Monday, 21 December 2020

Balder and the Mistletoe

'Tis the season to be reading and troll the ancient Yuletide carols, and so on. It is not Christmas without a healthy dose of Norse mythology, so every year I try to read at least one story from Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, usually more. I did not have the chance to read one so far since the beginning of December, but I intend to do it soon. There is one in particular, the story of the death of the god Balder (or Baldr, or Baldur, but the book uses the spelling Balder), which is particularly appropriate for Christmas as the mistletoe is instrumental in Balder's murder. Not exactly cheerful, but the Season does have a dark side.

1 comment:

  1. There's a town in Manitoba called Baldur, Manitoba. Undoubtedly settled by Icelandic people.

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