Lesson From The Death of Perfection God in Norse Mythology
In Norse mythology, Baldur was the only son of Odin the Allfather and Frigg the only queen of Asgard. From my personal viewpoint, Baldur was among the most special gods in Norse mythology, just after Odin - his father.
From the beginning of the cosmos, Baldur was set to die just before the day Ragnarok broke on the sky. He did no harm to the world; yet, he was murdered in the most terrible way - shot in the chest. And he was reborn after Ragnarok, inheriting the throne of Odin and creating a new world with other surviving gods.
The death of Baldur is not merely the first signal of Ragnarok but it has a meaning behind as well.
Baldur was a perfect god. He was born with all perfection. While other gods in Norse mythology caused tons of controversies, for example, breaking their solemn vows which was considered to be a coward deed. Baldur didn't do anything wrong when he was literally alive.
Loki guided Hodr to throw the mistletoe arrow into the chest of Baldur
It was fair to say that Baldur was the God of Idealism and Perfection. Being the son of the most benevolent god and the most beautiful goddess, Baldur was the upcoming ruler of Asgard for sure. He was so handsome that everyone in the cosmos fell for him at the very first sight. Baldur always spoke with fairness.
Hardly any time did Baldur have no solution to any problems. If there was a time of trouble, Baldur always came up with perfect solutions.
But our God of Perfection had the briefest life among the gods. He was murdered when he became a man. When death suddenly knocked on the door of Asgard, Baldur even had no time to bid a farewell to his beloved. He died. The god who embodied perfection died, in the cruellest way.
That's when I realize that perfection or idealism hardly exists in this life, or never exists at all. Reality is not supposed to be perfect and no idealism will ever fit everyone in this society. The only god of perfection in Norse mythology died. The other gods of the Pantheon are flawed, messy, and somewhat selfish.
But the death of Baldur didn't put an end to the life of Baldur. This might sound ridiculous but it was mythologically true. After Ragnarok, Baldur came back to life and continue to build up the whole world from the ashes. What is this supposed to do?
Ragnarok nightmare befell the cosmos
To grow and change and be better humans, our ideals and idealism must change all the time.
We need to socialise, talk to exchange ideas. And this process changes the way we look at the world. If we never change, we have no creativity, no new ideas and no growth. When we change, some of our concept of perfection die on the way.
Any lack of change isn’t good. We might live in the perfect house, with the perfect job and have the perfect husband and little child. But if this doesn’t change, it will lead to stagnation for sure.
Your child will have to grow up. Your house needs to be renovated. You might need a new job. Things need to change.
A new world was born after Ragnarok
That's why Baldur must die so a new story will be unfolded. The consecutive occasions were the results of Baldur's death, including Ragnarok Doom of the Gods. And this Doomsday as the end of a period turned out to be the beginning of a new journey.
