11), identifies Old Norse Baldr with the Old High German Baldere (2nd Merseburg Charm, Thuringia), Palter (theonym, Bavaria), Paltar (personal name) and with Old English bealdor, baldor 'lord, prince, king' (used always with a genitive plural, as in gumena baldor 'lord of men', wigena baldor 'lord of warriors', et cetera). Jacob Grimm, in his Teutonic Mythology (ch.

(The illustration by Johan Egerkrans) Name Baldr had the greatest ship ever built, Hringhorni, and there is no place more beautiful than his hall, Breidablik. Compiled in Iceland during the 13th century, but based on much older Old Norse poetry, the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda contain numerous references to the death of Baldr as both a great tragedy to the Æsir and a harbinger of Ragnarök.Īccording to Gylfaginning, a book of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, Baldr's wife is Nanna and their son is Forseti. He has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli.ĭuring the 12th century, Danish accounts by Saxo Grammaticus and other Danish Latin chroniclers recorded a euhemerized account of his story.

Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Norse mythology, and a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg.

Balder the brave norse mythology