Tales of Valhalla

by Martyn Whittock

  The Prose Edda also more explicitly says that, ‘It was certainly an achievement of Loki to not only cause Baldr’s death, but also ensure that he was not released from Hell.’ Both The Language of Poetry and The Tricking of Gylfi imply it is Loki and Loki alone who is responsible for the death of Baldr. He deliberately seeks out the one weapon that can kill Baldr and, in his typical trickster role, tricks Hod into being the person who will ultimately deliver the blow. Then his refusal to weep means that Baldr cannot be raised from Hell, which only compounds his guilt. Snorri’s version of the killing of Baldr leaves us in no doubt as to who is responsible for Baldr’s death, and Hod is portrayed as an innocent who is duped into being a part of Loki’s plan. This appears to be consistent with the character of Loki as he has been portrayed all along by Snorri: as a player of tricks who seems to be seeking the destruction of the gods.

  However, in contrast, there is no mention of Loki as instrumental in Baldr’s death in the Poetic Edda. In Baldr’s Dreams, it is Hod who is held solely responsible and this version of the story seems to suggest that Loki was not involved at any point. The poet does not discuss the reason why Hod killed Baldr, but the complete absence of Loki from the story suggests that, as far as the author of Baldr’s Dreams was concerned, either Loki did not play an important role or that, as Hod was the perpetrator of the crime, the guilt for it was ultimately his. This is in contrast to Snorri who seems happy to lay the blame for every wrongdoing, and especially those related to the end of the world and the destruction of the gods, firmly at Loki’s feet.

  * * *

  The killing of Baldr

  The god known as Baldr the Good (a son of Odin) dreamed strange dreams which seemed to indicate that his life was in danger. At this the Æsir gathered together and they discussed what it was that they should do in order to protect Baldr. In order to do this they thought of all the kinds of things that might threaten Baldr and they then endeavoured to ensure his protection from all these threats. The goddess Frigg (wife of Odin All-Father) sought out solemn promises from all these threats so that Baldr would not be harmed and, in this way, she secured for him protection from fire, water, iron and every type of metal, stones, earth, trees, all diseases, all animals and every kind of bird, all snakes and all poisons. When this was finally completed, Baldr was safe from all dangers. As a result, it became a sport among the Æsir to have Baldr stand before them and throw rocks at him, fire arrows at him and strike him with weapons. But nothing harmed him. He was safe from all these dangers. All the Æsir thought that this was amazing.

  There was, though, one of the Æsir who was not amused by these games and who was displeased that nothing harmed Baldr. This was Loki, son of Laufey. Moreover, he was determined to change this state of affairs. He changed his appearance to that of a woman and in this form he went to visit Frigg in the place called Fensalir. There the ‘woman’ (who was really Loki) discussed with Frigg what would be taking place when the Æsir next assembled. It turned out that at this next assembly – as often when the Æsir gathered – they would be testing Baldr’s invulnerability. This time they would be shooting arrows at him.

  At this news, Loki asked Frigg if everything had sworn the oath to protect Baldr. To this question, Frigg replied that not everything had sworn the oath. There was one thing and one thing only that had not sworn the oath. This was something called mistletoe, which grew to the west of Valhalla. It was just a young shoot, too young to be worth making swear the oath.

  At this Loki was off. He went to find that shoot of mistletoe and, when he found it, he picked it and fashioned it into an arrow. With that mistletoe-arrow in his hand, he went to the assembly of the Æsir that Frigg had earlier spoken about.

  When Loki reached the place of assembly, he noticed that the blind god, Hod, was standing at the edge of the crowd who were firing arrows at Baldr. Sidling up to him, Loki asked him why he was not taking part in the fun of firing at the invincible Baldr? Hod replied that he was not taking part for two reasons. The first was that he could not see Baldr and the second reason was that he had no weapon.

  Loki soon ‘solved’ these problems for Hod. He first gave Hod the mistletoe-arrow and then told Hod exactly where to fire it, so that the arrow flew in the direction of Baldr. He reinforced his point by saying that, if Hod did not fire the arrow, he would not be honouring Baldr as others were doing. He said this because the Æsir believed that by celebrating the invincibility of Baldr, they were doing him great honour.

  As a result of Loki’s intervention, Hod fired the mistletoe-arrow straight at Baldr. Loki made sure that his aim was true and so the arrow that Hod fired flew with unerring flight towards Baldr. It struck him and it passed right through his body. Baldr fell dead; it was the worst deed that any god or man ever did. When Baldr fell, the Æsir were struck dumb with shock and horror. They were frozen to the spot but looked at each other with outrage at what had been done and determined on vengeance against the one who had killed Baldr.

  The attempt to reclaim Baldr from Hel

  Although the Æsir were determined to avenge Baldr, they could do nothing because their assembly was sacred and a place of sanctuary, where no act of vengeance could occur. Instead, they wept inconsolably, they were so struck with terrible grief. The god who was most stricken with grief was Odin. This was because he realised more than the others the dreadful harm that Baldr’s death would cause for the Æsir and how terrible was the loss.

  Finally, Frigg spoke up and asked if there was anyone among the Æsir who would ride the road that led to Hel and would there beg for the life of Baldr, and offer any amount of ransom if only Hel would release Baldr and allow him to return to Asgard, the home of the Æsir. If anyone would do this, they would win Frigg’s love and her favour, so greatly did she wish for the return of Baldr.

  There was only one who took up the request made by Frigg. This one was Hermod the Bold, who was also the son of Odin. The eight-legged horse of Odin – Sleipnir – was summoned and Hermod mounted that swift steed and spurred it towards Hel on his mission to save Baldr, his brother, from death.

  Meanwhile, the Æsir lifted Baldr’s body and took it to the sea, where his ship was moored. This was called Hringhorni and it was the largest ship in the world. The Æsir intended to conduct Baldr’s funeral on board this mighty vessel. But the ship could not be made to move.

  At this setback the Æsir sent to Giantland for help to launch the ship. It was the giantess Hyrrokkin who answered their call and rode to them on a wolf controlled by vipers acting as reins. When she dismounted, Odin ordered four warriors to steady her mount. These were berserkers, who fought without fear or self-control in battle. But even the four of them were not strong enough to hold the wolf-mount of Hyrrokkin. Instead, they were forced to strike it and force it to the ground.

  When Hyrrokkin reached the ship she was so strong that she pushed it out to sea with one touch and sparks flew from the rollers beneath the ship and the land shook, as with an earthquake. At this, Thor’s anger flashed against the giantess and he made as if to crush her head with his hammer: Miollnir, the skull-smasher. But the other gods restrained him with their pleas on behalf of the giantess.

  When Baldr’s body was placed on his ship, his wife – Nann Nepsdaughter – collapsed with grief and died. Her body was placed on the ship and burned alongside that of her husband. As the pyre was lit, Thor blessed it with his hammer, While he was doing this a dwarf ran in front of him and Thor kicked him into the fire, so that he too burned, along with the bodies of Baldr and Nann.

  Beings from across the lands and worlds came to attend the funeral of Baldr. There was Odin with Frigg, the valkyries and Odin’s two ravens, Hugin and Munin; Freyr was there in his chariot drawn by a boar; Heimdall was there on his horse and Freyia was accompanied by her cats; there were frost- and mountain-giants. On that pyre Odin laid a great gold arm ring alongside Baldr’s horse, which wore its fine harness.

  While all this was happening, Hermod the Bold rode on hi
s mission to Hel to try to reclaim the life of Baldr. He rode for nine nights, through dark valleys that were so deep that they were black like night. At last, he approached Gioll Bridge with its covering of bright gold. There he came face-to-face with the warrior-maiden, Modgud. As he approached, she asked him his name and his parentage. She was intrigued because the bridge responded to his footsteps as earlier it had done to the footfall of five regiments of dead warriors. However, it was clear that Hermod was not dead and so Modgud asked what business he had riding the road that led to Hel, for it was a way reserved for the dead. To her question of what brought him there, he replied that he came looking for Baldr and wondered if Modgud has seen him pass that way? To this she said that, indeed, she had seen Baldr and that he rode the way of the dead that led down and to the north and was the way to Hel.

  At this news, Hermod spurred his horse over the bridge and rode on until he reached the gates of Hel. There he adjusted the horse’s saddle and rode it at the locked gates and drove it to leap high over them. Once over the gates he rode up to the hall that lay within the defences and dismounted and went inside. There he saw Baldr, his brother, sitting in a place of honour within the hall.

  In the morning, Hermod begged Hel to allow him to take Baldr back to Asgard and he explained that everything and everyone was weeping over Baldr’s death. To this, Hel replied that, indeed, he could take Baldr if it could be proved that everything and everyone was indeed mourning him. But if so much as one thing refused to do so, then Baldr could not return.

  So Hermod returned to the Æsir in Asgard with the agreement made by Hel – and its condition. At this, the Æsir sent messages across the world to beseech all things to weep for Baldr and so free him from Hel. And all things did this; everything wept for Baldr. They wept as frost weeps when the sun shines on it. All things wept . . . with one exception. Deep in a cave the messengers of the Æsir found a giantess and she refused to weep. For, she said, she had gained nothing from Baldr, living or dead, and Hel could keep him. That giantess, we may presume, was Loki in disguise.

  The punishment of Loki

  The gods were furious that Loki had both caused the death of Baldr and had also contrived to ensure that he could not be ransomed from Hel. Realising that they meant to punish him severely, Loki ran away and hid inside a mountain in a building that he constructed so that it had four doors. This was so that he could look in all directions to see if the gods were coming after him. But still he did not feel safe from the anger of the Æsir. So, by day, he transformed himself into a salmon and hid beneath Franangr waterfall. Despite this, he still did not feel safe and wondered what things the Æsir might do to catch him in his watery hiding place. While sitting in his house with its four doors he picked up linen threads and, as he pondered how he might be caught, he tied them into the form of a net. This was the first time that anyone had made such a thing. He did this as he sat before a fire.

  But at that moment he saw that the Æsir were approaching; for Odin had seen his hiding place. At this, Loki threw the net into the fire and ran down to the river. Changing himself into a salmon once more, he leapt in.

  Back at Loki’s four-doored house, the Æsir had arrived and the first to enter was Kvasir, the wisest of them all. He looked at the fire and saw in it the ashes of the net and he guessed from their shape that they were a device for catching fish. Learning this, the Æsir worked together to create such a net for their own use. Once it was made they took it to the river, for they had guessed that Loki was hiding there. They threw in the net and Thor took one end and the rest of the Æsir took the other end. Together, they dragged the net through the water in order to catch Loki. But Loki realised what they were doing and swam ahead of the net and hid between the stones on the riverbed. A second time the Æsir dragged the net because they sensed that Loki was in the water. This time the net dragged along the bed of the river and Loki was forced to leap over it and escape back under the waterfall. Otherwise, he would have been forced into the sea and easily captured. A third time the Æsir pursued him in the river; but this time Thor waded into the middle of the river while the other Æsir pulled the net towards the sea.

  Loki now saw that he was in desperate danger. Whether he swam into the sea or jumped the net to swim back to the waterfall, he was doomed. For the Æsir would catch him in the open water of the sea and Thor would catch him if he attempted to swim back up the river. But it was to the waterfall he attempted to go; he leapt the net once more in an attempt to get there. As he did so, Thor seized him but Loki slipped through his grasp. But, although Loki slid between his fingers, those fingers closed around his tail. That is why the body of a salmon still grows slimmer the closer to the tail, for that is where Thor gripped Loki.

  So that was how Loki was caught. The Æsir took him to a cave and there they took three slabs of rock and punched a hole through each one. Then they brought Loki’s sons, Vali and Narfi, to the cave. Vali they turned into a wolf and Narfi they tore into pieces. With Narfi’s guts they tied Loki to the three stones: one was under his shoulders, one was under his loins and the third was placed behind his knees. As they did so, the binding-guts turned to iron and Loki was held fast. Then a poisonous snake was suspended over him so that its venom dripped into his face. But Loki’s wife, Sigyn, tried to help him by catching the poison in a bowl and she still does. But when the bowl is full she goes to pour it away and then the poison drips into Loki’s face once more. At this Loki convulses in agony and that is what is called an earthquake. There he will lie – chained beneath the dripping poison – until the end of the world; until the day called Ragnarok.

  A myth-poem: How Odin rode into Hel to discover the identity of Baldr’s killer.

  As well as the story recounted in The Tricking of Gylfi, in the Prose Edda, there is also a poem called Baldr’s Dreams that is found in the Poetic Edda. This account explains how the Æsir responded to the terrible dreams that Baldr was having and is recounted in a shortened form here in order to give an insight into its content.

  The Æsir came together to discover the cause of Baldr’s terrible dreams.

  Then up stepped the one who sacrificed himself for men, Odin,

  who saddled Sleipnir and rode him down to Hel,

  where he was met by a barking dog all covered in blood.

  But Odin undeterred by this rode on to reach Hel’s hall door.

  On the eastern side the seeress lay within her grave

  where Odin recited a spell to awake the dead and so she rose up unwillingly.

  She spoke, ‘Who has woken me? Who has brought me back along this road?

  ‘I, whose grave has felt snow, rain and dew. Long dead have I so lain.’

  Odin then hid his name and said he was called ‘Wanderer’

  and ‘Wanderer’ asked which warrior was soon expected there,

  who was soon to travel to the hall of Hel and be welcomed?

  Then, in reply, the seeress spoke, ‘The mead stands ready here for Baldr,

  and his coming will be distress for the Æsir.’

  So ‘Wanderer’ asked who would it be that would kill Baldr and

  deprive Odin of his son?

  He learned that Hod would do this deed and in his anger ‘Wanderer’ asked

  who would revenge himself on Hod for such a death as Baldr’s?

  Then ‘Wanderer’ heard how Odin would have another son, by Rind,

  who less than one day from his birth would fight

  and would not wash his hands nor comb his hair until the vengeance

  act was done and Baldr’s killer brought to the funeral fire.

  Then ‘Wanderer’ asked a question of the secret knowledge of the seeress

  and she guessed his name and declared him to be, ‘Odin-ancient-sacrifice’,

  who alone could visit her and no one else would ride that road

  and meet her there until the day that Loki would be loosed

  and destruction fall on all the gods.

  9


  The kidnapping of Idunn and the origins of poetry

  AGAIN FOUND IN the collection known as the Prose Edda, but this time in the Language of Poetry section, are journeys of the Æsir gods Odin, Loki and Haenir; the kidnapping of Idunn due to the misdeed of Loki; the origins of poetry; and the gaining of poetry by Odin.

  The Language of Poetry shows Snorri attempting to systematise traditions and to create a single narrative out of the complexity of Old Norse mythology. Snorri discusses the pagan past in relation to the kennings used within skaldic poetry (composed at the courts of Norse rulers), in order to provide the readers of his treatise with an understanding of where the origins of these kennings lay. There are several other accounts of the origins of poetry: The Sayings of the High One in the Poetic Edda; and carved on the Stora Hammars III stone (Larbro Parish, Gotland, Sweden, c. 700). However, neither of these is as complete as Snorri’s version of the story.

  The story about the origins of poetry comes close to the beginning of this section of the Prose Edda. This is because it is necessary to explain the original in order to give a background to the wide range of kennings that Snorri sets out later. Kennings were a key part of the tool kit of a skaldic poet, allowing him to demonstrate his skill and understanding of the pantheon of Norse mythology. The origin of poetry starts with an internal dispute between the Æsir and the Vanir and moves onto a dispute between dwarfs and giants. The ability to compose poetry is presented as being highly prestigious and only the most powerful people in the myth (the Æsir) are able to utilise the mead – both the giants and the dwarfs lack the ability to culturally benefit from it. This gives a particular status to human poets as, even though they are only benefitting from Odin’s cast-offs, they are still able to use it, which is more than the other races are able to do.

  Poetry is strongly associated with Odin and his continual search for wisdom. However, it is not enough to solve Odin’s troubles with the giants and interestingly there are no accounts of Odin himself actually using kennings.