The Death of Baldr

What brought Baldr down?

Hod stood outside the circle of gods around Baldr. He was blind, so he had not joined in with the others. Loki asked why he was not throwing anything at Baldr.

Hod answered that he could not see where Baldr stood. He had no weapon either. Loki urged him to honor Baldr as the others were doing and offered to show him where to aim. Hod took the mistletoe and launched it at Loki's direction.

The mistletoe pierced Baldr's body. He fell to the ground, dead. The gods were speechless. They could not even reach out to his body. They looked at one another, but they could not take revenge, for fighting was forbidden in that place. At last, before anyone could speak, they began to weep.

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