<h2 id="c2"><span class="h2line1">Chapter II</span> <br/><span class="h2line2">The Death of Balder</span></h2>
<p>Again the Spring had come. Frigga, the
radiant Earth-goddess, had decked meadow,
hill, and vale with bloom and verdure,
and summoned the various warblers of
grove and wood. One mild evening Ingeborg and
Frithiof repaired with Hilding to a hillside overlooking
the sea and seated themselves on the mossy
stones. There, while the waves roared at their feet,
the master told them of the gentle god Balder, and
how envy and malice brought him to his death.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_16">16</div>
<p>“Balder was a son of the all-powerful Odin and
the fair Earth-goddess Frigga, beautiful as the day
and so bright that a shining splendor surrounded
him as he traversed the dome of heaven on his white
steed, swifter than thought. All evil, hatred, and
strife were abhorrent to him. Eloquent, wise, mild,
and just, he ever sought to promote peace, to avert
misfortune, and to ease pain and sorrow. Sometimes,
assuming human shape, he would mingle in
the combat, but never, even in the heat of battle,
did he lift his sword against a mortal. Though the
other gods often took part in the strife of men, ’twas
to do good alone that drew Balder to the field of
battle. Once on a hot summer’s day it chanced
some warriors were perishing for want of water;
whereupon he thrust his spear into the ground, and
a cool spring gushed forth, while others welled up
wherever his horse’s hoofs had trodden. These
springs were inexhaustible and still exist, surrounded
by sacred groves, wherein the beneficent god will
be worshipped to the end of time. Equally gentle
and lovely was his spouse Nanna, and far above the
clouds, whither the eye of man cannot penetrate,
they dwelt in their palace, Silvery Lustre, where
nothing evil or impure can ever enter.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_17">17</div>
<p>“Balder was beloved by all the gods and goddesses
save only Loke, the ever-evil, who hated him.
One night Balder dreamed that some danger threatened
his life, and so alarming was this dream that
he could not shake off its shadow, but sad and heavy-hearted,
thought only of approaching evil. Sorrow
seized not only upon Nanna, his loving wife, but
upon all the gods and goddesses, when they learned
of the dark forebodings that filled Balder’s soul.
In vain did Odin, his father, spend many days and
nights in thought; in vain did he take counsel with
the other gods and consult his two wise ravens, who
see into the past and future, as to the nature of the
danger that threatened his beloved son. At last he
determined to undertake the perilous journey to the
abode of the goddesses of Fate. Rising from his
shining throne, he left the palace, mounted his fire-breathing
celestial steed that stood before the door,
and, followed by the two ravens and the two wolves
who are his constant companions, flew like lightning
through the space betwixt heaven and earth
and soon reached the path that leads to the kingdom
of the pale goddess, Hel, in the terrible underworld.</p>
<p>“Far down below Valhalla, the golden palace of
the gods, whither heroes are borne by Odin’s battle-maidens,
the Valkyrs, on their winged steeds, lies
the dread realm of shadows where abides the inexorable
Hel. Loke is her father; her mother—the
giantess Angurboda, is a sister of the frightful wolf
Fenris and the earth-enveloping serpent. Woe,
thrice woe to him who descends into the cold mist-kingdom
of the goddess of death! Misery is her
Hall, Ruin her Threshold, Pining Sickness her Bed,
and Danger the Curtains thereof. Sloth is her
Thrall, and Despair her Handmaiden. She eats
from the Dish Hunger with the Knife of Famine.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_18">18</div>
<p>“To this terrible place Odin now took his way.
The path, which no living man had ever trodden,
led between frightful abysses and icy crags. But he
heeded not these terrors nor the furious yelping and
snapping of the death-hounds, intent only on learning
what evil threatened his favorite son. At last
he reached the spot where dwelt the goddesses of
Fate, and at the first gray Rune-stone he swung
himself from his steed. Below it had lain for a
thousand years the Norn who reads the future;
while about the desolate tomb the wind moaned
through the leafless branches and whirled aloft the
parching sand. Odin drew his sword and inscribed
thrice with it a Runic sentence in the sand. Then
he shouted thrice the Runic call which, uttered by
the lips of a god, has power to wake the dead within
their graves. In dull, hollow tones a voice answered
from the depths:</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_19">19</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">What mystic spell of sternest might</p>
<p class="t0">Penetrates the dungeon’s night?</p>
<p class="t0">Stirs me from my sleep of old?</p>
<p class="t0">Who art thou, O stranger bold?</p>
<p class="t0">Go! let me rest, for here below</p>
<p class="t0">Through Winter’s snows and Summer’s glow,</p>
<p class="t0">Through dripping dew and streaming rain,</p>
<p class="t0">A thousand years I now have lain.</p>
<p class="t0">Ruthless thou stirrest the dead’s deep rest—</p>
<p class="t0">Who mayst thou be, thou stranger guest?</p>
</div>
<p>“And Odin answered:</p>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">A wanderer I, unknown my name;</p>
<p class="t0">A warrior’s son, untold my fame;</p>
<p class="t0">Of the upper world I would not know,</p>
<p class="t0">But fain would seek of those below.</p>
<p class="t0">For whom is the glittering table spread?</p>
<p class="t0">For whom prepared the golden bed?</p>
</div>
<p>“Again the hollow tones responded:</p>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">Sawest thou not in beaker bright</p>
<p class="t0">Draught of sweet mead, foaming light?</p>
<p class="t0">O’er it hangs the golden shield</p>
<p class="t0">Warrior’s arm no more shall wield!</p>
<p class="t0">Balder’s coming these betoken;</p>
<p class="t0">Balder’s death doom hath been spoken!</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">This rede reluctant have I told—</p>
<p class="t0">Now get thee gone, thou stranger bold.</p>
<p class="t0">Leave the weary to her rest</p>
<p class="t0">And come no more, whate’er thy quest.</p>
</div>
<div class="pb" id="Page_20">20</div>
<p>“Down in the abyss the mists rolled and parted,
permitting Odin for an instant to gaze into the joyless
realm of death, and he saw that all was indeed
made ready to receive his beloved son. With the
tears starting to his eyes he mounted his steed and
turned sadly homeward. Loud cries of woe broke
from the waiting gods and goddesses when Odin
told them the saying of the Norn. Vainly they
sought some means by which the doom of their
favorite might be averted, till at last Frigga bethought
her of a plan, which was hailed with joy
by all. As mistress of the earth, she bound by
oath everything that existed thereon, fire and water,
iron and all the other metals, rock and soil, bush
and tree, all disease or poison, with all created beings
of the earth, the air, and the water,—not to
harm her son. Alone of the tender mistletoe that
hangs from the bough, she took no oath, for from
that she feared nothing.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_21">21</div>
<p>“Deeming their favorite safe from harm, the gods
in their joy began to sport with him. Some flung
sharp-pointed spears at him, and lo! they fell harmless
to the ground. Others smote his uncovered
head with their keen blades, yet not a hair of his
head was injured. Bright and laughing as a fair
spring morning, the god stood in their midst, catching
the hissing darts and lances in his hands.
Their joyous cries at last reached the ears of Loke,
whose only pleasure it was to awaken strife and discontent
within the hearts of gods and men, and he
hastened thither to blight, if it might be, these
heaven-born flowers of joy. Taking the form of
an aged dame with a staff in her trembling hand,
he approached the goddess Frigga, and said:</p>
<p>“‘Tell me, I pray thee, O watchful Earth-mother,
wherefore the gods are glad, so that I may
share their joy.’</p>
<p>“Frigga replied: ‘All nature has sworn to me to
do no harm to my son Balder. His life was in
great peril, but now shall the Norn’s rede be
brought to naught, nor shall he descend into the
kingdom of pale Hel.’</p>
<p>“But Loke asked: ‘Didst thou take oath of everything
upon the earth?’</p>
<p>“And Frigga answered: ‘Of all save the tender
mistletoe that grows east of Valhalla: from that
surely there is naught to fear.’</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_22">22</div>
<p>“Now was Loke rejoiced, for mistletoe causes
the death of the tree from which it draws its life.
Slipping softly out from the gates of Valhalla, he
hastened to where it grew, and, breaking it off,
fashioned from the tough stem a dart which he
sharpened to the keenest point. Then, as the old
woman, he again joined the circle of the gods still
busy with their sports. Perceiving Höder, the
blind god, who stood apart listening to his companion’s
joyous cries but unable to share their
sports, he drew near and said to him:</p>
<p>“‘Why dost thou too not hurl the spear or
speed the dart?’</p>
<p>“‘Alas! How can I?’ replied Höder. ‘Were
not the light gone from my eyes, gladly would I
also do honor to Balder.’</p>
<p>“‘Nay, then, that thou shalt,’ said Loke.
‘Take thy bow and this dart; I will guide its
flight for thee.’</p>
<p>“Höder did as he was bid, and down sank Balder
lifeless to the ground.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_23">23</div>
<p>“This was the greatest misfortune which had ever
befallen the gods in Valhalla. For a space they
stood horror-stricken, gazing at the corpse of the
gentle god. Then the vaulted halls echoed to
their cries of woe. Beyond all words was their
grief and anguish. At length they bethought them
to seek the author of the evil deed; but vengeance
was beyond their power, for Odin’s palace is a sanctuary.
Moreover, Loke had vanished. With sighs
and lamentations they bore the beloved dead to the
seashore, where, drawn up on rollers, stood Balder’s
ship. On this his body was to be burned. But all
the efforts of the gods were powerless to stir the
mighty vessel from its place; whereupon they summoned
the giantess Hyrrocken (Fire Whirlwind) to
their aid. A rushing sound was heard as she came
with streaming hair, riding a great wolf bridled with
a serpent.</p>
<p>“Laying her mighty hands upon the ship she
pushed it into the sea with such force that sparks flew
from the rollers. Seized with rage and chagrin at
this, Thor lifted his hammer to shatter the head of
the witch, but the other gods hastened to pacify him,
and then a fresh misfortune befell. The heart of
Balder’s blooming wife Nanna burst with its load of
sorrow, and she sank lifeless into the arms of Frigga.
The bodies of the youthful pair thus united by
death were laid upon the funeral pyre that had been
raised within the ship, and consumed amid the
lamentations of all the gods. This is the story of
Balder’s death, which brought sorrow and mourning
into Odin’s halls of joy.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_24">24</div>
<p>With rapture Ingeborg and Frithiof had listened
to old Hilding’s tale, while far in the distance they
heard the rumbling of Thor’s chariot, in which the
God of Thunder rides upon the clouds, and saw
the flickering lights that follow the blows of his
hammer. Tears glistened in Ingeborg’s eyes, and
even Frithiof’s heart was moved. Presently they
arose and turned their faces homeward. Ingeborg
retired to her chamber, while Frithiof and Hilding
seated themselves on cushions before a table upon
which burned a taper.</p>
<p>Suddenly Frithiof spoke: “Terrible indeed must be
the abode of the goddess Hel; yet gladly would I die
and descend thither could I but know that Ingeborg
would mourn for me as Nanna mourned for Balder!”</p>
<p>Hilding was amazed at this speech.</p>
<p>“Alas! my son,” he said, “can it be that thou
art cherishing a love for Ingeborg? Never can it
bring thee happiness. Bethink thee! King Bele’s
ancestors are descended from the gods, while thou
art but the son of a yeoman. From the sons of
princes will Bele choose a son-in-law, nor mayst
thou ever hope to wed his child.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_25">25</div>
<p>Frithiof laughed and his eyes flashed as he answered,
“The gods take no heed of rank. With
them valor is all. They will spurn him who fails
in courage, even though he be of their own blood;
but him who strives with all his soul to imitate
them in godlike deeds they will hold in honor.
The fame I have already won for myself by slaying
the beasts of the forest shall count as much for me as
if my ancestral line stretched up to Odin’s halls!”</p>
<p>“Alas for this love of thine!” cried Hilding.
“I fear me ’twill bear thee naught but thorns.
My old eyes were dim that I saw not what mischief
was brewing.”</p>
<p>“Nay, father, say not so!” answered Frithiof.
“Never till this day have I thought to win Ingeborg
for my wife. ’Tis but now my heart hath revealed
its yearnings for her and her alone in all the
world. But I swear to thee by all the gods that
never shall her image be banished thence. If need
be, my sword shall be my wooer. Aye! I would
contend for her with the Thunder-God himself; nor
will I give her up so long as life shall last. Yet of
this I will say naught to her father, but sue for her
in due form after the manner of our forefathers.”</p>
<p>As Frithiof thus spoke, Ingeborg sat in her chamber,
her thoughts also busy with him. In his form
she seemed to see the fair young god Balder, and
prayed the gods to guard the noble youth and grant
him fame and honor.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_26">26</div>
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