Norse Mythology: Chapters 14–16

Balder was Odin’s second son, and he was loved by his father, and by all things. He was the wisest, the mildest, the most eloquent of all the Aesir.

Nobody knew the answers to his questions, but they told him of a seer, a wise woman, who understood all dreams.

He stood by the grave at the end of the world, and in that place he invoked the darkest of runes and called on old powers, long forgotten.

"Run away, run back to your hall. No one will come to see me now until my husband, Loki, escapes from his bonds and returns to me, and Ragnarok, the doom of the gods, tearing all asunder, approaches.”

She conjured diseases and spoke to them, and each of the diseases and infirmities that can hurt or wound a person agreed that it too would never touch Balder.

Here and there pendulous clumps of green mistletoe leaves and pale white berries hung from the oak, seeming even more insignificant when seen next to the grandeur of the oak.

Here and there pendulous clumps of green mistletoe leaves and pale white berries hung from the oak, seeming even more insignificant when seen next to the grandeur of the oak.

Loki walked Hod through the people, toward the hubbub. “Here,” said Loki. “This is a good place to stand. Now, when I tell you, throw the dart.”

“It is only a little dart,” said Hod wistfully. “I wish I were throwing a spear or a rock.”

Odin was foremost in the crowd of mourners, his ravens on each shoulder, and behind him the Valkyries and the Aesir.

“I don’t like this,” said Thor testily. “I don't like any of it one little bit. I hope Hermod the Nimble is sorting things out with Hel. The sooner Balder comes back to life, the better it will be for all of us.”

It was gold, and it was the thatch of the bridge across the Gjaller River, across which all who die must travel.

He rode northerly, and he followed the path down until he saw before him a huge high wall and the gates to Hel, which were higher than the tallest tree. Then he dismounted from his horse, and he tightened the girth strap.

Nanna gave him a linen robe for Frigg and a golden ring for Fulla, Frigg’s handmaiden. Lit just grimaced and made rude gestures.

Balder was dead, and the gods were still mourning his loss. They were sad, and the gray rains fell unceasingly, and there was no joy in the land.
Loki, when he returned from one of his journeys to distant parts, was unrepentant.

Balder was dead, and the gods were still mourning his loss. They were sad, and the gray rains fell unceasingly, and there was no joy in the land.
Loki, when he returned from one of his journeys to distant parts, was unrepentant.

Time passed. The feasting continued, but now it was subdued.

He stood in the entry to the hall staring at them, with a sardonic smile on his face.

“Let the wolf’s father feast with us,” said Odin gruffly, and he made his son Vidar move over to make room for Loki to sit down beside him.

Loki grinned with malice and delight.

He told the gods that they were cowards, told the goddesses that they were gullible and unchaste.

"Why are you still jabbering?" said Thor. “Why are you staring at ash and at sticks and scraps of wood when we could be chasing Loki? Kvasir! As you ponder and talk your nonsense he is getting away from us!”

Stalactites hung from the ceiling of the cave, and bats fluttered and flickered.

“For a brother to betray his brother,” said Vali, without hesitating. “For a brother to murder a brother, as Hod killed Balder. This is abominable.”

Another drop of the serpent’s venom dripped onto Loki’s face, and he screamed and threw himself about, writhing in his bonds. The earth itself shook at Loki’s threshing.

He convulses then, jerks and judders, jolts and twists and writhes, so much that the whole earth shakes.

The surviving frost giants all follow Hrym, huge and inimical to humanity.

Loki’s troops are the legions of Hel.

Vidar will stride forward, as Fenrir gloats over Odin’s death, and thrust his foot into the wolf’s lower jaw.

"Odin’s son Vidar killed your son Fenris Wolf, and Vidar survives, and so does Odin’s son Vali, his brother. Thor is dead, but his children Magni and Modi still live. They took Mjollnir from their father’s cold hand. They are strong enough and noble enough to wield it.”