WEBVTT
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Balder
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A story told by the Viking people of Scandinavia
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Balder, they believed,
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was a son of Odin, the All-Father, King of the gods.
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His mother was a goddess called Frigg.
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Balder was the most beautiful of all the gods.
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Wherever he went he filled the space about himself with a clear golden light,
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like the dawn of a Spring morning but more beautiful still.
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And then he began to have dreams –
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terrible dreams, dreams that filled him with dread.
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He would wake in the night with a cold sweat on his forehead and a pounding in his heart.
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At first he took no notice but night after night the dreams returned
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and so he went to his father Odin and asked him if the dreams carried any meaning.
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‘I don’t know, my son,
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but I will find out.’
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Odin leapt onto the back of his great eight-legged horse Sleipnir and galloped down from Asgard,
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the kingdom of the gods,
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down through the nine worlds until he reached the land of the dead.
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Balder’s mother Frigg had heard the conversation between father and son.
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‘Sweet Balder,
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I will make sure that you come to no harm.’
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She summoned her servants and she told them to ride across all nine worlds.
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She told them to order all of creation to make a solemn promise not to harm Balder.
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And so the messengers rode forth and everything made the promise –
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men, dwarves, giants, plants, animals, fishes, birds, insects, weapons, rocks, metals, diseases, earth, water, fire.
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There was nothing that did not promise,
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except a little mistletoe plant,
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growing high above the branches of an apple tree.
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It had seemed so tiny,
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so weak,
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so close to death that the messengers had taken pity on it and left it in peace.
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When the servants returned,
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the word spread amongst the gods and the goddesses and it became a great sport for them to gather and hurl things at Balder and marvel at how he was left unscratched.
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Spears, arrows, stones would glance away from him without grazing his skin.
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It was while they were gathered,
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hurling and marvelling,
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that Odin returned from his great journey.
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He jumped from his horse’s back and stood before Balder:
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‘Stop!
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In the palace of the dead a room has been prepared for Balder.
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At the table of the dead a place has been set for my son Balder.’
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But when he heard of the solemn promises that had been made,
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and when he saw the sport,
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he too became convinced that his son was safe from all harm.
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But the story of Balder had reached the ears of Loki, the trickster.
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He disguised himself as an old woman and paid a visit to Balder’s mother.
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‘Frigg, I’ve been hearing wonders about your son.
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Is it true that nothing in the world will harm Balder?’
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‘It is true.
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All creation has promised.’
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‘Nothing at all?’
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‘Well, there was a little mistletoe plant that did not make the promise.
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But by now it is almost certainly dead.’
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The old woman hobbled away,
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but as soon as he was out of sight Loki flung away his disguise and he searched all nine worlds until he found the mistletoe.
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And there was life in it still.
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He nursed it and tended it and rubbed magic potions into its bark.
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Soon it was growing strong.
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He cut it with his knife and fashioned an arrow from it.
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Then he made his way to Asgard,
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the palaces of the gods.
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All the gods, even Odin,
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were joining in the sport.
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Balder was standing with his back to a wall and not one of the weapons they attacked him with would touch him.
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All the gods were joining in except for one.
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Balder had a twin brother called Hoder and he was blind.
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He stood apart,
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jealous of their view into a world that he could only hear and smell and touch.
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Loki approached Hoder.
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‘Why are you not joining in?’
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‘Loki, you know why not.
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I cannot see Balder to throw things at him,
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nor watch and marvel at how stones and arrows leave him unharmed.’
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‘Hoder, listen:
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I’ll help you loose an arrow and I’ll tell you what happens and it’ll be as though you have two eyes in your own head.’
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Hoder took the bow that Loki offered him.
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He took the arrow that Loki placed between his fingers.
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‘Now:
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draw back the bowstring.
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Let it fly!’
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The mistletoe arrow flew through the air and struck Balder in the heart.
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With a groan he fell to the ground.
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‘Tell me what happened Loki –
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what did it look like?’
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‘It looks as though you’ve killed your own brother.’
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Loki melted into the shadows and the gods ran forwards.
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There was no breath, no pulse.
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Balder was dead.
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Frigg buried her head in her hands.
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‘Balder cannot be dead.
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What will the world be without his bright beauty?
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We must bring him back.’
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Once again Odin leapt onto his horse’s back and rode through the nine worlds to the land of the dead.
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He crossed a river of blood,
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a river of tears,
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an orchard sweet with the sickly stench of decay.
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At last he came to the high hall of Hell,
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the queen of the dead.
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Behind her throne he could see the pale face of Balder,
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staring from the shadows.
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He dismounted and bowed.
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‘Balder must be returned to the land of the living.’
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Hell shook her head.
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‘Balder is dead.
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The dead stay here with me.’
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‘The whole world weeps for Balder.
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Give him back.’
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The Queen of the dead smiled.
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‘Balder is dead.
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But if what you said was the truth,
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if the whole world,
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if all of creation were truly to weep for Balder then I would return him,
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for that would be music to my ears.’
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Odin galloped back to Asgard and told all what he had seen and heard
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and once again Frigg summoned her servants and ordered them to ride across all of the worlds and this time to tell the whole of creation to weep for Balder.
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And so it was that all nine worlds wept;
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all men, dwarves, giants, plants, animals, fishes, birds, insects, weapons, rocks, metals.
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You’ve seen how metals weep when they’re brought from the cold into the warmth?
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So it was they wept for Balder.
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All diseases, earth, water, fire, everything wept.
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But when the servants were returning to Asgard,
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weeping themselves and with all creation weeping around them,
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they encountered an old woman and her eyes were dry as bones.
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‘Old woman,
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you too must weep for Balder.’
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‘Balder is dead.
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The Queen of the shadows can keep her prey.
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For Balder I weep dry tears.’
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From the old woman’s mouth came the voice of Loki.
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‘Loki, you can undo your evil deed with your tears.’
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‘For Balder I weep dry tears.’
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And no word would persuade Loki to shed one single tear for Balder.
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And so Balder stayed in the shadow land,
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the land of the dead,
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and with the death of Balder a beautiful golden light was extinguished from the world,
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a light that would never be seen again.