Towards the Baldur Myth - Germanic Mythology

h) The Asvins are ―Horse-guiders.‖ Their Greek counterparts the Discouri are as
well. Of Yama, Rigveda‟s Yima-Urvakhshaya, it is specifically stated that he sent the
horse to the gods and mankind. In the Germanic mythology, Baldur is the one among the
gods most often mentioned in connection with the horse. After his death, Frey foremost
becomes ―the boldest rider‖ among the Aesir. 19 Baldur is spoken of as a rider in
Lokasenna, Gylfaginning, the Danish folk-histories, in the Merseburg Charm, and the
German medieval poetic compositions. His horse is burned with him. Vigg-Baldr, horse-
Baldur, is an expression that occurs in the Norse poetry. 20
i) A well springs up under the hooves of the Asvins‘ horses (Rigv. I, 116, 7; I,
117, 6), 21 so too under Baldur‘s horse according to a Danish popular tradition. The Asvins
are the protectors of springs. According to Saxo, Baldur digs wells for his thirsty
warriors. A ―Baldur‘s brunn (spring)‖ exists in the district of Roeskilde; German
tradition speaks of a Pholesbrunn (Phulsborn) in Thüringen and a Falsbrunn in
Franconian Steigerwald. 22
k) The Asvins have a wonderful wagon-ship and come to the rescue of the
shipwrecked. The Greek Discouri are invoked by sailors in need. Baldur owned a ship,
Hringhorn, which might have played a prominent role in the myth, since it is spoken of at
his funeral procession and is utilized for his pyre. In the poem about Helgi Hjörvardsson
derived from the Baldur myth (see further), this replica of Baldur owns a splendid ship,
which is described as well equipped against the attack of the powers of witchcraft (verse
13).
l) The Asvins are singers (Rigv. VIII 9, 16, 17). Saxo says of Hödur that he was a
remarkably dexterous string-player and also understood how to play other musical
instruments, so that with his music he was able to arouse joy, sorrow, pity and hate. A
particular form of verse in the North was called Haðarlag. In Geoffrey of Monmouth‘s
Historia regnum Brittanniæ, where Baldur appears under the name Baldulf, and Hödur
appears under the name Cador, Baldur is spoken of as a harp-player. Medieval Astrology
has inherited the concept from antiquity that Castor and Pollux, the pair of twins who
appear in the Zodiac, are string-players and that the best artists are born under the sign of
the twins. 23 One can thereby draw the conclusion that the Greek Discouri, like the Norse,
also inherited musical skill as a legacy from their Proto-Indo-European forerunners.
m) The Asvins are extremely beautiful youths. So too Castor and Polydeukes. In
Norse mythology, Baldur‘s beauty is praised before that of all others. According to Saxo,
the hero Hedin, a replica of Hödur, was spared by an enemy for the sake of his youth and
beauty.
19 Lokasenna 37; Baldur‘s death is mentioned in verse 28.
20
Plácítúsdrápa 30. Plácítúsdrápa is a 59 stanza Christian poem found in AM 673b 4to, dating from about
1200 AD, which tells the story of St. Eustace, a Roman warrior named Placidus before his conversion by a
stag bearing a crucifix.
21 Rigveda I, 116, 7: ―Ye poured forth from the hoof of your strong charger a hundred jars of wine as from a
strainer‖; I, 117, 6: ―When from the hoof of your strong horse ye showered a hundred jars of honey for the
people.‖
22
See Jakob Grimm‘s Deutsche Mythologi, Chapter 11, Palter (Baldur)
23 Manilius, Astronomica, translated by G. P. Goold, Loeb Classical Library, 1977: Book 4, 525 ff: ―When
Ocean displays and conceals equal portions of the Twins (Gemini), it will bestow zeal for study and direct
men to learned arts. It creates no gloomy disposition, but hearts imbued with a pleasant charm and
furnishes blessings of voice and tuneful lyre combining with wit, a dowry of melody.‖