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144 EBLIGION OF THE NOETHMEN.
Baldur's death is represented in the Asa Mythology
as an important event in the existence of the
Gods and the World. So long as Baldur was in the
midst of the ^ir their dominion stood unmoved,
but by his death they were made conscious of their
declining power ; in it they saw a type of their own
destiny. The whole world was fiUed with grief;
for it felt that from that time forth it was going
down toward inevitable dissolution.
The Myth- of Baldur's Death has been usually
explained by the triumph, of Winter's darkness over
the bright Summer-time. Baldur the Good is thus
the God of Summer, the blind H68ur becomes wintry
Darkness, and Vali (the son of Odin by Eind
the unfruitful Winter-earth) is Spring, who, in turn,
slays Winter. Loki (fire) is the only being who loses
nothing by the disappearance of summer; he is
therefore thought to be the cause of Baldur's death,
and to prevent his release from Ilel.
lliere is a great deal, however, against this inter-
pretation, and most of all, is the circumstance that
Baldur remains with Hel until the dissolution of the
World, while Summer annually returns. It may
be, indeed, that Baldur had originally a physical
signification, but the Myths concerning him, as well
as those relating to Loki, were very early regarded
from a moral point pf view, and it is thus that they
are represented in the Eddas.
The whole representation of Baldur's existence,
and of his far-shining abode, BreiSablik,* where
From breiSr, broad, wide ; and blika (A.-8. bliean), to shine.
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