The name is absent

ling of the Asyniar. A sprig of mistletoe, at that
time too young to enter into so solemn an obliga-
tion, was alone, and fatally, excepted. The invul-
nerability of the god induced him to offer himself
as a mark for the practice of his relatives and
friends. Maces, axes and spears fell innocuous
from his sacred frame ; but Loki placed a sprig of
mistletoe in the hand of the blind Haudrⁱ, and
with this, the sole thing that could not be forsworn,
he slew his brother. An effort still remained to be
made. Opinn himself descended to the abode of
Hel, in hopes of persuading the goddess of the dead
to relinquish her prey. He was successful, and re-
turned with the joyful intelligence that Baldrwould
be restored to the gods, if all created nature would
weep for him. All nature did weep for the loss of
the god of beauty, save one old crone. When called
upon to do her part in his restoration she answered,
“ What have the gods done for me, that I should weep
for Baldrl Let Hel keep her dead ! ” It is thought
that it was Loki who had assumed the old woman’s
form. Thus Baldr^,s fate was sealed. The faithful
Nanna² would not survive her beautiful lord, and
the gods and goddesses attended round the pile
on which their two cherished companions were re-

* In Anglosaxon, Hea‰, which however has almost always the abs-
tract sense of war.

² In Anglosaxon, NoiS : this occurs rarely save in composition, where
it seems to denote bravery or courage. But it is to be observed that
noft is the name of a ship or large boat ; and it is worth inquiry whe-
ther the Teutonic goddess Ziza, probably in Anglosaxon Tate, may not
have been identical with this Nanna, instead of Frouwa. The dragging
about a boat or ship was peculiar to Ziza’s worship. Deut. Myth,
p. 237, seq.

duced to dust together. But the slain god could
hope for ∏o resurrection : his throne was placed
in the shadowy realm of Hel, and weeping virgins
spread the eternal pall that was to give dreary
honour to the god of light in the cold kingdom of
darkness and the invisible. The posthumous son,
or more'likelyre-birth, of the god, avenged his father
upon the wretched instrument of Loki’s wiles. Yet
those who had fathomed the deeper mysteries of the
creed knew well enough that Baldrwas to rise again
in triumph : after the twilight of the gods and the
destruction of the ancient world, he was to return
in glory and joy, and reign in a world where there
should be neither sin nor sorrow, nor destruction.

Of these details, the Anglosaxon mythology
knows nothing, in the forms which have survived :
and perhaps in this peculiar myth we may recog-
nize something of an astronomical character, which
can certainly not be attributed to other Northern
legends. However this may be, we must content
ourselves with the traces here given of Pol, as one
form of Baldr, and with the genealogical relation
which has been noticed. Meagre as these facts
undoubtedly are, they are amply sufficient to prove
that the most beloved of the Northern gods was
not altogether a stranger to their children in this
island. Peihaps the adoption of another creed
led to the absorption of this divinity into a person
of far higher and other dignity, which, while it
smoothed the way for the reception of Christianity,
put an end for ever to even the record of his suf-
ferings.

vol. I.                                  2 в

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