Balder the Glorious

A detailed Summary of Balder the Glorious

In the chapter entitled "Baldr and Loki" in R.I. Page's book, Norse Myths, he takes a close look at the character Balder and how he relates to two very different stories of how he was killed. First is the Snorri version of the Death of Balder and second being the Saxo version. Page states that Baldr "is the best of all gods, fair in complexion and nature, wise, eloquent and full of grace, yet ineffectual."(Page 47) He is mentioned many times throughout Norse mythology but there are few myths actually focused around him. A lot is focused around Baldr's invulnerability. Baldr is the most loved and perfect of the gods and is killed, but later in Norse mythology is reborn when a new better world is created. Page brings up the similarities this has to a popular Christian belief of Jesus Christ's resurrection from death. He points out that this is no coincidence being that it is not

Archetype has several definitions. The one I felt that was most suitable in correlation with Norse mythology was: "the original model, form, or pattern from which something is made from or from which something is developed" (Webster). In the "Death of Baldr", Baldr is archetypal symbol of Goodness and Beauty. He represents the perfect and untarnished. All loves him and all would do anything for him. Loki on the other hand is the archetypal symbol of deviance, disrespect, greed, and evil. His self-serving motives not only kill the favorite god to everyone but keep him dead as well. The combination of these two archetypes in one myth present the listener or reader with the two far extremes of what is to be expected and not expected in the Norse culture. In this myth Loki succeeds in killing Baldr and dies believing he has but as is often good prevails when Baldr is resurrected from the land of the dead once a new society cle

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Approximate Word count = 630
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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