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Murder and Vengeance Among the Gods: Baldr in Scandinavian Mythology. By John Lindow. FF Communications 262. (Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia/Academia Scientiaram Fennica, 1997. Pp. 210, bibliography, name and subject index. FIM 150 softbound, FIM 180 paper)
Comparatively little is known about the resplendent Scandinavian god Baldr. One day he began to have bad dreams. His mother Frigg exacted an oath from all objects that they would do Baldr no harm, but, as in all stories of magical invulnerability, the door was left open for mischief. Frigg failed to address the mistletoe, and Baldr was killed with it under unusual circumstances: the murderer was his blind brother HQ@r (Q = 6, d = th, as in this), who allowed Loki to guide his hand. An attempt to retrieve Baldr from the kingdom of the dead proved unsuccessful. Baldr's death was a prelude to the destruction of the gods by the forces of evil. Later, Baldr was avenged and returned to his abode, but this happened in what can be called a new era. Both Snorri Sturluson (and other Icelanders) and the Dane Saxo Grammaticus knew about the triangle Baldr-HQdr-Loki, yet left vastly different versions of the events.
Countless works have been written on the Baldr myth, and it will not be an exaggeration to say that Lindow knows them all. He organized his material in six chapters: 1. ",Esir and Vanir: Religion, Myth, Mythology, Mythography (The World of the Mythology, Baldr, Interpretation)", 2. "Baldr, Har, Loki: Baldr's Death", 3. "Odin and Hyrrokkin: Baldr's Funeral," 4. "Frigg and Herm6k, Loki and Hel: Attempted Retrieval", 5. "Vali and HQar, the Esir and Loki: Vengeance", 6. "Baldr and HQdr: RagnarQk and Reconciliation."
The problem that confronted Lindow is familiar to all specialists in Scandinavian mythology: the solid facts to be interpreted are relatively few, while allusions in the Elder Edda and skaldic poetry are numerous, but most...