of winter, we
may understand why everything in the world,
except the evil Loke, was willing to weep in
order to bring Balder back from Helheim. Some
knowledge of the geography of Norse mythology
will aid the reader in understanding the myth
of Balder. Far below Asgard, the home of the
gods, was Niflheim, the region of cold and
darkness. Here in a deep cavern was Helheim,
the city of the dead, over which Hel ruled.
Midway between Asgard and Niflheim was Midgard,
the earth. The whole universe was supported by
Ygdrasil, a wonderful ash-tree, one root of
which extended into Midgard, one into
Joetunheim, and one into Niflheim.

"Balder is another figure of that radiant type
to which belong all bright and genial heroes,
righters of wrong, blazing to consume evil,
gentle and strong to uplift weakness: Apollo,
Hercules, Perseus, Achilles, Sigard, St.
George, and many another." Balder has been a
favorite subject for poetic treatment, perhaps
to best effect in Matthew Arnold's dignified
"Balder Dead."

THE DEATH OF BALDER

HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE

There was one shadow which always fell over Asgard. Sometimes in the
long years the gods almost forgot it, it lay so far off, like a dim
cloud in a clear sky; but Odin saw it deepen and widen as he looked out
into the universe, and he knew that the last great battle would surely
come, when the gods themselves would be destroyed and a long twilight
would rest on all the worlds; and now the day was close at hand.
Misfortunes never come singly to men, and they did not to the gods.
Idun, the beautiful goddess of youth, whose apples were the joy of all
Asgard, made a resting place for herself among the massive branches of
Ygdrasil, and there every evening came Brage, and sang so sweetly that
the birds stopped to listen, and even the Norns, those implacable
sisters at the foot of the tree, were softened by the melody. But
poetry cannot change the purposes of fate, and one evening no song was
heard of Brage or birds, the leaves of the world-tree hung withered and
lifeless on the branches, and the fountain from which they had daily
been sprinkled was dry at last. Idun had fallen into the dark valley of
death, and when Brage, Heimdal, and Loke went to question her about the
future she could answer them o