Paltar

By: Steve Anthonijsz

 

 

ON:        BaldR; FalR; FjalarR; Baldur

A-S:        Bealdor; Bældæg; Baldag; Baldor; Beldeg

OHG:          Palter; Paltar; Phol; Fal; Paltram; Balder

ANG:          Balder

 

 

          Paltar is the god of Light, Purity, Beauty, Healing, Magic, and Rebirth. He is a spirit of nature, of gardens, vines, orchards, and especially herbs. That is, his gifts are those plants that live with mankind as opposed to those that we might run across in the wild. He was arguably one of the most important deities to our ancestors. Despite this- or perhaps because of it- we have very few records of him in the surviving myths. Thankfully, however, those fragment that remain are telling ones.

 

          Paltar is the son of Wuotan and Frikka. Thus, as well as bearing a twin brother in Hadu, he is also a brother of Brego, Widar, and Donar. He is half-brother to Wallo and Boe, and a foster-brother of Wuldar, Slagfinn[1] and Ostara. He lives in a place called Breitablich (“Glittering Expanse”), which some have theorized represents the Milky Way.

          Nanda, Paltar’s wife, and Forsizo, their son, were similarly important to our ancestors. But like Paltar, surviving mythic references with regards to Nanda and Forsizo are rare.

 

          As source materials are so sparse, how do we know that Paltar was so important?

          To understand this we must first understand the most prominent myth of Paltar- the tale of his death. Paltar’s death figures as a key point in the evolution of the worlds as described in Völuspá (ON “Prophesy of the Seeress”). This Eddiac poem delineates the mythic epic outlined by our ancestors beginning with the creation of the All[2], running through a brief history of the worlds (all from the point of view of the Ensi), then ending with Götterdämmerung[3] and the subsequent re-population of Mittigart. The precognition of Paltar’s death according to the Edda is described in more detail in a later (12^th century?) poem, Baldrs draumar (ON “Paltar’s Dream”).

 

          There are actually two conflicting accounts, however, of his death.

 

          Snorri Sturluson’s Gylfaginning tells the more commonly remembered version.

          In this version, Paltar (called by the ON “Baldur”) is known for his beauty and youthfulness. Beloved of all Ensigart, Paltar is invulnerable to all weapons because all the gods had made oaths of allegiance to him at Frikka’s request- failing only to gain such an oath from the mistletoe, as it seemed too insignificant for concern. The gods had made sport of throwing all sorts of missiles at Paltar for entertainment. However, Locho tricked Hadu into firing an arrow made of mistletoe at Paltar, knowing that the mistletoe had been overlooked when promises were made by all things not to hurt him. The duty of blood-revenge is inescapable, even to the gods; but no one could be found within Ensigart who would kill Hadu and deprive Wuotan of another son. Frikka bade Hella (the keeper of the straw dead) her son’s return through Herimuot, another of Wuotan’s sons. Hella agrees to do so on the condition that all things weep for him. All things comply except for one old woman named Thokk who turns out, of course, to be Loki in disguise. Many years go by, and Wallo avenges the death of Paltar (and also of Wuotan) at Götterdämmerung.

 

          Saxo’s version of the tale[4] is very different, but is much more in keeping with the accounts found in Völuspá and Baldrs draumar.

          In this version Paltar and Hadu are rival warriors competing for the heart of Nanda. The former appears as a warrior aided by supernatural women (Walchuriâ?), the nature of whom are described in only in the most vague of terms.  These women kept for Paltar a special food that would render him invincible in battle, over which snakes had dripped venom. He also wore a belt provided by these same women that would guarantee victory. Hadu learns that to defeat Paltar he must obtain a particular sword from Mîmi[5]. After a long journey and battle, Hadu manages to acquire the sword.

          Saxo describes many battles between Paltar and Hadu, but Hadu is the one who finally marries Nanda. As a result Paltar begins to pine away with grief. Whilst in this weakened state, Paltar is wounded by Hadu’s sword and dies three days later. Paltar’s half-brother, Boe (born of Rinda, Wuotan’s concubine) grows up and avenges his death.

 

          Despite the extreme variances between the Icelandic account recorded by Snorri and the Danish account of Saxo, there are an amazing number of similarities as well. As discussed by Davidson[6]:

 

               When we compare the two stories, it is interesting to find that there is after

all agreement between them and with the poems on a number of points, even

though the presentation is so different that the initial impression is one of

contradiction and confusion. It is worth noticing how far this agreement goes:

Balder has a prophetic dream or dreams foretelling his death; Balder is warmly

supported by Odin and the gods; supernatural powers both help and oppose him;

he is slain by Hodur; the slaying is done by a special weapon, because in general

Balder is invulnerable to weapons; Odin receives a terrible set-back from

            Balder’s death; another of Odin’s son, born after Balder dies, is destined to

avenge him; a journey to the land of the dead forms part of the tale. This last

point is one of the most interesting features of the Balder story, since it implies

that the struggle for Balder’s survival took place partly on earth and partly in the

Other World. There is not complete agreement as to when and why this journey

was made. In the Edda poem, Odin rode down to the world of the dead to find

out what threatened Balder; in Snorri, it was Hermod who rode down to Hel to

fetch Balder back; in Saxo, it was Hodur who went down to the land of  darkness

and cold to obtain a special sword to kill Balder. Another interesting point is that

in Saxo’s tale three days elapsed between Balder’s wounding and his death; it is

possible that this was the period when the struggle for his spirit took place and

the powers fought for Balder’s life. In all sources also there is mention of Balder’s

magnificent funeral. Snorri describes how he was burned on a ship… Saxo

mentions the funeral and his burial in a mound; he also has a reference to ship-

funeral, and to the corpses of those dying in battle being burned on ships…

Finally it is interesting to note that Snorri alludes to a folk-belief that all things

weep for Balder when the dampness of a thaw sets in after frost, while Saxo, on

the other hand, claims to know local traditions concerning Balder’s battle with

Hodur and his place of burial.”

 

 

          What ought to be apparent about both accounts, however, is not necessarily the details of his death, but of Paltar’s significance upon his return. Paltar is the only one of the gods who knows firsthand the mystery of Rebirth. Furthermore a key to understanding Paltar’s significance is to realize that the return of this radiant god of summer is the climax of the story and the whole purpose of its telling- not his death. We may determine this not only by comparison with similar myths of various peoples, but also by the fact that the Feast of Paltar, Sunnawndî, has always been a time of joyful celebration despite the fact that the Christians later usurped this feast day for their own uses, renaming it “Saint John’s[7] Day.” At this time magic-workers and priests used to collect tame plants (generally herbs and flowers) to be distributed among the folk. Notable among these are two plants named specifically for Paltar: ‘Baldur’s eye’ or ‘Baldur’s brow’ (later renamed as ‘daisies’ and ‘ox-eye’ by the Church) and the soothing agent also known as ‘Baldur’s brow’ (renamed ‘chamomile’ by the Chrisitans). Paltar was also associated with a plant known as ‘hypericum,’ which has, interestingly enough, been dubbed ‘St. John’s Wort’ during the period of mixed faith.

 

          Much has been made by scholars with regards to Paltar’s ship, which Snorri calls “Ringhorn[8]”. Despite the fact that it was reputed to be the largest and best of ships, Ringhorn is never mentioned in any of our surviving sources as a mode of transport. Vast quantities of wood were cut from a nearby forest and placed on the deck of Ringhorn, and Paltar’s funeral pyre was built on it. Each of the Gods then placed one of their most treasured possessions on the pyre. Also according to Snorri, Wuotan laid the ring called Draupnir[9] on Paltar’s chest, whispering a mystery into his ear that no one will ever know. The Gods had been so eager to give their brother Paltar a good send-off that they weighed it down with treasures and could not launch the ship. Even the mighty Donar didn’t have the strength. Only a particular giantess could give the ship enough of a nudge to get it into the water. Even then the friction between the ship and its rollers caused the rollers to burst into flame. It is interesting at this point to consider that the boat or ship has been a symbol of death and transportation to the Other World in many cultures including our own[10].

          According to the Scandinavian myths, after Hadu kills Paltar he stays in a section of Hellaheim known as Ódáinsakur. Here he is protected so that he may inherit his father’s rôle in Ensigart, just as two humans (called “Life” and “Thirst-for-Life”) are protected in Mîmi’s grove so that they might be able to repopulate Mittigart[11] after the battle.

 

          Just as Paltar’s plants and feast-day were re-dedicated to Saint John by the Church, so many of the local legends of Paltar were later ascribed to the christian god, Jesus[12].

How this came to be is not as complex as it may seem. The Scandinavians nicknamed Paltar hviti ás (white god), which was easily transferred to the hviti KristR (white Christ) of the Church. It should be mentioned here that ‘white’ did not refer to skin-colour (as the Northmen most likely were unaware of other races at the time of writing), but rather to Purity, Innocence and Blamelessness. The fact that both gods die and are reborn after a three day cycle, that both gain their significance by being sons of the highest gods (Wuotan is the father of Paltar; Jehovah is the father of Jesus), and that both are associated with the sun without specifically being sun gods per se also helped to solidify the association.

          In the modern era our people are going to great lengths to remove the foreign elements that have crept into our faith over the centuries in an attempt to bring our spirituality increasingly in sync with that of our forebears. Separating our knowledge of Paltar from the concepts of the White Christ is one very important part of this effort. A very interesting model has been preserved in Gisli Súrsson's Saga for those who would see how the Paltar-force (as opposed to the mythical image of Paltar) might be manifested in a human being, as Gisli takes on an rôle reminiscent of Paltar and similarly Fulla mirrors the rôle of Nanda[13].

 

          In all this, let us not lose sight of the most significant portion of the myth of Paltar’s death- that of his rebirth.

          Between the point in the Völuspá account of Urda predicting the death of Paltar and of Götterdämmerung some very interesting things occur. Wuotan goes to Nebulheim and, after a series of events, sacrifices his own eye to his uncle, Mîmi, throwing it into Mimesbrunno, warded by the latter so that he might see the future of the worlds.  He does this in order to confirm Urda’s prophesies. Following Wuotan’s travels in the underworld we also learn that Mîmi, having already seen the future destruction of the worlds, had made preparations so that mankind would not be completely destroyed in the conflagration. He sought out two human children named by the Edda Líf and Lífþrassir[14] who will help repopulate the worlds along with Paltar, Nanda, Hadu, Hoenir, Widar, Wallo, Modi, and Magni. Paltar and Hadu will rebuild Wuotan’s house.

 

 

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