Balder

Role: regent of the gods · First appears: Book Three · Part 1

In Book Three · Part 1, Balder, son of Odin, fell in love with Nanna after seeing her bathing and resolved to kill Hother, whom he regarded as an obstacle. In Book Three · Part 2, he asked Gewar for Nanna’s hand; in Book Three · Part 3, he entered Gewar’s country to seek it, but Nanna refused, saying a god could not marry a mortal. Hother and Helgi fought Balder and the gods in a naval battle, after which Balder fled and was saved.

In Book Three · Part 4, Balder defeated Hother in battle and brought forth a spring to quench his soldiers’ thirst. He later came to Zealand with a fleet, where the Danes granted his requests concerning supreme power. Hother returned and attacked him, but fled when their contest for sovereignty was cut short. In Book Three · Part 5, their armies fought with nearly equal losses; Hother then stabbed Balder and left him half dead. Though Balder renewed the battle the next day, he died from his wound after three days and received a royal funeral in a barrow.

In Book Three · Part 8, Boe, Balder’s brother, was urged to avenge his killing.