Why did Loki Kill Balder?

[drose...@yahoo.com]

It has never been clear to me why Loki would kill Balder. In most of the stories, Loki is motivated by self interest or sense of humor. He isn't malicious in most stories.
Maybe it was a prank gone wrong?
-He may not have intended to kill Balder, just humiliate him and Hoder.
Was Loki jealous?
-Doesn't seem consistent.
Did a Christian write the story?
-Wouldn't have made Balder (Baal?) a good guy.
Was it a declaration of war?
-Then why does Loki want to go to war?
Was he trying to help mankind?
-That would make him a little bit like Prometheus. But then, where is the fire?

Loki in the story about Balder, and in the Lokessanna, doesn't seem to have a motivation for premeditated homicide.

[Lady Azure, Baroness of the North Pole]

drose...@yahoo.com wrote:

> It has never been clear to me why Loki would kill Balder. In most of the stories, Loki is motivated by self interest or sense of humor. He isn't malicious in most stories.
> Maybe it was a prank gone wrong?

Maybe!
Maybe it isn't a Norse Legend it is Gaelic, and Balor, is translated therefrom to Cochulain/Achilies FATHER!
Helen/Galataia, tells an interesting tale if your not to Chauvinistic to try to understand her part of the TROJAN WAR!

[Doug Freyburger]

drose...@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> It has never been clear to me why Loki would kill Balder.

Note that it's Hod who killed Balder. Several others among the Aesir
fired missile weapons at him. What's not clear to me is since there
were so many other oath breakers among the Aesir why did Loki get the
blame and go down as the patsy when others should have been ahead of him
for blame.

> In most of the stories, Loki is motivated by self interest or sense of
> humor. He isn't malicious in most stories.

In at least one mainland story he saves human children.

> Maybe it was a prank gone wrong?

That's definitely the case when looked at on the surface, when applied
to one of the active oath breaking "Balder baiters". They hurled
missiles and depended on those missiles to live up to the oath to not
harm Balder.

But when applied to Loki it just doesn't make any sense.

> -Doesn't seem consistent.

That's why some hold the theory that Odin and his blood brother made a
plan to put Balder into cold storage so he would survive Ragnarok to be
able to colonize the next cycle of the multiverse. Odin avoided the
blame by fathering a child to take revenge. Hod dropped out of the
picture completely, hmmm. Loki took the blame as a patsy thus having a
good cover story to become a spy in Surt's team. Balder got to safety
to have a very long wait until after Ragnarok. Frigga is pissed off and
stays in a silent hissy fit for a very long time. All of the other oath
breaking Aesir understand they should haqve been blamed so they never
voice any objection to how the events pan out.

> Did a Christian write the story?
> -Wouldn't have made Balder (Baal?) a good guy.

A guy dies to be able to lead in the next world? Nah, those Christians
don't have any story like that! Oh wait, they do have a story like
that. They sure wouldn't want anyone pointing out that their story is
not unique. Similar tales appear in much older lore in other parts of
the world and they would not want that to come out.

Unless they want it as an obvious plant. They bring north a story of a
guy dying to lead in the next world and then those heathens imitate the
story. So those other civilizations with similar stories are also
copies! So what that those stories predate the Christian one by
millennia, look at this obvious copy! Yeah, it is how Christian PR
campaigns work.

> Was he trying to help mankind?
> -That would make him a little bit like Prometheus. But then, where is the fire?

The Balder story has layer after layer of smoke and mirrors. Where
there's smoke there's fire. Clearly the fire is just behind this mirror
here. Drat, not that one. Let's try this other mirror here ...

[1X2Willows]

drose...@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> Did a Christian write the story?

... which reminds me of something that needs to be said over and over again.

Close to 100% of not only Norse but also Celtic myth and lore has been
written down by Christians. However, that does not mean they have been
written as in "authored by" the same. Just put down ink on paper, since
Norse and Celtic cultures both were oral traditions at a time when christian
monks set out to record pagan/heathen spiritualities in writing.

Case in point... every so often, someone pops up to claim the Swiss National
Hero Wilhelm Tell has been "invented" by Friedrich Schiller, a German.
Schiller visited Switzerland and collected oral accounts of native tales,
which he then published in book- or play-form, that's all.

Heathen lore preceeds Latin, Greek and Hebrew alphabets by Millennia.
The concept of lip-to-ear is the key to their complete understanding.

[drose...@yahoo.com]

On Monday, March 5, 2012 12:13:45 PM UTC-5, Doug Freyburger wrote:
> >
> > It has never been clear to me why Loki would kill Balder.
>
> Note that it's Hod who killed Balder. Several others among the Aesir
> fired missile weapons at him. What's not clear to me is since there
> were so many other oath breakers among the Aesir why did Loki get the
> blame and go down as the patsy when others should have been ahead of him
> for blame.

Heidi Davidson did point that out.
She also says that Saxo Grammaticus, !2th century Danish scholar, recorded another version of the story. In Saxo's version, Loki isn't part of the story. Hoder and Balder are two brothers (human) who get in a fight to the death.
Heidi suggests that this was more like the earliest versions of the story. which we don't have. Two "heroic" brothers fight to the death.
Loki may have been Snorri's addition to the story. The story may have originally been about two brothers, or closely related tribes, fighting.
This is an interesting theory. Assuming that is true, then I have other questions.
1) Why does Loki kill Balder a second time (as the mother of three giants)?
2) Why would Snorri make two warrior characters into two rather peaceful gods? 3) Why would Snorri make Hoder's anger into naivety?
-Hoder doesn't seem angry in Snorri's version, just frustrated.
If Hoder was originally an angry brother (god or human), then what Loki could represent is the type of manipulate person who takes advantage of angry people. Sort of like Yago in "Othello". There may be an intermediate story where Loki is a councilor of Hoder, provoking him into a fury for the sake of jealousy.
There is nothing left in Snorri's story to tell us why Loki wants to hurt Balder. However, the fact is repeated. When "The Mother of Three Giants" is asked to cry for Balder, she asks "Who is Balder to me?" The three giants are most probably Loki's three monsterous children (Fenris, Hel, and Serpent). In which case, Loki has killed Balder a second time. If this isn't Loki, then it is some other witch. Maybe it is the third Norn. It doesn't matter. Apparently, the story shows that there are those in the spirit world who don't like Balder.
The first time Loki kills Balder, it may be a mistake. However, the second time Loki kills Balder, it is premeditated and malicious. Hoder isn't even there in the second story.
Loki or a witch decide to whack Balder yet again. This time by negligence rather than outright trickery. There is no clue as to why this witch doesn't want to help Balder. So,
4) Why doesn't the witch, whoever she is, want to help Balder?

[1X2Willows]

drose...@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> Heidi Davidson did point that out.

Excuse me for asking but who is Heidi Davidson and what are her credentials?

[drose...@yahoo.com]

On Monday, March 5, 2012 7:22:59 PM UTC-5, 1X2Willows wrote:

> >
> > Heidi Davidson did point that out.
>
> Excuse me for asking but who is Heidi Davidson and what are her credentials?

Sorry, I should have said Hilda, not Heidi. Although I think I saw someone cite here as Heidi. Oh, well.
I was greatly impressed by her book, “Gods and Myths of the Viking Age” (Barnes-Noble 1964). I am not claiming that she is THE authority and knows everything. That is why I am talking to you guys. However, much of my background as to the Edda’s background was taken from this book.
Here is a link to the Wikipedia article on her, as well as a selection from that article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilda_Ellis_Davidson
“Dr. Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson (born Hilda Roderick Ellis, 1 October 1914 - January 2006) was an English antiquarian and academic, writing in particular on Germanic paganism and Celtic paganism. Davidson used literary, historical and archaeological evidence to discuss the stories and customs of Northern Europe. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (Penguin Books, 1964) is considered one of the most thorough and reputable sources on Germanic mythology. Like many of her publications, it was credited under the name H. R. Ellis Davidson. Davidson was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and was president of the Council of the Folklore Society from 1974 to 1976, and served on the council from 1956 to 1986.[1] Davidson has been cited as having "contributed greatly" to the study of Norse mythology.[2]
Hilda Roderick Ellis was born at Bebington, Wirral, Cheshire, in 1914. She was educated at Park High School for Girls, Birkenhead. Later, Davidson received a First Class Honours degree from Newnham College, Cambridge, in English, Archaeology and Anthropology, and afterward studied pagan Scandinavian religion for her doctorate.[3] In 1943, Davidson, under her maiden name Hilda Ellis, published her first book; The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature.[3] Davidson was a lecturer at Royal Holloway College from 1939 to 1944 and after that at Birbeck College.[3] In 1949, she joined the Folklore Society.[3]
Davidson joined the Lucy Cavendish College in Cambridge in 1969 as a Calouste Gulbenkian Research Fellow, was appointed a College Lecturer in 1971, was an elected a Fellow in 1974, and was made Vice-President between 1975 and 1980.[4] In 1980, Davidson also began working on a biography of Katharine Mary Briggs, which she published in 1986.[4] Davidson received the Folklore Society's Coote Lake Medal in 1984, and her 1988 work Myths and Symbols of Pagan Europe won the Katharine Briggs Prize that year.[5][6] Davidson was an honorary member of the Folklore Society beginning in 1985 and she founded the Katharine Briggs Club in January 1987.[7] The first three publications of the club were edited by Davidson and the third was dedicated to her.”

[rbowman]

drose...@yahoo.com wrote:

> Sorry, I should have said Hilda, not Heidi. Although I think I saw someone
> cite here as Heidi.

At one time, this newgroup had a Heidi who wasn't exactly a dependable
source. Still, she did liven things up. I rather miss her, Eric, and others.

[Doug Freyburger]

drose...@yahoo.com wrote:

> 1X2Willows wrote:
>
>> Excuse me for asking but who is Heidi Davidson and what are her credentials?
>

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilda_Ellis_Davidson
> “Dr. Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson (born Hilda Roderick Ellis, 1 October 1914 - January 2006

She's so well known in Asatru circles she gets the acronym HRED.

[Doug Freyburger]

drose...@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> 1) Why does Loki kill Balder a second time (as the mother of three giants)?

I have no idea where you get that. Once killed by the arrow Balder goes
to Hellaheim and stays there until after Ragnarok. At that point he
colonizes the next cycle of the multiverse filling a niche something
like Audumla, Ymir or Bor/Buri.

> If Hoder was originally an angry brother (god or human),

In two different versions of the Volspa Odin and his brothers craft
humanity out of driftwood. The two versions give different lists for
the names of the brothers. Hoder might be one of those brothers. If so
then the slaying parallels the slaying of Uncle Ymir by Odin and his
brothers earlier in the Volspa.

> then what Loki could represent is the type of manipulate person who
> takes advantage of angry people.

Good reading of one of the levels of symbolism.

> 4) Why doesn't the witch, whoever she is, want to help Balder?

Maybe she is no longer interested in him because he is now a part of the
next cycle of the multiverse. Maybe because she wants to be on Surt's
team and Odin coerces her. Maybe she is aware of Balder's destination
in the next cycle and she does not mind having him out of this cycle.
That ambiguity makes for very rich symbolism.

[drose...@yahoo.com]

On Tuesday, March 6, 2012 11:53:50 AM UTC-5, Doug Freyburger wrote:
> drose...@yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> > 1) Why does Loki kill Balder a second time (as the mother of three giants)?
>
> I have no idea where you get that. Once killed by the arrow Balder goes
> to Hellaheim and stays there until after Ragnarok. At that point he
> colonizes the next cycle of the multiverse filling a niche something
> like Audumla, Ymir or Bor/Buri.

The gods go around asking everyone and everything to cry for Balder. If everyone cries for Balder, he will come back from the dead. They come to an old woman, who claims to be the mother of three giants, who asks, "Why should I care what happened to Balder? Who is I to him or him to me? I don't mind that he is dead." Because that woman decided not to cry for Balder, Balder stays dead. The poem claims "Some say that this woman was Loki."
That is what I meant by killing him for a second time. By refusing to get involved, she allows him to remain dead. Since she was told that she could help him, her statement that she doesn't care is like killing him.
To be fair, she says she doesn't care. Maybe the spell only works if everyone sincerely feels sad at Balder's passing. Maybe the event is too distant for her. Sort of like watching a disaster in a distant country on TV. She just can't get the emotion up.
Yet, the words seem to imply an actual hostility on her part. She is the mother of three giants. Does she resent her people being thrown out of the universe at the beginning of time? Does she resent the warm weather that Balder brings? This sort of makes sense for a frost giant. However, even the frost giants were supposed to love Balder. Were her children killed by Aesir?
Or maybe she is Loki. If it was just a prank, here is his opportunity to fix it. If it was Loki, it demonstrates that he really hates Balder. This is obvious from the Lokisanna, anyway. However, it highlights the fact that we don't know why Loki killed Balder.
I am having trouble with the symbolism to this last bit. Loki was a joker. Loki was self centered to the extreme. However, why would he or this woman want to actually hurt Balder?
Hoder may represent blind rage. Hoder was an angry, frustrated person. He would like to take part of the fun. He is throwing weapons at Balder thinking that he won't hurt him. but maybe he wants to hurt Balder unconsciously. Loki represents this unconscious urge. There may be some cognitive dissonance with Hoder. Or maybe Hoder was angry, and lost control for a moment.
I don't quite see what the woman represents.
Could she represent the people who "don't want to get involved." They see something happen, and they don't want to be troubled to do something about it. However, would people see things that way in those days? Would Snorri have had problems with "people who don't want to get involved?"

[Lady Azure, Baroness of the North Pole]

Doug Freyburger wrote:

> drose...@yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> > It has never been clear to me why Loki would kill Balder.
>
> Note that it's Hod who killed Balder. Several others among the Aesir
> fired missile weapons at him. What's not clear to me is since there
> were so many other oath breakers among the Aesir why did Loki get the
> blame and go down as the patsy when others should have been ahead of him
> for blame.

Call the Author, the Great Liar, and his Works, the Ultimate Truth!
Churchers "LIE" but what they say MUST be the TRUTH, Right?
Alter the BIBLE, to suite the whims of Man, and call it the Ultimate "WORD OF GOD"!
Why is it that the Pig Skin is used to Kill Fenris?
When the "Indestructible Law", is BROKEN, when JESUS sits in Crusade, when that which was meant
to Restore LIFE, is used to TAKE LIFE instead;
Then it's JUDGMENT DAY!
Then does the Cauldron begin to Boil, and DAGDA in his Rage does pour it out scorching ALL LIFE
from Earth!
Doesn't have to be that way, but money and Odds are that Man, WILL do THIS, and "BANG" That's a
whena She Happens!

[Lady Azure, Baroness of the North Pole]

1X2Willows wrote:

> drose...@yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> > Did a Christian write the story?
>
> ... which reminds me of something that needs to be said over and over again.
>
> Close to 100% of not only Norse but also Celtic myth and lore has been
> written down by Christians.

Gaelic carried their own lines!
Why Rome Cursed em!
Galatian's, threatened to "HANG PAUL, for BLASPHEMY"!

[Lady Azure, Baroness of the North Pole]

drose...@yahoo.com wrote:

> On Monday, March 5, 2012 12:13:45 PM UTC-5, Doug Freyburger wrote:
> > >
> > > It has never been clear to me why Loki would kill Balder.
> >
> > Note that it's Hod who killed Balder. Several others among the Aesir
> > fired missile weapons at him. What's not clear to me is since there
> > were so many other oath breakers among the Aesir why did Loki get the
> > blame and go down as the patsy when others should have been ahead of him
> > for blame.
> Heidi Davidson did point that out.
> She also says that Saxo Grammaticus, !2th century Danish scholar, recorded another version of the story. In Saxo's version, Loki isn't part of the story. Hoder and Balder are two brothers (human) who get in a fight to the death.
> Heidi suggests that this was more like the earliest versions of the story. which we don't have. Two "heroic" brothers fight to the death.
> Loki may have been Snorri's addition to the story. The story may have originally been about two brothers, or closely related tribes, fighting.
> This is an interesting theory. Assuming that is true, then I have other questions.
> 1) Why does Loki kill Balder a second time (as the mother of three giants)?
> 2) Why would Snorri make two warrior characters into two rather peaceful gods? 3) Why would Snorri make Hoder's anger into naivety?
> -Hoder doesn't seem angry in Snorri's version, just frustrated.
> If Hoder was originally an angry brother (god or human), then what Loki could represent is the type of manipulate person who takes advantage of angry people. Sort of like Yago in "Othello". There may be an intermediate story where Loki is a councilor of Hoder, provoking him into a fury for the sake of jealousy.
> There is nothing left in Snorri's story to tell us why Loki wants to hurt Balder. However, the fact is repeated. When "The Mother of Three Giants" is asked to cry for Balder, she asks "Who is Balder to me?" The three giants are most probably Loki's three monsterous children (Fenris, Hel, and Serpent). In which case, Loki has killed Balder a second time. If this isn't Loki, then it is some other witch. Maybe it is the third Norn. It doesn't matter. Apparently, the story shows that there are those in the spirit world who don't like Balder.

Sorta like the Story of the Fight between Horous and Set, you take the Deserts over there and south, you go back beyond those Mountains from which You Came.
Then Horous' People found a way around the Gates, and started another Fight!
Set's Tribes own the GATES and "Upper Kingdom", not Horous or his Whore Sister!
Set is the CO-ANNON, Horous can't handle that!
Covenant of Abraham, IS HEL!
He bought the Cave as Sarah's, Sepulcher when she Died.
David hid there during the Persecutions of Saul!
Moses led the People there but they Refused to Enter, unless they could slay those who already lived there first, which is why the Jew's spent 40 Years Wandering!
HEL is a CITADEL "ABBADON", while Tartarus is the Void of Darkness below!
Terasias guides his people along the path lest in the darkness they should fall off into the void!
But HEL itself in Hellenistic Terms, Ptolemy II, wrote the Septuagint don't forget, HEL "IS" HEAVEN", except to the Tribes of the Rainbow Bridge!
But those 2 Tribes reached a union long ago!
Bear to the Mountain, of the Cave of the North Wind, House of the Yellow Witch, don't want to see Lucifer's House destroyed anymore than the Hounds of Hel, want to see the Rainbow Bridge Destroyed!
Light wants to destroy Darkness which is why the spend so much time chasing shadows!
Darkness is the Shadow the Light seeks to destroy!
Stagg or Doe, neither can be the Great Mother, One with out the Other!

[Lady Azure, Baroness of the North Pole]

Doug Freyburger wrote:

> drose...@yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> > 1) Why does Loki kill Balder a second time (as the mother of three giants)?
>
> I have no idea where you get that. Once killed by the arrow Balder goes
> to Hellaheim and stays there until after Ragnarok. At that point he
> colonizes the next cycle of the multiverse filling a niche something
> like Audumla, Ymir or Bor/Buri.
>
> > If Hoder was originally an angry brother (god or human),
>
> In two different versions of the Volspa Odin and his brothers craft
> humanity out of driftwood. The two versions give different lists for
> the names of the brothers. Hoder might be one of those brothers. If so
> then the slaying parallels the slaying of Uncle Ymir by Odin and his
> brothers earlier in the Volspa.

Did you know the Temple of RAM in India was Built around a Long the Monk Found
floating in the River!
The House of ODIN built round a Tree, the one, ISIS followed the Silver Thread of
Osiris too!
Muslim, Doxie's, Flooded the Place, Osiris has gone to the wee fishies now for
sure!

[Hermerico]

On Monday, March 5, 2012 12:13:45 PM UTC-5, Doug Freyburger wrote:

> drose...@yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> > It has never been clear to me why Loki would kill Balder.
>
> Note that it's Hod who killed Balder.

Technically, it was the mistletoe that kills Balder.

> Several others among the Aesir
> fired missile weapons at him. What's not clear to me is since there
> were so many other oath breakers among the Aesir why did Loki get the
> blame and go down as the patsy when others should have been ahead of him
> for blame.

The mistletoe never swore an oath not to harm Balder. Frigg didn't perceive it as capable of harming her son, so she never solicited an oath from it.

> > In most of the stories, Loki is motivated by self interest or sense of
> > humor. He isn't malicious in most stories.

One view might be that the mistletoe is symbolic of love between a man and a woman, and if two brothers who would otherwise not harm each other happen to fall in love with the same woman, all bets are off.

> But when applied to Loki it just doesn't make any sense.

> > Did a Christian write the story?
> > -Wouldn't have made Balder (Baal?) a good guy.
>
> A guy dies to be able to lead in the next world? Nah, those Christians
> don't have any story like that! Oh wait, they do have a story like
> that. They sure wouldn't want anyone pointing out that their story is
> not unique. Similar tales appear in much older lore in other parts of
> the world and they would not want that to come out.

It's interesting to point out the parallel in the Christian lore regarding who killed Jesus. One view is that "the Jews" killed Jesus because they demanded his crucifixion at the hands of the Romans. Pilate washed his hands to symbolize that it was not by his judgment that Jesus should be crucified. In this parallel we have a case of murder by proxy in both instances.

> Unless they want it as an obvious plant. They bring north a story of a
> guy dying to lead in the next world and then those heathens imitate the
> story. So those other civilizations with similar stories are also
> copies! So what that those stories predate the Christian one by
> millennia, look at this obvious copy! Yeah, it is how Christian PR
> campaigns work.

By the time of Snorri, Roman initiated civilization had been established in Germania for ~1300 years. There is also substantial evidence of other influences such as Iranian (including Buddhist), Turkish(recently), Greek, etc.

There are also reasons to believe influences flowed in the opposite direction well before the dawn of history.

[Lady Azure, Baroness of the North Pole]

Hermerico wrote:

> On Monday, March 5, 2012 12:13:45 PM UTC-5, Doug Freyburger wrote:
> > drose...@yahoo.com wrote:
> > >
> > > It has never been clear to me why Loki would kill Balder.
> >
> > Note that it's Hod who killed Balder.
>
> Technically, it was the mistletoe that kills Balder.
>
> > Several others among the Aesir
> > fired missile weapons at him. What's not clear to me is since there
> > were so many other oath breakers among the Aesir why did Loki get the
> > blame and go down as the patsy when others should have been ahead of him
> > for blame.
>
> The mistletoe never swore an oath not to harm Balder. Frigg didn't perceive it as capable of harming her son, so she never solicited an oath from it.

Kinda Like why did GOD refuse the Grain Cain Offered and accept Able's Meat!
The Rage Story tells most the story, people just neglect ERGOT, back then they knew little about such things!

>
>
> > > In most of the stories, Loki is motivated by self interest or sense of
> > > humor. He isn't malicious in most stories.
>
> One view might be that the mistletoe is symbolic of love

Another might be like the Stories about how EVIL SET was!
All depends on WHO you talk to!

> between a man and a woman, and if two brothers who would otherwise not harm each other happen to fall in love with the same woman, all bets are off.
>
> > But when applied to Loki it just doesn't make any sense.
>
> > > Did a Christian write the story?

YES, a ROMAN one defending his GOD Caesar in fact!

>
> > > -Wouldn't have made Balder (Baal?)

NO not BAAL!
BAAL is BEL is BELILE, an ARCH ANGLE!

> a good guy.

Not to any Roman Concept, he is a Barbarian, Tribes of the Wilderness, a "PAGAN"!

>
> >
> > A guy dies to be able to lead in the next world? Nah, those Christians
> > don't have any story like that! Oh wait, they do have a story like
> > that.

NO, they say you Die and become Immortal, yet only Jesus can ensure you Immortality, by pledging allegiance to him!
When their BIBLE say's we are All "IMMORTAL", the Flesh may Die, but the Soul is Eternal!
Regardless of who you Sell your Soul To.
But it works best if you don't follow Golden Calves, rather follow "GOD"!

> They sure wouldn't want anyone pointing out that their story is
> > not unique. Similar tales appear in much older lore

Kinda Like Jutes and Anglo's claiming the Tales of Dagda as their Odin, and the Cave Bears of Xion as Aryan Blondes, when Bruin, was Anglo from "BROWN", as in Brownie Halflings!
The Children of Pendragon!
Descendants of Atilla and Lady Egrain, Bruinhild of the Volsung.

[elizabe...@mail.com]

I think it might of been a prank gone wrong. Like Loki thought the mistletoe would just scratch Balder or something (nobody made it vow to save me yet if you threw some tame I'd probably survive the ordeal!) in all stories it says Loki ran away the moment Balder fell. If he'd meant Balder to die surely he would have planned it better so that the gds wouldn't see him and Hod would get all the blame. Then when the gods tried to get Balder back it would make sense to try and make it difficult for them to keep them distracted from looking for Loki. (It's possible that Loki could have got Balder back if he wanted to. I mean Hel WAS his daughter, he probably only had to ask. Unfortunately he misjudged the gods and they caught him before he could go set things right.
At least that's my theory. ;)

[elizabe...@mail.com]

[elizabe...@mail.com]

[sageonthedo...@gmail.com]

I think to teach a lesson.
It was a great cosmic joke- the joke being that Balder and Frigg brag about how untouchable that shining son is, and when you know the personality of Loki and the story of how he humiliated Thor when he was bragging about strength- I think killing him was an act of killing the ego- symbolically speaking, with the punchline being thathe knew the whole time balder would rise again and that his time in the underworld with Hel was only temporary.

[Bjørn Jordan]

He was jealous of Baldur because he was the prized and most loved god