Baldr

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Baldr, alternatively Baldur, was an Æsir isu, son of Odin, mythologized in Norse folklore as the god of light, peace, innocence, purity and prophecy.

Biography

"The poor boy collapsed so suddenly. Felled by the faintest taste of mistel-berry. With his father standing over him, weeping!"

―Unknown Male Voice

Baldr was born to Frigg and Odin in Asgard during the Isu Era, being the second son of the Æsir leader.

Baldur was poisoned with by Loki in retaliation for Odin's imprisonment of his son Fenrir, leading to his death. After his death, Odin looked desperately for a way to resurrect his son, to no avail.

Legacy and influence

Baldur from Eivor's dreams.

Baldur passed on to myth after the great catastrophe. In myth he was regarded as a bright and optimistic figure, with the gift of foresight and invulnerability.

Baldr had a totem named after him in the popular dice game Orlog, played during the 9th century. The piece "Baldr's Invulnerability" would earn players extra helmets and shields for each die that rolled either of those icons. An Anglo-Saxon man at the Ragnarsson War Camp for the Great Heathen Army in Ledecestreshire possessed the piece, which he gave to the Viking shieldmaiden Eivor Varinsdottir of the Raven Clan after being defeated.

In 881, the King of Dublin Bárid mac Ímair cursed Flann Sinna using Baldur's name in exasperation for not heeding his warning of an incoming attack.

Mythological tales

"Father... My mother's gift was the blessing of all the realms, so that no blade, claw, venom, or spark could harm her son. I am surely grateful—but without the risk of death, what triumph is worth celebrating?"

―Baldr to Odin

In myth, Baldr accompanied his brothers Thor and Heimdall as they tracked a Muspel giant that had entered Ásgarðr. In an ensuing conflict, the Muspel and Baldr were caught in a rockfall. The Muspel is killed while Baldr emerges unscathed yet laments the death of his enemy. Escaping the rubble into a dwarven tunnel, he meets an escaped dwarf slave whom the Muspel was chasing, unknowingly leading him into Ásgarðr. Baldr was informed by the dwarf of Muspel forces gathering to invade his homeland of Svartálfaheimr. Through their conversation, Baldr realizes he has little life experience as a warrior. Upon seeing sunlight and exiting the tunnels, Baldr turned back to find the dwarf but disovered he was nowhere in sight.

Days pass, and Baldr returned home, before Odin–deep in conversation with Tyr–could worry further. At a celebration feast, Baldr could not help but notice Tyr's missing arm and his father's missing eye. He went to bed to reflect upon these things.

After a few more days, Baldr stood before his father's throne Hliðskjálf and met with Odin and his stepmother, Freyja.

Eivor's visions

Baldr imprisoned by the Muspels in Eivor's dream.

"Mistletoe... symbol of hope. Renewal... but not for Baldr."

―Sinmara gloating to Odin over causing Baldr's death

During the 9th century, Eivor Varinsdottir, reincarnation of the isu Odin, consumed psychoactive mixtures prepared by her clan's resident oracle Valka, which sent her on hallucinogenic visions where she explored mythical realms from Norse cosmology as "Havi", subconsciously merging her Norse religious beliefs with the real genetic memories of Odin present within her DNA.

During one such vision, induced after a waking dream, she relived the events leading up to the death of Baldr. In these visions, Loki secretly told the Muspels how to poison Baldr with mistletoe, resulting in his kidnapping and death, leaving Odin to grieve over the loss of his child.

Later, Odin attempted to resurrect Baldr by plunging Niflheimr to demand of Hel that she bring him back. Upon her defeat, Hel revealed to Odin the truth: her attempts to impede Odin from reaching and resurrecting Balder were orchestrated by Baldr himself. Somehow Baldr yet lived after death and explained to Odin that he required his enemies to believe him gone. In order to do so he had to erase Odin's memories of this reunion, as he had many times before. To do this he offered to replace Muninn (memory) with Sýnin (insight), that Odin could see towards the future. In this manner Baldr planned to survive Ragnarök from beyond, to lead the world after that catastrophe to a brighter future.

Behind the scenes

Baldr was first mentioned in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, and featured heavily in the game's expansion Dawn of Ragnarök.

The game offers seemingly contradictory accounts about his death; Loki's fragment of memories, explored through the Animus Anomalies planted by Basim Ibn Ishaq into Layla Hassan's simulation has Loki imply that he poisoned Baldr with a small amount of mistletoe, which was enough to cause his death, and soon left to tell his consort, Aletheia; while the Dawn of Ragnarök expansion, positioned as a mythologized version of actual events, has a more elaborate scenario, where Baldr is captured and tortured by Surtr, with Sinmara forcing him to ingest many "drafts" of mistletoe until his death, with Loki simply giving Surtr the means to capture him, and subsequently being imprisoned.

Mythology

In both the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, Baldr on Wikipedia was said to be born to Frigg. In the Prose Edda, Loki tried to kill Baldr but was unsuccessful. After asking Frigg why no object could hurt her son, she explained that it was because all objects on Earth had taken an oath not to harm him save for mistletoe, which either was deemed too unimportant to consider asking or was too young to swear an oath. With this knowledge, Loki immediately created a mistletoe arrow and tricked Baldr's blind brother Höðr into loosing it when the Æsir playfully tested Baldr's fabled invulnerability, killing the god.

Gallery

• 
  Baldr in chains
• 
  Baldr's Invulnerability
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  A toy of Baldr based off his Sigrblot statue
• 
  Baldr statue during the Sigrblot festival in Ravensthorpe

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first mentioned)
  • Wrath of the Druids (mentioned only)
  • Dawn of Ragnarök (first appearance)
  • The Forgotten Saga (consciousness only)
• Discovery Tour: Viking Age (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Forgotten Myths
• Echoes of History (mentioned only)