Baldur and Hodr - Secret Origins and Original Story (Baldr and Höðr)

Baldr and Hodr are gods in Viking tales, and Hodr kills Baldr due to cunning from Loki. Here we look at this story and the issues with it, and then we will look at another version of the story from Saxo Grammaticus, before answering questions about the story, uncovering who these gods really were, and recreating an original version of the story which may be several thousand years old.

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References
Ellis Davidson, Hilda R. 1964. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe/ Penguin Books
Liberman, Anatoly. 2016. Prayer and Laughter: Essays on Medieval Scandinavian and Germanic Mythology, Literature and Culture
Lincoln, Bruce. 1982. Places Outside Space, Moments Outside Time. Edgar Washington DC: Institute for the Study of Man. pp. 69-84
Renaud, Jean. 1999. Goðsögnin um Baldur í meðförum Saxa málspaka. HM, 125-139
Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum, III:1.0-3.7 = Olrik and RFder 63.2-69.26
Snorri Sturluson, Prose Edda, Gylfagining, Everyman Publications translated by Belows

Baldr's Draumar can be read here
http://crecganford.com/bookpost.php?b...

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
4:22 Baldr's Death
7:19 Baldr's Funeral
9:49 Hermoðr's Trip to Hel
11:17 Loki's Demise
13:12 Questions about the story
15:42 Saxo Grammaticus' version of the Story
19:57 Answering the Questions
20:44 Why didn't Loki kill Baldr?
22:25 Why use Mistletoe?
27:17 Why was Höðr blind?
28:37 Why was there so much weeping?
29:55 The (probable) original story of Baldr and Höðr
32:05 The origins of Baldr and Höðr