Balder

See also: balder

English

An illustration by Daniel Chodowiecki for Johannes Ewald, Balders Død (The Death of Balder), 1787

Alternative forms

• Baldr
• Baldur

Proper noun

Balder

1. (Norse mythology) The Norse god of light and purity, a son of Odin and Freya, known for his beauty and near-invulnerability.
   • 2005, A. Bhatnagar, William Charles Livingston, Fundamentals of Solar Astronomy, page 3,

     Among the Norse, the god Balder is the most closely associated with the solstices. In a myth that explains the actions of the midsummer and midwinter Sun, Balder, the son of the god Odin, was said to die at the hands of his evil brother, who wielded a mistletoe stake each summer solstice. He was reborn at the winter solstice, or what is still known in Germany as Mother Night (the 'mother' in question being the goddess who brings the new born Sun back into existence).

   • 2008, Bernard Thomas Mees, The Science of the Swastika‎^[1], page 175:

     It is difficult to understand how the author of The Traditions of the God Balder (Die Uberlieferungen vom Gone Balder) from 1920 in which he compared the Balder cult with earlier Mediterranean beliefs could come out so strongly in favor of Kossinna's ex Septentrione lux scarcely a decade later.

   • 2008, Michael Ward, Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis, unnumbered page,

     What he does not mention is that Balder is the Norse counterpart of Helios (the Greek forerunner of Sol); he was the god of light, son of Odin and Frigg, as Helios was the son of Hyperion and Theia.

   • 2010, H. A. Guerber, Hammer of Thor: Norse Mythology and Legends‎^[2], page 246:

     Balder, the radiant god of sunshine, reminds us not only of Apollo and Orpheus, but of all the other heroes of sun myths.

Anagrams

• bedral, blader, blared

---

Old High German

Etymology

From the adjective bald (“brave”).

Proper noun

Balder

1. Balder
   • c. 9th-10th c Unknown author, Second Merseburg Charm,

     du uuart demo Balderes uuolon sin uuoz birenkit

     and the foot of Balder's foal was sprained

Usage notes

The Phol mentioned in the same charm where Balder is attested may be the same figure.