Facts about The Death of Baldur
- 13
The condition Hel placed on Baldur's release required every creature and object in all nine worlds to weep for him, a task foiled when the giantess Þökk refused.
- 12
Baldur's golden hall Brimir survived the destruction of the nine worlds and became a refuge for virtuous souls after Ragnarok in Norse cosmology.
- 11
Hermóðr's nine-night journey to Hel's realm on Sleipnir encountered four dark valleys and a golden bridge before reaching the giantess who demanded Baldur's ransom in the form of universal mourning.
- 10
Baldur's body was cremated on the funeral pyre aboard his ship Naglfar, with his horse and weapons burned alongside him in a grand Norse funeral ritual honoring his divine status.
- 09
Baldur's wife Nanna was the only being in all nine worlds whose grief was so profound she died and journeyed to Hel's realm alongside her husband's corpse.
- 08
Baldur's prophesied death was foretold by the völva seeress to Odin during her recitation of cosmic events in the Poetic Edda, making his fate predetermined rather than accidental.
- 07
Baldur's corpse was placed on the funeral ship Naglfar alongside his wife Nanna, whose grief caused her to die of a broken heart according to the Norse mythological texts.
- 06
After Baldur's death, the gods attempted to retrieve him from Hel's realm by sending Hermóðr on the eight-legged horse Sleipnir to negotiate his release from the giantess Hel.
- 05
In Norse mythology, Baldur's beauty was so radiant that light emanated from his skin and hair, making him the most luminous of all the gods in Asgard.
- 04
Ragnarok's arrival in Norse cosmology is directly triggered by Baldur's death, as his demise sets in motion the chain of events leading to the destruction of the nine worlds.
- 03
Baldur's mother Frigg secured oaths from all things in creation to never harm him, except she overlooked the mistletoe plant as too young and harmless to pose a threat.
- 02
Loki's trickery in Baldur's death involves manipulating the blind god Höðr into throwing the mistletoe dart, making him an accomplice to the murder in Norse mythology.
- 01
Mistletoe's role in The Death of Baldur comes from Norse mythology's Poetic Edda, written down in 13th-century Iceland by Snorri Sturluson.