The Most Notorious Murder in Norse Mythology
Norse mythology was, is, and will always be stuffed with interesting stories that we will find out every time we re-read the myth. In this piece of article, we are going to discover the most notorious murder in Norse myth. And there are a few reasons why this event became a key to all following disasters in Norse cosmos.
If you are a Norse myth lover, the first thing about the murder in Norse myth that pops up in your mind must be the death of Baldur. And yes, that's the most famous murder in Norse cosmos.
From the beginning of the world, the event was predicted. And gods like Odin and Frigg attempted to prevent that day to come. According to the prophecy, the death of this figure was the first sign of Ragnarok the Doom of Gods. The mentioned big figure was Baldur the son of Odin the Allfather and Frigg the Queen of Asgard. This meant Baldur was the only prince of Asgard who was about to be the leader of Asgard.
Baldur the Shining God in Norse Mythology
When Baldur grew up, he became one of the most beautiful gods in Asgard. Everyone loved him for his generosity and fairness. He protected those who were right and would never harm anyone. The only problem with Baldur was that he was destined to die in the most brutal way.
Baldur dreamt of his own death. What we know now about Baldur's dream was that it was a bad dream of the prince's death. Frigg also had the same dream. What made this worse was the Frigg was a seeress who could see things that others didn't.
Frigg was torn apart when seeing the death of her own son. She embarked on her journey around the world to ask everyone to promise never to harm Baldur. For everyone loved Baldur, they easily made a promise. The only figure that Frigg forgot to ask was mistletoe and this was where the disaster all began.
Somehow Loki learned of the fact that the mistletoe could harm Baldur.
Funeral of Baldur in Norse mythology where Nana his wife joined him
Back to Asgard, everyone merrily gathered around the yard to celebrate the good news of Frigg. People threw things into Baldur only to see them bounce off the shining god.
Loki who was forever up to something appeared with an arrow in his hand. But the trickster didn't do it himself. Instead, he handed it to Hodr the blind god. He guided the hand of Hodr towards the chest of Baldur. And there came the arrow thrusting right at the chest of the shining god.
All of a sudden, Baldur fell to the ground lying dead. The crowd screamed and cried at the moment Baldur collapsed. And from that moment, the gods realized that what was written in their fates could never be altered.
Of course, finding the murderer was just a matter of time and the gods knew that it was Loki who did this.
The funeral of Baldur was carried out near the seashore. The body of the god was placed on a ship which later was pushed into the ocean and set on fire. Nana, the wife of Baldur, could not accept the truth that her husband was gone, she was so broken that she followed Baldur into the afterlife.
