Previous posts on Balder and his significance are available. The Lay of Vegtam, or Baldr’s Dreams Translation by Benjamin Thorpe, 1865 1. Together were the Æsir all in council, and the Asyniur all in conference, and they consulted, the mighty gods, why Baldr had oppressive dreams. 2. To that god his slumber was most afflicting; […]Read Post ›
I’ve previously discussed the death and resurrection of Balder at some length, and I won’t revisit the subject today, though perhaps in 2017. However, a couple of quick notes about the poem and its author. Viktor Rydberg was a Swedish novelist from a modest background who became one of the most prominent in 19th Century […]Read Post ›
Thomas Gray was an English poet best known for his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, one of the most well-known poems of the 18th century. Elegy is a subject far larger than is appropriate for this space, but it’s worth noting that poem – and Gray – have a substantial influence on English poetry and even on […]Read Post ›
Before the poem, some background. I’ve already shared a bit about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of the most popular American poets of the 19th century. He was particularly fascinated with Germanic and Scandinavian mythology and history, and spent quite a bit of time in northern Europe pursuing those interests. The poem is named for Esaias […]Read Post ›
In the northwest of England, in the small village of Gosforth (pop. 1,200) in the district of Cumbria, just a few miles from the Irish Sea, there sits an old church with an ancient graveyard. The graveyard contains a monument of significance not only for its age, now nearly 1,100 years old, but also because […]Read Post ›
Illustration from Johannes Ewald’s Balders død (The Death of Balder) showing Nanna crying to the left, the dead Balder in the center, Hother covering his face with his hand to the right, Odin and Frigga despairing in the sky, the Valkyries with their spears to the right and Thor and the other Æsir in the […]Read Post ›
Thor kicks Litr onto Baldr’s burning ship, by Emil Doepler, published circa 1905 in Walhall, die Götterwelt der Germanen, by Martin Oldenbourg. After Höðr strikes down Baldr due to Loki’s treachery everyone mourns, and at his funeral, his wife Nanna is so overcome with grief that she jumps onto his burning ship to be immolated along with […]Read Post ›
“Balders død”, or “Balder’s Death”, by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, 1817. Thor with Mjölnir sits on Odin’s left, the viewer’s right, observing the death of his brother Balder the Beautiful, most beloved of the gods. Following a series of visions showing Balder in peril, Odin sought guidance from a seeress, who foretold the death of his cherished son. […]Read Post ›
Throwback Thorsday 