Baldr, Heimdall, and other Gods of our Folk (Academy Storytime)
Episode Stats
Harmful content
Misogyny
2
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Toxicity
9
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Hate speech
23
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Summary
In this episode, we learn a little bit about some of the gods, and learn about a few more. This episode is a part of Dallaire's book of Norse Mythology, The Old and New Testaments.
Transcript
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We're going to learn a little bit about some of the gods, and I know you've probably heard
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the names of Odin and Thor but we're going to learn about a few more and this is uh as part of
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Dallaire's book of Norse myths so let's see what we can learn here let me get to the right page
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that is not the right page that I want I want this page here
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So we're going to start by reading about Baldr, the god of light.
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It bothered Odin greatly that the Asir had broken the promise to Fenrir, for a god must never break his word.
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But the monstrous wolf could not be left free as a threat to gods and men.
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The Iser always turned to Baldr when they were troubled,
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No one could think anything but pure thoughts in his presence.
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Flowers sprang up from the ground wherever he stepped,
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but even the whitest and most beautiful of them,
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The Baldrblom was not as fair as his brow.
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Everybody loved him, not even the spiteful gnomes and uncouth Jotuns could dislike Baldr.
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The light from his shimmering hall shone into the farthest corners of the world,
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and it was there that he sat in judgment on his golden throne.
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He never took sides and was so kind he could not bear to met out punishments.
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Although the Iser brought the disputes to Baldr, they seldom followed his advice.
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Baldr lived in great happiness with his loving wife, Nana, and their son, Forseti.
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For Seti was as constant as Nana, his mother, and as just as his father, Baldr.
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Calmly, he studied the laws of the world and laid down judgments according to them,
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Heimdall, another of Odin's great sons, was the watchman for the Aesir.
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Early in the beginning of time, he had been born by nine sisters, nine lovely Jotun maidens.
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having so beautiful mothers so many beautiful mothers he was wonderfully handsome and he had
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a truly dazzling smile but his teeth were of pure gold heimdall was an excellent watchman
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His clear blue eyes were so keen that he could see to the end of the world, so sharp were his ears that he could hear everything, even the sound of the wool growing on the sheep down on Midgard, and he needed no more sleep than a bird.
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Odin had given him a trumpet horn, the Gjallar horn, to blow whenever he saw danger approaching.
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The sound of this horn was so loud that it could be heard shrilling over the whole wide
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Straight as a ramrod, with a Gjallarhorn at his side, Heimdall stood at the landing of
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the Rainbow Bridge, the Bifrost, watching and listening so that no enemy could sneak
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It happened one day that a woman dressed in glimmering gold came walking up the rainbow.
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The smoldering fire in the rainbow did not burn her feet, and Heimdall did not blow his
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He only stared at her, for she was bewitchingly beautiful.
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All the Aesir flocked around her and admired her.
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She was Gullveig, and she had come from the world of the Vanir gods, the faraway world
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as Golveg was, she really was a wicked witch.
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She had come to Asgard because she wanted gold, and the Æsir had plenty of it.
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In no time at all the Æsir had begun to quarrel among themselves, each one trying to bring
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Odin saw that she had brought evil into his peaceful home, and he angrily stood up and
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declared that Gullveig was a witch who must be burned.
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Three times the fire was lit, and three times she rose from the flames in a different shape.
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Their lust for gold burned hotter than the flames.
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The Vanir were peaceful gods who ruled mild winds and gentle rains, but when they heard
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of Gullweg's mistreatment, they grew very angry.
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The witch had, after all, come from their realm, and she had to be avenged.
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So they armed themselves and stormed up the rainbow.
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Warned by Heimdall, the Isil rushed from their halls to stop the attackers.
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But the Vanir breached the fence around Asgard and lined themselves up into battle formation.
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On the great and sacred field of Aida, there the first battle fought in the world took
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It was fierce but evenly matched, and when the Æsir and the Vanir saw that neither of
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them could win. They agreed to put down their weapons. To ensure a lasting peace, they gave
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each other hostages. Odin sent his brother Honir to the world of Lovania. He was a very
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But he was also a bit slow of thought and speech.
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So Odin persuaded Mimir, the wise in ancient Jotun, to go with him as his advisor.
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The Vanir gods were so taken in by Honir's stately appearance that they made him their
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But as time went on, they found that he could not make a single decision without asking
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They thought the Æsir had cheated them by sending someone stupid and unimportant as
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They did not dare harm Odin's brother, but they wanted revenge.
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So they cut off Mimir's head and sent it back to Asgard.
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Odin felt very unhappy about it and sent word to the Vanir that he had acted in good faith.
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Honir, one of the oldest of the Aesir, and Mimir, the wise old Jotun, were the best he
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Then he used his magic powers and blew life back into Mimir's head.
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Ever after, in times of distress, he went to Mimir's head for counsel.
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Onir stayed with the Vania and there were no more quarrels between the Æsir and the
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The Æsir, for their part, were delighted with the hostages that came to Asgard.
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The Vanir had sent their god, Njord, and his two children, Threy and Threya.
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Njord was a very stately in appearance, was a good and fruitful god.
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He wove gentle winds to fill the sails of ships, and he blew out wildfires.
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The Aesir gave him a sparkling hall with a shipyard by the shore of the celestial sea.
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He sent life-giving showers and sunshine to earth, and brought rich harvests with him.
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He had a sword which gleamed as brightly as the sun, and a horse which could dash the
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And the Aesir gave him the ship that could fly over land and sea, and the marvellous
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golden boar that the gnomes had made when fray rode the boar across the summer sky
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its golden bristles shining like sun rays lit up the darkest valleys increasing many fold the
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crops on earth. The Isir gave Frey a palace in Alfaim, and the elves waited upon him.
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Freya, Frey's sister, was the goddess of love. She came to Asgard in a carriage drawn by grey cats
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with her little daughter Nos on her lap. Nos was so sweet that her name was used to describe
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anything really delightful. Freya, most beautiful of all the goddesses, was often sad for her
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husband, Od, had disappeared. He was a wanderer and a dreamer, and had been lost in one world
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or another. Freya often went looking for him. Sometimes she drove off with her cats, and
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sometimes she flew off as a falcon, for she had a suit of falcon feathers, which carried
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her swiftly through the air when she puts it on.
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The Isir built a hall for Freya in Asgard, which was almost as big as Odin's.
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It had to be so big because Freya was very fond of company, and her hall was always thronged
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Still, Threya would often think of her lost husband and weep herself to sleep.
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But she was lovely even when she wept, for her tears rolling silently down her round cheeks were pure droplets of gold.
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When the matter of hostages had been settled, the Aysir and the Vanir sealed their pact of peace in a strange way.
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They gathered around a huge vat, chewed certain berries, and solemnly spat the juices into the vats.
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These divine juices took shape, and out of the vat rose Kvasir, the spirit of knowledge.
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There was no question that he could not answer, and no matter how much he was pumped for information,
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But one day, two gnomes drowned Kvassil in the essence of his own knowledge.
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Then they ran off with the essence to their home deep underground.
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There they poured it into three kettles, added honey, and sprinkled it with magic herbs.
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they brewed a mead so potent that whoever drank of it felt his spirits soar high and free and
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ringing verse poured from his lips the mead made the gnomes feel so grand that they recklessly
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killed an old yachtin and his when his wife came looking for him they slew her too
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but sutting the son of the old yachtin couple found out about it and came to avenge his parents
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the gnomes could save their lives only by giving him the magic mead
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Sutting hid the three kettles in a chamber deep in a mountain and set his daughter Gunnlod to
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watch over them from his throne the Lidskjalf Odin saw the Jotun hide the three kettles and he decided
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So he changed himself into a snake, and warmed himself into the mountain through a crack
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When he came to the chamber where Gudlod sat watching the mead, he took the shape of a
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How sweet, how beautiful you are, sitting here deep in the mountain by your lonely
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self he said and indeed it was true gun lad was one of the beautiful yacht and maidens
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and in her loneliness she liked hearing about it so she smiled and enjoyed the company of her
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handsome young guest after three days she'd grown so fond of him that she said
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he might have a sip from each of the three precious kettles she was guarding one sip from each
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in three mighty goals olden emptied all three kettles then he rapidly changed himself into an
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Poor Gunlord sat weeping beside her empty kettles.
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But Sutting her father saw the eagle fly away from the mountain, and right away he became
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He also took the shape of an eagle and set off in pursuit.
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and as Odin had three great kettlefuls of mead inside him, Sutting could fly faster.
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Heimdall spied the two birds approaching Asgard and saw that the distance between them was
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He knew what Odin had gone for, and he called to the other Æsir and told them to hurry
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and set out all the pots and kettles out into the courtyard.
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Odin just barely had time to spit the mead into the vessels and fly to safety.
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Thus, Sutting had to return without his mead, and Odin kept it for himself.
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After that, Odin always spoke in stately verse.
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He let the other Æsir taste the magic brew, and he gave some to truly gifted men on earth.
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They became great poets, a joy to gods and men.
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It had also lost some drops outside the wall of Asgard, and these dropped down to the earth,
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But the drops had lost their magic power, and those who gathered them could write nothing
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In this roundabout way, poetry came to the world, to lift the hearts of Æsir and men.
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But Odin felt it always weighing on him that, to gain the gift of poetry, he had betrayed
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Gunnlod, a trusting maiden, and left her alone to weep over her empty kettles.
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To make up for it, Odin brought Gunnard's son, Bragi, to Asgard.
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He recognized Bragi as his son, taught him the power of the runes, and gave him son of
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And as a bard needs youth to sing, Odin gave him for his wife Idun, the keeper of the apples
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Whoever took a bite from her apples did not grow old, and the Æsir depended upon Idun
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Bragi always had sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks,
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although his face was framed by the long white beard of a sage.