The Poetic Edda on Baldr

The > Poetic Edda > Proper Names

• attestation: The nominative ending -r is omitted after consonants but retained after vowels in this translation's rendering of Old Norse names

  "The nominative ending -r it has seemed best to omit after consonants, although it has been retained after vowels; in Baldr the final -r is a part of the stem and is of course retained."

The > Volume I > Introductory Note

• relationship: Baldr is identified as the offspring of Othin.

  "32. I saw for Baldr, | the bleeding god, The son of Othin, | his destiny set: Famous and fair | in the lofty fields, Full grown in strength | the mistletoe stood."

• attestation: Baldr is described as being born.

  "33. From the branch which seemed | so slender and fair Came a harmful shaft | that Hoth should hurl; But the brother of Baldr | was born ere long, And one night old | fought Othin's son."

• relationship: Hoth is the sibling of Baldr.

  "33. From the branch which seemed | so slender and fair Came a harmful shaft | that Hoth should hurl; But the brother of Baldr | was born ere long, And one night old | fought Othin's son."

• attestation: Baldr is characterized by beauty in the verse.

  "12. The seventh is Breithablik; | Baldr has there For himself a dwelling set, In the land I know | that lies so fair, And from evil fate is free."

• attestation: The stanza references wealth or gifts involving Baldr.

  "10. "Wise-woman, cease not! | I seek from thee All to know | that I fain would ask: Who shall vengeance win | for the evil work, Or bring to the flames | the slayer of Baldr?"

The Wise-Woman spake:"

The > Volume I > Notes

• attestation: Baldr's death, caused by Loki bringing the mistletoe to his blind brother Hoth, was the first great disaster to the gods

  "The death of Baldr, the son of Othin and Frigg, was the first of the great disasters to the gods."

• attestation: Baldr and his brother Hoth return together after the destruction, their union symbolizing the new age of peace

  "Baldr and his brother, Hoth, who unwittingly slew him at Loki's instigation, return together, their union being a symbol of the new age of peace."

• attestation: Baldr was slain through Loki's cunning by the blind Hoth

  "On the death of Baldr, slain through Loki's cunning by the blind Hoth"

• attestation: Baldr is the best and noblest of the gods, son of Odin and Frigg, who returns among the survivors after the final battle

  "Baldr: concerning this best and noblest of the gods, the son of Othin and Frigg, who comes again among the survivors after the final battle"

• attestation: The wise-woman's daughters (Aegir's waves) will weep for Baldr so tempestuously that ships are tossed to the sky

  "According to Bugge the maidens who are to weep for Baldr are the daughters of the sea-god Ægir, the waves, whose grief will be so tempestuous that they will toss the ships up to the very sky"

The > Volume I > Fragment Of "The Short Voluspo"

• attestation: The stanza contains a narrative element involving Baldr.

  "31. The father of Baldr | was the heir of Bur, . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . ."

The > part in a few of the Eddic poems. > Pronouncing Index

• attestation: Baldr is a god who appears prominently throughout the Poetic Edda

  "Baldr, a god"

• attestation: Baldrs Draumar (Baldr's Dreams) is a poem about the god Baldr

  "Baldrs Draumar, Baldr's Dreams"