Towards the Baldur Myth - Germanic Mythology

Investigations into Germanic Mythology, Volume 1, no. 46). Here consequently, it seems
a cloak with a cowl is meant. Such a piece of clothing existed among the Romans in the
time of the Caesars and was worn by monks, which is why Paulus Diaconus with good
reason can call it Roman. A Swedish grave-monument from the Bronze Age depicts a
sacrificial scene with a procession of priests, clad in cowls, according to the preserved
representation. Therefore, perhaps the myth about such priestly robes worn by Mimir and
his sons has its heritage in the Bronze Age. If it actually is a hooded cape that Tacitus‘
informer meant here, it follows that it was worn by Germanic women, but no longer in
use among Germanic priests in Tacitus‘ time. To realize that the description that Tacitus‘
informer gave him is apt, we need only remember that Mimir was understood as a priest
because he was the author of the sacred fimbul-songs, and Odin‘s counselor, and was
originally identical to Rigveda‘s king Soma, who is the mythic representative of the
Vedic priests. 47
We have now seen that the myth about Baldur and Hödur is rediscovered in the
Indo-Iranian myth-cycle in all of its fundamental features and in a considerable amount
of its extremely characteristic details occurring nowhere else. We have seen further in
Tacitus‘ testimony that the Germanic Discouri of his time were worshipped as youths
who dwell in a grove located in the underworld‘s kingdom of bliss. Here Yima‘s and
Mimir‘s groves consequently occur in connection with these Discouri. To the Romans in
Tacitus‘ time, the Discouri were symbols of death and resurrection. Baldur and Hödur
were as well. The same tragic fate that robbed the Indo-Iranian world of their just judge
and peacemaker, Yima-Urvakhshaya and his warring brother Keresaspa, rob the
Germanic world of its just judge and peacemaker, Baldur and his warring brother Hödur.
Death befalls them and, during the historic age, they abide in an underworld dwelling, in
order to be resurrected at the end of time and rule in a renewed world. As representatives
of resurrection, they are celebrated by Völuspá: ―All evil may be remedied and Baldur
comes. Hödur and Baldur build on Hropt‘s victory-site...‖
Regrettably, mythology is still not a science, at least not in the vast amount of
mythological dissertations. And it will not be until it allows itself to be ruled by scientific
method and, like natural sciences, by the power of probability recognized by the historic
disciplines. (See the treatise Toward the Mythology‟s Method, which ends this work.) 48
Above, I have presented direct evidence for the Baldur Myth‘s Indo-European origin and
for its continued existence as witnessed by Tacitus in the era after Christ‘s birth. With
this evidence, more will be furnished below which proves that Baldur was a pan-
Germanic god during heathendom‘s last centuries, known in Germany and England as
well as in Scandinavia.
Assume now that despite this evidence, a certain school will persist in its belief
that the Baldur myth owes its origin to the Norse Vikings in heathendom‘s last era, and
has to thank for its genesis a (very odd) mixture of what they heard from Irish monks
about Christ and about Greek gods and heroes, rising in their minds. This school‘s
adherents must then assume that the Germanic branch of the Indo-Europeans had
forgotten the Proto-Indo-European myth about the two divine brothers; but thereafter,
some centuries before Christ, spontaneously composed a myth about divine twin
brothers, who by chance resembled the Proto-Indo-European brothers; and must further
47 See Investigations into Germanic Mythology, Vol. 2, Part 1, no. 21.
48 See Investigations into Germanic Mythology, Vol. 2, Part 1.