Towards the Baldur Myth - Germanic Mythology

Their birth is said to be a blessing and a reward to their father. Urvakhshaya,
whose name is an epithet meaning ―the wide ruler,‖ ―the wide defender,‖ becomes a
judge, whose decisions are justice‘s own, a spreader of fairness, an example of
righteousness and charity. So arose the proverb: ―as charitable and as open as
Urvakhshaya!‖
Keresaspa distinguished himself above all others as a warrior. He was a young,
handsome, curly-headed hero, who fought demons dangerous to the world, and by
Ranha‘s shores felled many of them with club, spear, or arrow. As a club-wielding
warrior, he was celebrated, but even more so as an archer. With arrows, he felled the
demonic bird Kamak, who shaded the world with outstretched wings and intercepted the
rain. The Brahmanic tradition, which speaks of him as Krisasva, says that he was father
to castra devatâ, arrows that possessed life and served their owners as if they were
people. Among other monsters he conquered are mentioned the serpent, Sruvara (one
furnished with a horn or claw) ―on which the green poison floated thumb deep,‖ and
Snavidaka, ―who wanted to make the vault of heaven into his chariot and the earth into its
wheel and wanted to attach both the holy and the wicked spirit before the chariot.‖ 1
The name Keresaspa means ―the one with the fine-limbed horses.‖
The brothers loved one another dearly. The good that Urvakhshaya spread over
the earth was defended by Keresaspa, who, although always quick to act, did not seek
armed exploits for their own sake, but performed them for the good of the world.
Therefore it is said of Keresaspa (Yasht XIII, 136): ―we worship his essence (fravashi), in
order that we can ward off violence and attacking enemy armies, in order that we can
ward off the evil and destruction that they want to inflict on us.‖ 2
But Keresaspa, the hero so mighty in open battle, nevertheless was unable to
defend himself against the demon-world‘s trickery. The prince of evil in the darkness of
the deep created a sorceress, a pairika, Khnathaiti, beautiful in appearance, but the
quintessence of everything demonic and hostile to the world. In Vendidad, we learn that
she ―attached herself to Keresaspa‖; the Parsi tradition explains the expression as
Keresaspa falling in love with her beauty. He came under her influence.
Consequently, the old Indo-Iranian myth spoke of an event in Keresaspa‘s life,
when he was no longer the gods‘ warrior and no longer his brother‘s friend, but, through
a spell that bound his noble nature, was degraded to a pawn in the service of darkness.
During this time, the evil powers prepared his brother Urvakhshaya‘s death, and he was
murdered. According to Yasht XV, 28, the author of the murder was a person, most
certainly a demon, who was called Hitaspa ―with golden tufts of hair.‖ Urvakhshaya‘s
death broke the spell under which Keresaspa was imprisoned and he asked: ―may it be
granted me to proceed forth with vengeance for my brother Urvakhshaya; may it be
granted me to kill Hitaspa!‖ 3
Concerning the details of the killing of Urvakhshaya, the Parsi documents observe
a silence that is probably intentional. Keresaspa, even today, under the name Gustasp, is
still one of Iran‘s celebrated national heroes. Already in the Zoroastrian religion‘s oldest
writings, he is transformed from a god to an Iranian national hero, whose story‘s obscure
phase is indicated, but not more closely described. Bundehesh says that he sinned without
1
Khorda Avesta, 19. Zamyad Yasht VII.
2
Avesta: Khorda Avesta, 13. Frawardin Yasht.
3
Avesta: Khorda Avesta, 15. Ram Yasht.