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A-gnosis — Baldur in Hel

Published: 2013-09-30 15:23:35 +0000 UTC; Views: 9907; Favourites: 145; Downloads: 0
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Description asked me to draw the god Baldur (or Baldr or Balder) from Norse mythology.

Baldur was the son of Odin, the king of the gods, and his queen Frigg. He was the wisest and most gracious of the gods and is described as so fair and bright that light shines from him. In Gylfaginning it is said that: "A certain herb is so white that it is likened to Baldr's brow; of all grasses it is whitest, and by it thou mayest judge his fairness, both in hair and in body". In Sweden that flower is called Baldersbrå ("Baldr's brow") and that is why I let him wear a wreath of those flowers.

Despite Baldur's splendid qualities, his only function in the Norse mythology is to die. He was killed by a spear or an arrow made by a mistletoe, the only thing on earth who hadn't vowed never to hurt Baldur. His mother Frigg didn't bother to ask the mistletoe to make the vow, since the plant seemed so harmless. When Loki, the mischief-maker, heard about this, he made a spear of the mistletoe and tricked the blind god Höder to throw it at Baldur. And so Baldur died and descended to Hel, the Norse underworld ruled by the goddess who was also named Hel. He would only be allowed to return if everything in the world wept for him. Loki refused to do so and Baldur had to remain in Hel. It was said, though, that after Ragnarök Balder would return from the dead and rule over the new earth.

The danish cartoonist Peter Madsen made a new twist to this story in Balladen om Balder ("The Ballad of Baldr"). In his version Baldur and the lonely Hel become a couple, which I thought was just brilliant (yeah, you know I would love that). I think there may be something like that going on in my drawing as well.
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Comments: 76

A-gnosis In reply to ??? [2022-07-07 13:50:21 +0000 UTC]

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Hells33k3r [2022-05-04 17:55:35 +0000 UTC]

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A-gnosis In reply to Hells33k3r [2022-05-05 16:51:24 +0000 UTC]

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Hells33k3r In reply to A-gnosis [2022-05-05 17:11:23 +0000 UTC]

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A-gnosis In reply to Hells33k3r [2022-05-05 21:23:48 +0000 UTC]

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isnorden [2017-12-02 22:37:19 +0000 UTC]

Aweome job!

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A-gnosis In reply to isnorden [2017-12-03 00:58:59 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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ladyblackbird13 [2017-02-08 19:08:39 +0000 UTC]

Awww, that's cute!
Hel: Oh, fancy that! An Aesir in my halls! *thinks this is her lucky day*
Baldr:

But isn't Baldr considered to be a god of light, goodness, etc.?

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TheNerdytimes In reply to ladyblackbird13 [2017-03-09 01:57:42 +0000 UTC]

Don't quote me on this, but isn't the singular form Ása?

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ladyblackbird13 In reply to TheNerdytimes [2017-03-09 17:10:35 +0000 UTC]

I wasn't sure, because I don't really know how they're called in Englisch. In German we say "Ase" (singular) and "Asen" (plural).

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A-gnosis In reply to ladyblackbird13 [2017-02-08 21:07:57 +0000 UTC]

He is often interpreted to be that, yes. But I don't think that the sources we have left ever say explicitly what his function was.

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ladyblackbird13 In reply to A-gnosis [2017-02-08 21:24:19 +0000 UTC]

Well, it doesn't matter anyway, 'cuz Hel has received the best present ever! ^^

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A-gnosis In reply to ladyblackbird13 [2017-02-08 21:32:55 +0000 UTC]

Yes, she got the best of the Aesir. ^^

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ladyblackbird13 In reply to A-gnosis [2017-02-08 21:40:59 +0000 UTC]

The fairest, purest, most innocent, cutest little...sorry, I'm getting carried away.

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3892 [2016-04-05 04:06:32 +0000 UTC]

According to the Prose Edda, Baldur's wife Nanna died of grief after his death and was placed on the funeral pyre beside him, and the two are reunited in Helheim. Which means...POLYAMORY!

Though I don't know how loving a Hel could be if she's willing to give her now psychotic father a ship made from dead men's finger nails filled with an army of the dead to destroy the world.

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A-gnosis In reply to 3892 [2016-04-06 23:16:00 +0000 UTC]

Oh, yes! That could get really interesting...

Yeah, Hel isn't exactly depicted as a nice lady. I have this story in my head where Loki kills Baldur to take revenge on Odin, since he never could forgive him for taking his daughter away from him and banishing her in the Underworld. And Hel would at first be very pleased to have Odin's most beloved son at her mercy, but she would soon realize that Baldur is very different from his father. And eventually his warm and kind personality would make her fall in love with him. ^^

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JulieH07 In reply to A-gnosis [2023-09-15 10:01:17 +0000 UTC]

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A-gnosis In reply to JulieH07 [2023-09-20 16:57:16 +0000 UTC]

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JulieH07 In reply to A-gnosis [2023-09-21 11:17:41 +0000 UTC]

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3892 In reply to A-gnosis [2016-04-09 06:06:10 +0000 UTC]

But that didn't stop her from helping her dad and brothers KILL the gods and DESTROY THE WORLD! Okay it was Surtr that ends up destroying the world with his flaming sword of doom, but still...

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A-gnosis In reply to 3892 [2016-04-10 13:41:08 +0000 UTC]

Yes, but I've got the impression that that was a fate that couldn't be avoided. The world was destined to be destroyed and then reborn.

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LoveSeaForLife [2015-09-12 00:49:29 +0000 UTC]

i like this picture. pose too. peter madsen's story of baldur and hel sounded like interesting.

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A-gnosis In reply to LoveSeaForLife [2015-09-13 20:39:27 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! Yes, to make Hel and Baldur a couple is a really interesting idea. Unfortunately, their love story is not the main theme of Madsen's comic. It's more about Baldur's brother Höder.

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LoveSeaForLife In reply to A-gnosis [2015-09-13 21:31:51 +0000 UTC]

Damn it. Then I will beg  peter for writing more about LOVE story of Baldur and Hel.

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JulieH07 In reply to LoveSeaForLife [2023-09-15 10:06:05 +0000 UTC]

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TheFireCircleYagna [2015-09-03 15:08:32 +0000 UTC]

Pretty Baldur is blushing

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A-gnosis In reply to TheFireCircleYagna [2015-09-03 21:23:32 +0000 UTC]

He just met the love of his life...er, death. ^^

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TheFireCircleYagna In reply to A-gnosis [2015-09-04 12:28:48 +0000 UTC]

Poor kid

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HotCheetoLoveNH [2015-05-14 06:12:19 +0000 UTC]

IT'S LIKE A GENDERBENT VERSION OF HADES AND PERSEPHONE

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TheFireCircleYagna In reply to HotCheetoLoveNH [2015-09-03 15:06:02 +0000 UTC]

I never thought of that but it is! And Loki-chained-to-a-rock is like Prometheus!

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A-gnosis In reply to HotCheetoLoveNH [2015-05-14 16:01:27 +0000 UTC]

Exactly!

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Themrys [2014-12-22 20:52:01 +0000 UTC]

Aww, he is adorable. Also, I like the dress Hel wears. It looks like typical Norse dress, but in black and with that tiny skull. (I mean, you know this of course, but I think there is something inherently funny about taking something so normal and then adding those details to signify she is Hel)

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A-gnosis In reply to Themrys [2014-12-25 16:27:24 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! Yes, I understand what you mean. To add that tiny skull to her dress makes a big difference.

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bbb35 [2014-01-04 02:15:19 +0000 UTC]

Awesome!!


Cool, bright Balder bringing ligth adn love to hel's sad existence in a piss-pot of a world. I MENA RIVERS FO BROKEN GLASS AND URINE!? Blech!!


But I like her, hmmmmm. Think I could ask you and get a picture drawn too?


I've commissioned my frined to draw Skadi and Njord on their Honeymoon. And I've got a obsession of expanding on the Odd Couple.

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A-gnosis In reply to bbb35 [2014-01-04 15:19:00 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! I'm glad you like it.


I think I could do that, as long as it isn't something too advanced. What would you like me to draw?

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bbb35 In reply to A-gnosis [2014-01-04 22:45:18 +0000 UTC]

Hmmm. Have you drawn Dionysus?

I wondered if you'd draw him, and my OC Vanessa fav.me/d48wrsq on left.

Him spilling wine of her arm and licking it off.

***********

Vanessa: You can't fool me, you invented wine, there's NO way your THIS drunk. (Dio pulls back looking ashamed) I DIDN'T Say 'Stop!' (He gleefully resumes)


******************************

Too advanced?

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A-gnosis In reply to bbb35 [2014-01-04 23:13:37 +0000 UTC]

Yes, I've drawn Dionysus. He likes to dress in women's clothes and looks something like this: a-gnosis.deviantart.com/art/Pr…


If you think that your OC would like him, then I can draw them together.

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bbb35 In reply to A-gnosis [2014-01-05 02:18:04 +0000 UTC]

Yay!!!

Only cause Apollo hasn't shown up, and I had a MAJOR crush on him, (Crazy, No?). So, V, is just flirting it up with Dionysus. Casual "lovers" and they wear each others clothing....like girlfriends. XP


Could you draw her in something Blue? Even thou her eyes are Violet, I see her in Blue....and I Love how you draw those clothes so Authentic.

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A-gnosis In reply to bbb35 [2014-01-05 21:52:40 +0000 UTC]

That sounds cute. I assume it's before his marriage to Ariadne then (or maybe he and Ariadne have a quite open marriage, I don't know actually)...


Something blue. Right. Other than that, should I use the drawing you linked to above as reference for her?

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bbb35 In reply to A-gnosis [2014-01-05 22:36:18 +0000 UTC]

Yes, also, she has a tattoo of a purple butterfly on her left breast. Just little input, but yeah.

And yes, it's before Ariadne. She was the one who pointed him in the direction of Ariadne.

Dionysus: Maybe now I can learn to make love to a woman without getting hammered...

Vanessa: Well, you WERE torn to pieces shortly after being born, your bound to have SOME issues, Darling. But I think we've worked them out...

**********

Vanessa and Ariadne have the Big Sister, little sister thing going on, since Ariadne lost her sibling and family's due to Theseus.


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Atanapotnia [2013-10-07 16:47:31 +0000 UTC]

Love it!

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A-gnosis In reply to Atanapotnia [2013-10-07 18:40:38 +0000 UTC]

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Injin [2013-10-04 13:41:01 +0000 UTC]

That's a really good take on Hel. I like that she's clearly not human, or even much like the gods, but that she still has a kind of warmth. I don't really know why, her pose just makes me think that she's about to scold Balder for being too skinny and then cook him some soup.

And I loved the ending in Balladen om Balder. It was adorable.

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TheFireCircleYagna In reply to Injin [2015-12-09 22:14:42 +0000 UTC]

for being too skinny... yes, he's delicate looking, too delicate and charming. Enough to be mistaken with a liojálfár, specially for his gleam.

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A-gnosis In reply to Injin [2013-10-04 15:36:30 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! It was actually a bit difficult for me to draw them both, since I'm so used with Madsen's versions of the Norse gods. Loki is the only one that I've always imagined to look different than the Valhalla version.


Haha! Hel's pose was supposed to show that she has higher status (after all, she's the ruler of this place and the dead Baldur is now her subject), so your idea wasn't completely wrong.

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Injin In reply to A-gnosis [2013-10-04 19:37:14 +0000 UTC]

I want to see your take on Loki now.

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A-gnosis In reply to Injin [2013-10-05 12:24:26 +0000 UTC]

Loki will definitely be the next Norse god that I'm going to draw.

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TheFireCircleYagna In reply to A-gnosis [2015-12-09 22:12:20 +0000 UTC]

Great!

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DarkLunarangel [2013-10-04 12:40:27 +0000 UTC]

Whoa, dude. Nice job on Baldur's glowing aura of purity.

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A-gnosis In reply to DarkLunarangel [2013-10-04 15:22:58 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! I'm not that good at digital colouring, but I think I did this quite well.

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