Welcome to CHAPTER 67 of the Kinsmen Die podcast, home of fantasy fiction based on Norse mythology that’s written and read by me, Matt Bishop.

In this podcast I read my first novel, Kinsmen Die, one chapter at a time. And, with each episode, when it makes sense, I provide some commentary about the source materials I’ve referenced in the text.

This week, we’re back with Frigg. Frigg discovered that the heart of the mistletoe into which they had placed her son Baldr’s spirit had been cut out. That was why he was dying as he slept and only waking when the sun … or when he drank his own elixir, distilled from the revitalizing fruit of the great tree Yggdrasil. It also seems that these dreams have gotten worse. Odin witnessed one and used his magic to hopefully stabilize Baldr until he could get more answers.

Frigg also dragged Odin’s unconscious body out of Mimir’s glade where he’d cut his eye out. After that, she and Odin discussed the possibility of who might be behind the attack on Baldr and thanks to a memory Odin surfaced, she and Odin believe that Loki might have done it…they just can’t figure out how, since they were careful in the keeping of that secret. There’s also the Jotunn’s attack on Hals … and the retribution Odin asked Thor to carry out.

And with all this other stuff going on, as Almother, Frigg’s also been dealing with the administration of Gladsheim. Much of that has been handled off-camera, as it were, but now that stuff takes center stage.

Let’s rejoin her now.

You can find me online at: https://mattwritesmyths.com/ The show's public site is here: https://rss.com/podcasts/fensalirpodcast-kinsmendie/ The source for my short reading from Snorri’s Prose Edda is here: https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre04.htm The source for my reading from the Havamol is here:https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe04.htm Larrington’s translation of the Havamol can be found where books are sold online.