeneas, ancestor of the Romans. The Norse god Baldr was killed with mistletoe. Mistletoe bears fruit at the time of the Winter Solstice, the birth of the new year, and may have been used in solstitial rites in Druidic Britain as a symbol of immortality. In Celtic mythology and in druid rituals, it was considered a remedy for barrenness in animals and an antidote to poison, although the fruits of many mistletoes are actually poisonous if ingested as they contain viscotoxins. Verbena or Vervain has long been associated with divine and other supernatural forces. It was called ""tears of"
"rather than Balmung. The legendary smith Wayland Smith forged the magic sword Mimung, which appears both in the Anglo-Saxon poem Waldere and in the German/Scandinavian ""Þiðrekssaga"". Beowulf wielded the sword Hrunting that was according to the poem annealed in venom. The sword was useless against Grendel's Mother. In desperation Beowulf grabbed a giant sword of great age and with it took off the head of the she monster. In Japanese mythology, there is a magical sword called Kusanagi, which was one of the three crown jewels given to the Emperor Jimmu by the goddess Amaterasu. Additionally, the katana forged by"
"Baldr (as in Scandinavian ""Falr"", ""Fjalarr""; (in Saxo) ""Balderus"" : ""Fjallerus""). In the Poetic Edda the tale of Baldr's death is referred to rather than recounted at length. Among the visions which the Völva sees and describes in the prophecy known as the ""Völuspá"" is one of the fatal mistletoe, the birth of Váli and the weeping of Frigg (stanzas 31–33). Yet looking far into the future the Völva sees a brighter vision of a new world, when both Höðr and Baldr will come back (stanza 62). The Eddic poem ""Baldr's Dreams"" mentions that Baldr has bad dreams which the"
"""Vafþrúðnismál"" stanza 41. In chapter 42, High describes that, ""right at the beginning, when the gods were settling"" they had established Asgard and then built Valhalla. The death of the god Baldr is recounted in chapter 49, where the mistletoe that is used to kill Baldr is described as growing west of Valhalla. At the beginning of ""Skáldskaparmál"", a partially euhemerized account is given of Ægir visiting the gods in Asgard and shimmering swords are brought out and used as their sole source of light as they drink. There, numerous gods feast, they have plenty of strong mead, and the"
"suggestion that the reference is to the mistletoe with which Baldr was killed seems hardly reasonable."" Leszek Gardeła theorized that the weapon was a magic staff, ""tein"", meaning 'twig', being part of the general word for magic staff ""gambantein"". Lævateinn In Norse mythology, Lævateinn is a weapon mentioned in the ""Poetic Edda"" poem ""Fjölsvinnsmál"". The name ""Lævateinn"" does not appear in the original manuscript reading, but is an emendation from Hævateinn made by Sophus Bugge and others. The amended name ""Lævateinn"" is etymologically considered to be a kenning for a sword (Old Norse ""damage twig""). The weapon is mentioned briefly"
"more. Shortly after that, Loki caused the temporary death of Balder using mistletoe, as he had conspired with Hela to cause Ragnarok if his last plan failed. At this time, Loki's estranged wife Sigyn returned to Asgard. When Loki was chained and a viper dripped poison onto his face as punishment for killing Balder, Sigyn tried helping him. Loki attempted to bring about Ragnarok, but was foiled by Odin. Alongside Tyr and his forces, Loki stole the golden apples of Idunna and invaded Asgard with help from the Midgard serpent, but then changed sides and aided Odin's forces in defeating"
"that have come down to us it is Loki who is Baldr's real slayer, with Höðr/Hother being only a tool in Loki's plot. Heremod Heremod (Proto-Norse: *""Harimōdaz"" , Latin form: Heremodius) is a legendary Danish king and a legendary king of the Angles who would have lived in the 2nd century and known through a short account of his exile in the Old English poem ""Beowulf"" and from appearances in some genealogies as the father of Scyld. He may be the same as one of the personages named Hermóðr in Old Norse sources. Heremod may also be identical to Lother"
"Othen's (i.e., Odin's) son Balder in battle and then chased Othen and Thor. Finally, Othen's son Both killed Hother. Hother, Balder, Othen, and Thor were incorrectly considered to be gods. According to the Swedish mythologist and romantic poet Viktor Rydberg, the story of Baldr's death was taken from Húsdrápa, a poem composed by Ulfr Uggason around 990 AD at a feast thrown by the Icelandic Chief Óláfr Höskuldsson to celebrate the finished construction of his new home, Hjarðarholt, the walls of which were filled with symbolic representations of the Baldr myth among others. Rydberg suggested that Höðr was depicted with"
"him. Shielded by his clothes he managed to kill them by piercing their hearts with a spear. Herrauðr Herrauðr, ""Herraud"", ""Herröðr"", ""Herruðr"", ""Herrud"", ""Herothus"" or ""Heroth"" is a legendary earl of Götaland or king of Sweden, who appears in several medieval legends, in particular those relating to Ragnar Lodbrok (e.g. ""Tale of Ragnar's Sons"", ""Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok"", ""Krákumál"" and ""Gesta Danorum"", book 9). He also has a saga of his own in ""Bósi and Herrauðr's saga"". His main role in the sagas is as the father of Þóra Borgarhjǫrtr who gave his daughter one or two small lindworms which"
"attacked by Baldur again, but Freya intervenes in an attempt to protect her son. During the fight, Baldur is pierced by Atreus' mistletoe arrow, breaking Freya's spell on him. Baldur is defeated, and although Kratos gives him an opportunity to retreat, he instead attempts to strangle Freya, forcing Kratos to kill him. A grieving Freya swears revenge on Kratos and taunts him about hiding his true nature from Atreus. Kratos finally tells Atreus about his past and how he had killed his fellow Greek gods, including his father Zeus. Atreus laments if all gods are good for is committing parricide."
"the thing where the Æsir are assembled and tricks the blind Höðr, Baldr's brother, into shooting Baldr with a mistletoe projectile. To the horror of the assembled gods, the mistletoe goes directly through Baldr, killing him. Standing in horror and shock, the gods are initially only able to weep due to their grief. Frigg speaks up and asks ""who there was among the Æsir who wished to earn all her love and favour and was willing to ride the road to Hel and try if he could find Baldr, and offer Hel a ransom if she would let Baldr go"
"bower and only he who could slay it could gain her hand in marriage. The eventual slayer and husband was the famous Ragnar Lódbrok. The tale explains at the end that this serpent had sprung from the vulture's egg which Herraud and Bósi had obtained in their quest. This tale of Ragnar and the serpent also appears in ""Ragnars saga loðbrókar"" and ""Þáttr af Ragnars sonum"", though in the former Herraud appears as Jarl Herrud (""Herruðr"") of Gautland and in the latter as Herraud, Jarl of West Götaland. But Herraud's father is also called Hring in this version. A variant"
"with Thor's sons. Writing at about the end of the 12th century, the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus tells the story of Baldr (recorded as ""Balderus"") in a form which professes to be historical. According to him, Balderus and Høtherus were rival suitors for the hand of Nanna, daughter of Gewar, King of Norway. Balderus was a demigod and common steel could not wound his sacred body. The two rivals encountered each other in a terrific battle. Though Odin and Thor and the other gods fought for Balderus, he was defeated and fled away, and Høtherus married the princess. Nevertheless Balderus"
"the manner of his death is unspecified. The blood eagle sacrifice may be a misunderstanding or an invention of the sagawriters as it does not feature directly in the earlier skaldic verses, which instead indicate that Hálfdan was killed by a volley of spears. The verses do mention the eagle as a carrion bird, and this may have influenced the saga writers to introduce the blood eagle element. The sagas then relate that Harald sought vengeance for his son's ignoble death, and set out on campaign against Einarr, but was unable to dislodge him. Eventually, Harald agreed to end the"
"Baldr Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Norse mythology, and a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg. He has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In the 12th century, Danish accounts by Saxo Grammaticus and other Danish Latin chroniclers recorded a euhemerized account of his story. Compiled in Iceland in the 13th century, but based on much older Old Norse poetry, the ""Poetic Edda"" and the ""Prose Edda"" contain numerous references to the death of Baldr as both a great tragedy to the Æsir and a harbinger of Ragnarök. According to ""Gylfaginning"", a book"
"the world of Norse mythology in ancient Norway in the realm of Midgard, and he now has a son named Atreus. After his second wife and Atreus' mother, Faye, passes away from an unknown cause, the two set out on a journey to fulfill her final wish, which was to have her ashes spread at the highest peak of the nine realms, eventually revealed to be in Jotunheim. Along their journey, they are attacked by Baldur, who was sent by Odin to get to Faye in order to prevent Ragnarök, unaware she was already dead. Following the death of Baldur,"
"""Baldur"" is a concept album, telling a story of a fictional eponymous Viking with lyrics inspired by the Icelandic sagas and Norse mythology, entirely in Icelandic. A demon-like creature attacks Baldur's home and kills his wife and children, forcing him on a quest for revenge, aided by two friends. After much hardship, they fight their enemy. Baldur's friends die in the final battle and, having defeated the enemy, he succumbs to his wounds as well, joining his family in Valhalla. For the album's re-release, the band decided to record a bonus track, ""Baldur"", which proved to be challenging, since it"
"of Ragnar's sons""), Ivar the Boneless has captured king Ælla of Northumbria, who had killed Ivar's father Ragnar Loðbrók. The killing of Ælla, after a battle for control of York, is described thus: The blood eagle is referred to by the eleventh-century poet Sigvatr Þórðarson, who, some time between 1020 and 1038, wrote a skaldic verse named ""Knútsdrápa"" that recounts and establishes Ivar the Boneless as having killed Ælla and subsequently cutting his back. Sighvatr's skaldic verse in Old Norse: Skaldic verse, a common medium of Norse poets, was meant to be cryptic and allusive, and the idiomatic nature of"
"case is the weapon referred to specifically as Gungnir. When the god Baldr began to have prophetic dreams of his own death, his mother Frigg extracted an oath from all things in nature not to harm him. However, she neglected the mistletoe, thinking it was too young to make, let alone respect, such a solemn vow. When Loki learned of this weakness, he had a javelin or dart made from one of its branches and tricked Hod, the blind god, into hurling it at Baldr and causing his death. The god Runesocesius is identified as a ""god of the javelin""."
"of the name are ‘The Bowdar Stone’ and ‘Powder or Bounder Stone’. In 1772 William Gilpin wrote that it seemed not to be """"..rent from the mountains.."""" and was an """"..independent creation.."""", using the name ""Boother-stone"". As stated, it is popularly said that the name equates with Balder, the second son of the god Odin. Balder is best known for being slain through the actions of Loki with an arrow or spear made of mistletoe. One side of the Bowder Stone is said to be a simulacrum of the face of Balder and a small hole is said to have"