Old Norse: Baldr Pronunciation: Baul-dur
Anglo-Saxon: Bealdor, Old High German: Baldur, Baldar Western Germanic: Balder, Baldur, Fol, Phol, Palter, Paltar Proto-Germanic: Balþraz (Brave One)
Baldur is Odin and Frigga’s second son. His wife is called Nanna and his son was Brono who is likewise famed for his goodness.
Baldur’s hall is named Breidablik (“Broadly Gleaming”), where nothing impure is allowed.
Baldur is the god of light, innocence, beauty, joy, purity and peace. He is the shining young hero who embodies the hope of an age.
Baldur is treasured as the ‘best’, ‘brightest’, and most beautiful of all Gods. He is the God of joy and peace and the very epitome of all that is good and hale, of all that which is pure, holy and uncorrupted.
Baldur is the God of the beneficial forces of the rays of the Sun, thus Baldur is greatly honoured in the Sacred rite of the Midsummer festival which corresponds to the Summer Solstice, when it is the longest day of the year and also when the days start to get shorter and the season begins its slow descent into winter. This celebration is marked with much feasting and Bonfires that represent Baldur’s funeral pyre.
Baldur, is known primarily for the myth surrounding his death which is seen as the first in the chain of events which will ultimately lead to the destruction of the gods at Ragnarok. However, as foretold in the Voluspa, Baldur will be reborn in the new world and will rule the Gods.
