Vikings back to the eighth century believed that mistletoe had the power to raise people from from the dead. This is due to the resurrection of Balder, the god of the summer sun.
Balder had a dream that he was going to die. His mother, Frigga, the goddess of love and beauty, was frantic about his dream and said that if he died, everything on Earth would die. Frigga went to all the elements-air, water, fire and earth as well as to all animals and plants-and asked them not to kill Balder. Balder's only enemy, Loki, found a loophole in Friggas request-mistletoe! Mistletoe grows on the tree it has attached itself to and therefore has no root system of its own and could not be affected by Friggas request. Loki made a poisoned dart with mistletoe and tricked Balders blind brother, Hoder into shooting the arrow that killed Balder.
For three days, all the elements tried their best to bring Balder back to life but failed. Finally the tears that Frigga cried for her dead son changed the red berries to white raising Balder from the dead. Frigga then began kissing everyone who walked underneath mistletoe out of gratitude for getting her son back.
