The third and final installment in our series on the Ominous Dreams of the Beautiful Balder. Continuing Chapter 49 of Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda. A funeral pyre boat is prepared for Balder. Many of the gifts of the gods are sent along with Balder for his trip down the river Gjoll (again, not a river in Switzerland).
Odin’s lad, Hermod, is tasked with traveling to the underworld in order to ask Hel for a chance to allow Baldur’s return to his family. Hel has a feast prepared for Baldur and is not ready to part with him so easily. All beings of the known universe must week for Baldur or he will not be allowed to return to the living.
Once again, there is a chance to defy fate… but not if Loki has anything to say about it. David introduces the Greek myth of Persephone as a potential, but unexpected parallel to Baldur’s journey. Maybe Hella will not part with Baldur so easily because she expected him to be her bridegroom.
David and Shawn discuss the potential for the myth of Baldur to be a hero’s journey and a myth of death, resurrection, and rebirth. The need to accept fate, allow the death of the ego (Odin letting go of Draupnir, his ring representing desire and lust for power), and find hope in there being something more beyond the death of the gods.

Register for David’s meet up (September 22nd 8pm Eastern), talking about Prosoche, Stoic Mindfulness, as the starting point for the student of philosophy and seeker of wisdom. https://thewalledgarden.com/post/prosoche-stoic-mindfulness
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Additional Info: The story of Heremod, the king who would not be generous with giving rings: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/sll/disciplines/english/beowulf/kingship.htm
Percival, the grail, the fisher king, and his mother’s shirt (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival) is best summarized in Robert Johnson’s book ‘He’. https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Masculine-Psychology-Robert-Johnson/dp/0060963964
Gylfaganning 49: http://www.voluspa.org/gylfaginning41-50.htm
Prose Edda (Byock; Penguin Classics): https://amzn.to/3inCvzn
Prose Edda “Snora Edda” (See Anthony Faulks version from the Viking Society for Northern Research): http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/
John Lindow: Norse Mythology – A guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Belief: https://amzn.to/3uHTiF4
Neil Gaiman - Norse Mythology: https://amzn.to/3if50zk
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