Although somewhat innocent, he was later slain by the new son of Óðinn and Rindr, Váli, whom had been born, and grew up in one day, for the single purpose of avenging Baldr's death. Not knowing what was in his hand, and having the aid of Loki's aim, he launched the dart into Baldr's chest, killing him on the spot. Loki gave the dart of mistletoe to Baldr's blind twin brother, Höðr, so that he, too, could participate in the game. At the same time, several of the gods were playing a game with Baldr where they were throwing projectiles at him in an attempt to strike him however, since all objects had vowed to never harm Baldr, he could not be touched by the gods' attempts. Loki immediately left to gather some of the weed and make a dart out of it. Thinking nothing of it, she told him about the mistletoe. The trickster God, Loki, took a disguise and asked Frigg if anything could harm Baldr. This plan was almost perfect except that she had missed one thing that she had thought too insignificant, the weed mistletoe. All agreed that none of their kind would ever hurt or assist in hurting Baldr, and afterward the other gods used his seeming invincibility to practice throwing knives and shooting arrows at him. It started when he had dreams about his death, which caused his mother, Frigg, to extract an oath from every object on Earth not to harm her son Baldr. Other than his great courage and honor, he is known primarily for the myth about his death. His hall was known as Breiðablik, which means "broad splendor", and according to both the Grímnismál and the Gylfaginning, Breiðablik is the fairest of dwellings where nothing evil or unclean can exist. His wife was Nanna, the daughter of Nep, and their son, the god of justice, was named Forseti.īaldr had the largest ship ever built, called the Ringhorn, or Hringhorni, which was known as the "greatest of all ships".
His twin brother is the blind winter-god Höðr. He is the younger brother of the thunder-god Þórr. He is the second son of Óðinn's and his mother is Frigg. In Gylfaginning, Snorri relates that Baldr had the greatest ship ever built, Hringhorni, and that there is no place more beautiful than his hall, Breiðablik.īaldr, Balder, Baldur also Balder the brave. In addition to being loved by all gods and more physical beings, he was so handsome, generous, and good that he gave off light simply by the purity of his character.Īccording to Gylfaginning, a book of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, Baldr's wife is Nanna and their son is Forseti.
Compiled in Iceland in the 13th century, but based on much older Old Norse poetry, the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda contain numerous references to the death of Baldr as both a great tragedy to the Æsir and a harbinger of Ragnarök. In the 12th century, Danish accounts by Saxo Grammaticus and other Danish Latin chroniclers recorded a euhemerised account of his story. He is the father of Forseti, and he has numerous brothers, such as Þórr and Váli. Let's take a look at those, as well as how they may inform the plot of the next installment in the series.Baldr (Old Norse: anglicised Balder, Icelandic: Baldur) is the god of light, joy, purity, and the summer sun in Norse mythology, and a son of the god Óðinn and the goddess Frigg. Though God of War tells an elegant and complete story, there are still plenty of questions left lingering at the end of Kratos and Atreus' journey. The plot is also equal parts dense and clever, weaving genuine mythology into the heightened action series. The exploration of Kratos' motivations and his growth as a character was praised by critics, with GameRevolutionfavorably comparing the emotional heft of Kratos and Atreus' interactions to the relationship between Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us.
It also dives deeper into the lead character's psyche, showing us the effect that lifetimes of violence can have on someone's soul, even when they're a god. Though it lacked a number in its title, the new game functioned both as a soft reboot and as, essentially, God of War 4. Having hacked and slashed his way through the Greek pantheon, the new game sees Kratos and his son, Atreus, fighting for survival against beasts and gods of Norse mythology.
2018's God of War returned players to the well-worn boots of Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta.