One of the most well-known and important tales of the Norse Edda's is that of the death of Baldur. Baldur, a son of Odin and Frigg, is rarely mentioned outside of the story of his death. He is described as the most beautiful, brightest, and pure of the gods. Baldur suffers from strange and baleful dreams foreboding his death. In response, Frigg went about and received oaths from all living things that they would do no harm to Baldur. The gods then took great sport in throwing various objects at Baldur, knowing that nothing would hurt him. Loki decided to go see Frigg to do something about this. He disguised himself as a woman, and asked Frigg if there was anything that did not swear the oath. Frigg replied that there was a certain plant, the mistletoe, which she thought was too young to demand an oath from. Loki then returned to the assembled gods, and gave the mistletoe to Hod, the blind god, and told him to throw it at Baldur. When he did, Baldur instantly fell dead.
The gods then sent a messenger to Hel to bargain for Baldur's life. Hel said she would let Baldur go if all things living or dead wept for him. Unfortunately, there was a giantess in the forest named Thokk who refused to weep, and so Baldur was doomed to remain with Hel.
The story is described in most detail in "Gylfaginning", by Snorri Sturluson, but there also exists a short fourteen stanza poem called "Baldrs Draumar" (Balder's Dreams). Although seemingly a summary of events, on closer inspection, there are many deeper clues as to the reason for this poem's existence.
"Baldrs Draumar" is very similar to the poem "Vathrusnismal", in which Odin, hiding his identity, travels to see a wise giant to test his own wisdom in a contest of riddles. The event ends when Odin asks a trick riddle, a question that he only knows the answer too, which is "What did Othin whisper in the ear of his son as he lay on his funeral pyre?" The giant knew that it could not be answered and that the identity of his adversary was Odin.
Similarly, in "Baldrs Draumar", the questioning with the dead seeress ends abruptly when Odin asks "What maidens are they who then shall weep, And toss to the sky the yards of the sails?"
The seeress replies without answering, "Thou art not Vegtam (Wanderer), as I had thought, but rather Othin, oldest of gods."
Odin replies in somewhat insulting fashion, "Thou are no seeress nor sage woman, but rather of thurses (giants) three the mother."
The only reference this could refer to is the giant Angrboda, who with Loki creates the three giant monsters, Hel, the Fenris wolf, and the Midgard Serpent, all key figures in the times of Ragnarok. Curiously, in the poem "Lokasenna" (The Flyting of Loki), Odin uses a similar insult against Loki by calling him a woman who had given birth.
The final question of "Baldrs Draumar" (What maidens are they who then shall weep, And toss to the sky the yards of the sails?) seems to have a simple answer, which is Aegir's daughters, the waves of the sea. But it seems Odin may have said this to refer to Thokk, the woman who would not weep for Baldur thereby dooming him to Hel. Thokk, as suggested in "Gylfaginning", is thought to be Loki in disguise. Loki also disguised himself as a woman when learning from Frigg the secret of the mistletoe.
So Odin was playing a game or sorts, trying to reveal that it is indeed Loki who is behind Baldur's death and the god's misfortunes, or maybe he was actually letting Loki know that he knew what was to happen. The seeress' last words are "Homeward hie thee, happy in mind: no chanted spells will charm me up until Loki is loose from his bonds and the day will come of the doom of the gods." This is yet another clue that Loki, the death of Baldur, and Ragnarok are interlinked.
So what is the meaning of Baldur's death? For the gods, it came as a complete shock, as if the entire order of things had been destroyed, and Odin knew this more than anyone. It signaled the imminent destruction of all the gods and the coming of Ragnarok. Many scholars have seen a Christian gloss on this story as Baldur is said to return from Hel after Ragnarok to rule the new world. This is possible, but the motif of a dead and resurrecting god is certainly nothing new, and various versions of this motif can be found in the myths and texts of the most ancient civilizations of the world.
Since Odin had a sense of these coming events, one wonders what secret was whispered into Baldur's ear on his funeral pyre. One can only assume it was related to his return and the new world to come after Midgard.
There is actually another earlier version of Baldur's death by Saxo Grammaticus, a Danish historian. In this version, Baldur is a warrior demi-god, described as "...sprung secretly from celestial seed." In fact, many early skaldic poets used Baldur's name as a kenning for warrior. In some early genealogies of Anglo-Saxon kings, the name Baldœg (Bright day) is found. In Saxo's account, Baldur and Hod were enamored with the same woman. Hod, guided by misty wood-maidens he meets in the forest, retrieves a magic sword from the Satyr Mimingus. After many back and forth battles, Baldur is mortally wounded by the sword and dies three days later. As in Snorri Sturluson's account in "Gylfaginning", Baldur is given a great funeral, but instead of being cast off in a burning ship, he is buried in a barrow. There are many similarities and differences between the two accounts. So what are we to make of them?
I tend to prefer this earlier version of events: the story of a pure warrior king, a primordial demi-god "sprung from celestial seed." But the later Norse version also gives us the same story, but describing the metaphysical counterpart which takes place in the abode of the gods. "As above, so below", as it were. The death of the warrior king on earth is paralleled with the death of his true self (his archetype) in the heavens. Baldur died both in earth and in heaven, a strange and unique event to say the least. Although Hod is the killer in both stories, in the Norse version, it is Loki who is behind the events, but it curious to note that in Saxo, both Baldur and Hod are spurred on to their fates by the mysterious women. Maybe it is Loki in disguise again?
But for whatever reason, these events needed to happen to begin the march towards Ragnarok and bring about the destruction of the gods, the mortals, and the world. The new beginning comes when Baldur returns to rule the world and repopulates it with the purity of his blood, spirit, and celestial origins. A bright day indeed.
— Daemonskald, 34th Summer