| “ | Snow... | ” |
–Baldur's last word as he dies. | ||
Baldur's death is an important and major event in Norse Mythology and in the God of War universe. It involves the death of Baldur, the Aesir God of Light, at the hands of Kratos, following a long battle, but only after the invincibility spell that was bestowed on Baldur was broken. His death serves as prelude to Fimbulwinter, which would then lead to Ragnarök, a cataclysmic event that was foreseen by the Giants of Jötunheim.
Norse Mythology[]
The death of Baldr is an important event in Nordic lore, as it serves as the catalyst for Fimbulwinter and then Ragnarök, which resulted in the destruction and rebirth of the world.
Baldr, while sleeping one night, had nightmares in which he foresaw his own death. His mother Frigg also had the same nightmare. Because it was prophetic dream, Baldr went into depression and he told his fellow gods about it. They all gathered in an assembly and they decided to request immunity for Baldr from all kinds of danger. Frigg traveled to Earth and all the elements of Earth, including the environment, diseases, animals, and objects, such as stone, swore a vow to never harm Baldr. However, the only one that Frigg didn't requested to swore the vow is a plant called Mistletoe, which she thought that it was too young to swear a vow.
Despite this, Baldr was now invincible, and the Aesir made sport with it, in which they would throw stones and even shoot arrows at Baldr, only for them to bounce off. However, Loki, the God of Mischief, who had heard of the vows the elements of Earth had made with the exception of Mistletoe, creates a magic spear (an arrow in later versions) from that plant, which he found growing from a tree that is located west of Valhalla. He then hurried back to the assembly where the Gods are enjoying their pastimes by making sport of Baldr's invincibility. Loki gives the Mistletoe spear to Hodr, an Aesir God who is born blind and is Baldr's brother. Loki then tricks him into killing Baldr with the spear. The Mistletoe immediately strikes Baldr, killing him immediately, while the Gods stood in shock and horror and they could do nothing but weep in grief over Baldr's death. Frigg then speaks up and asks her fellow Gods and Goddesses: "who there was among the Æsir who wished to earn all her love and favour and was willing to ride the road to Hel and try if he could find Baldr, and offer Hel a ransom if she would let Baldr go back to Asgard."
Hermóðr, a son of Odin and another brother to Baldr, accepts Frigg's request and rode his father's horse Sleipnir to Hel. Meanwhile, as Hermóðr was continuing on his journey, a grand funeral is being held for the slain Baldr and it was attended by many, foremost were his parents. During the funeral, which was by a lakeshore, as his body was laid on his ship Hringhorni, his wife Nanna dies from grief, and her body was laid beside her husband. Hrighorni was then set out to sea and was set aflame.
After riding for nine nights, Hermóðr came upon the bridge to Hel, which is guarded by the Giantess Móðguðr, who tells Hermóðr that Baldr had already crossed the bridge. When Hermóðr arrives in Hel, he finds his brother in a hall, where he is seated on a seat of honor alongside Nanna, who is now reunited with her husband.
When Hermóðr bargained with Hel, the Goddess of Death, for Baldr's release, the two came to an agreement: Hel with let Baldr return but on the condition that all objects, living and dead, would weep for him. Every single one did so except for one, the Giantess Þökk (who is presumed to be Loki in disguise). She refused to weep for Baldr saying: "Thǫkk will weep waterless tears, for Baldr's bale-fare; Living or dead, I loved not the churl's son; Let Hel hold to that she hath!" With this, Baldr is forced to remain in Hel until the end of Ragnarök, where he can finally return to Earth.
In the God of War Universe[]
Bestowed with invincibility[]
Baldur was an Aesir god born to Odin and Freya and was the younger half-brother of Thor. At his birth, his mother learned from the runes that he would die a "needless death". Determined to prevent his death at any cost, Freya at some point placed a spell on him that made him invulnerable to all threats, physical or magical. Before the spell he married Nanna the goddess of Peace, Devotion and the Moon and they later had a son, Forseti, God of Justice and Reconciliation.
The spell had one weakness, however: mistletoe. To make sure no one figured out the spell's weakness, she also cursed Mimir to prevent him from speaking about it. However, the spell had a side-effect of removing Baldur's ability to physically feel anything. He could no longer feel pain or pleasure, or even the temperature of wherever he stood. Baldur's pleas to Freya to lift the spell fell on deaf ears, and Freya insisted that Baldur would thank her for it. An outraged Baldur was consumed with hatred for his mother and initially attempted to kill her. With the faintest amount of love for his mother still left, he let her live, citing that he never wanted to see her again.
After abandoning his mother, he spent 100 years in Asgard with his father, Odin, his brothers, Thor and Heimdall, and nephews, Magni and Modi, only to consider that his entire family was "fucked up". Years of being under his mothers' spell soon took its toll on Baldur, and he was driven to insanity due to his sensory incapabilities. As such, he soon came to deeply resent his mother, and wished nothing more than to kill her for the decades of suffering she had inadvertently caused him, later regretting sparing her life. During this time, Baldur also became a slave to his father, hoping that his continued service would eventually bring him freedom from his curse, though Mimir believes that Odin was simply lying about being able to fix his condition to get his son to do anything he asked.
At one time, Baldur made all the archers of Asgard fire arrows on him, taking bets alongside Mimir to see how many arrows it would take to weigh him down. A total of 460 arrows had been fired and lodged into Baldur's invincible body before he finally fell down, laughing all the while, though Mimir laughed the hardest.
Fate fulfilled[]
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Kratos and Atreus encountering Baldur for a final time.
After finding a way to escape Helheim, Baldur learns of the trio's journey into The World Serpent's stomach and fights the giant serpent in order to make it expel the three next to the colossal corpse of the Frost Giant Thamur. Emerging from the icy waters of the lake, Baldur meets his mother for the first time in years. Despite his time away, Baldur is still consumed by hatred towards his mother. He tries to attack her but Kratos gets in his way, leading to another fight between them while Freya tries to intervene by entangling the two with roots, but her spells are ineffective as they continue to fight.
Kratos is eventually ensnared by vines conjured by Freya, but Baldur, witnessing Kratos' plight, manages to avoid another conjuration of vines meant for him. Fixed on killing Kratos, Baldur approaches him, but Atreus places himself in Baldur's path. Irritated, Baldur strikes the boy square in the chest. Kratos is horrified, believing that Atreus is wounded, but he tells him that it isn't his blood; in fact, it is Baldur's blood. It is shown that Baldur's hand was pierced by the mistletoe arrow that Kratos had strung onto Atreus' quiver after the strap was broken during their journey. Baldur then revels in his newfound senses as a horrified Freya watches on.
Being vulnerable once again, Baldur resumes his battle with Kratos. He thanks the pair for their assistance, claiming that not even Odin himself was able to remove his "curse". Enraged, Kratos overwhelms Baldur and he and Atreus brutally beat the Aesir god, but Freya intervenes again by manipulating Thamur's corpse, who attacks Kratos and Loki with his icy breath. Freya's efforts end in failure as Atreus calls the World Serpent to attack the reanimated Giant. An utterly defeated Baldur goads Kratos to kill him, but after some convincing from Atreus and Freya, Kratos spares him and warns him not to come after them again nor lay a hand on Freya.
Baldur confronts his mother once more. Freya implores her son to find understanding in her actions in an attempt to make peace with him. Baldur refuses to forgive her, and Freya allows her son to strangle her as proof of her remorse, but Kratos intervenes again. Quoting his father, Kratos claims that the cycle of patricide that they all follow must end, and he snaps Baldur's neck in front of Freya, and he crumbles to the ground. A snowflake lands on his cheek, which he acknowledges before dying.
Aftermath[]
Freya is left devastated and enraged upon Baldur's death, despite his attempt on her life. She swears revenge upon Kratos before taking her son's body with her and disappearing.
Despite her tragic fury, Mimir believes that given time, Freya will come to accept that Baldur's death was for the best and that the Nine Realms are better with her alive. However, Baldur's death triggers an occurrence over the realms. Mimir believes that the Fimbulwinter, the terrible winter that lasts three years, has been triggered. To make matters worse, the winter preludes the coming of Ragnarök, something that the Aesir believed wasn't going to happen for at least a hundred more years. However, the Giants knew the full events of Ragnarok and that Baldur was always meant to die by Kratos' hand when he did. Kratos soon realized that Baldur was never meant to look for him as Baldur was tracking down Kratos' wife, Faye, but was unaware she was only ashes by then.
When their journey ends, Atreus has a prophetic dream of many years later: He and his father are confronted outside of their home by a cloaked man with a mystic hammer; Thor, Baldur's brother, who seeks to avenge his half-brother and fallen sons.
Baldur's death would continue to haunt Freya three years later into Fimbulwinter. She continued to try and avenge his death by killing Kratos but nevertheless fails every time. Much later, when she was sought out by Atreus, she managed to retrieve the mistletoe arrow that made Baldur vulnerable. After regaining her Valkyrie wings, she once again fought Kratos. Though she was nearly successful in getting her revenge and even got the chance to do so, she spared him nevertheless, when she knew that he is more valuable alive rather than dead. After she reverse the curse that was put upon her by Odin, she makes amends with Kratos, though a part of her will never forgive him for killing Baldur.