My name is Ben, and this is my pen. I write mostly fiction, mostly fantasy/magical realism with some poetry thrown in because why not. And sometimes I will write things that are not either of those even slightly. I will usually be attempting to make you laugh. So please bear that in mind!
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Barter for Balder
Balder was dead.
Despite the oaths of protection gathered by Frigg, Balder the fairest of all the old gods was slain. While it was Hod’s mistletoe dart that drained the lifeblood of Odin’s son, every god and man, elf, dwarf and giant knew the dart had been guided by Loki’s trickery.
All but two gods wept. Loki the sky-walker shed no tears, for it was his anger at the hubris of the gods that set his trick in motion. Nor did Odin weep, sad though he was for the death of his son. Odin saw much and knew all. He was fearful more than sad, as he knew that the death of Balder foreshadowed the coming of Ragnarok.
While Frigg and Freyr and Freyja and Thor stood watch over Balder’s pale, blood drained form, Odin mounted his eight-legged steed Sleipnir. He journeyed the many plains and crossed all the rivers from Asgard to the gates of the underworld.
At the gaping mouth of Hel, Odin dismounted his horse, leaving his ravens Thought and Memory behind. Odin entered the mouth of Hel, watched by pale green faces, silent and suffering from their rot. Odin walked through Hel for many days alone, driven forward only by his fear - he alone knew what fate rested on his venture.
At the end of Hel he passed into the Duat. Unyielding grey rock was first dusted, then covered by sand. In the distance he saw a stone table on which lay the body of Balder. Behind the table, washed in the pale moonlight (for Ra was abroad in the West) stood the jackal god Anubis.
“I warn you All-Father” the jackal spoke without lifting his gaze from the stone slab. “Do not bring tricks or wise words to the underworld. You would enter disguised as a vagabond, yet I see your true form. You see much and know most, but this is my realm and I let you enter as a guest." Do not insult my hospitality.”
“I seek not your displeasure or disfavour Jackal-God. I enter this place humbly.” Odin knew well enough not to anger a soul-ferrier. It was a kingly gift he sought here and humility was called for.
“I know why you would journey here blind-one” Anubis replied. “For this is your son lying here, whose lifeless body chills even the stone beneath him.”
Odin knelt before the Egyptian deity, leaning on his staff, afraid to gaze upon Balder’s body for fear that his grief would render him incoherent in front of the son of Osiris.
“You would have me return him to you, to the feast halls of Asgard.”
Odin nodded. In the end, despite all of his wisdom and cunning, despite his strength and his rage, it was the transparent love of a father for a son that brought him before the jackal.
“I will give you this Odin.” Anubis remained unmoving, watching the wise god knelt before him.
Odin stirred not, for the offer had been made freely, yet the price was still to be discussed.
Anubis continued, “I must weigh heart against feather and determine the fate of the dead. However, in place of fair Balder’s heart, I shall weigh yours All-Father.”
Odin felt the anger rise inside him. “You would rip the heart from a grieving father? Look below your long nose and you’ll see my heart, lying motionless before you.” Odin stood now, facing Anubis.
“Pretty words will not suffice here Tree-Hanger. Your heart beats in your chest just as waves beat the shore, as the sun arcs the heavens and the Nile flows yet. I would weigh your heart against this feather. If you are worthy, your son shall be returned.” Anubis pulled a set of scales from beneath the stone table, placing them beside Balder’s feet. He set a white feather on one side of the scales and waited silently.
Odin knew that no other price would be offered. He had endured suffering in the past, hanging as he did from the tree of knowledge, his side spear-pierced. To avert the coming of Ragnarok, the end of all things, he must offer his own beating heart freely to the god of the underworld.
Odin reached inside his chest and pulled his heart, thumping and bloody from his own body. He handed it to Anubis, keeping his eyes open and the grip on his spear firm.
Anubis placed the heart on the scales opposite the feather. Nothing moved, the blustering blast of the wind roared across the open mouth of Duat. The whirling wheel of the moon lit the scales for the whole world to see.
Slowly, the heart dropped below the feather. Odin felt the rage overwhelm him and started to lunge forward.
“Stop All-Father!” Anubis held out a hand and Odin could not move. “Let this judgement fall upon you and accept it gladly. You are a rash and capricious god. You have no love for men and set them against each other for your own glory and sport. Your own actions damn you and Ragnarok will rid you from this world.” Anubis tossed the bloody heart back at Odin who collapsed under its weight.
When he regained his feat he gripped his spear ready to strike but found he was staring at his own horse, back at the gates of Hel. Odin wept then, for he could not yet face the journey back, weighed down both by the knowledge that the end of all things was now set in motion and by his heart.
This is the second of my combined pantheon myths. The first can be fond here:
Once again, this one draws heavily from the Norse myths, and I have smashed together a few bits from The Lay of Alvis, Balder’s Dreams and The Death of Balder specifically. I have also included the Egyptian god of the underworld Anubis.
There are so many underworld or death gods and I very nearly included Hades from the greek pantheon instead of Anubis. The thought of two rageful trickster gods matching wits was almost irresistible. However the image of Odin’s heart in the scales of Anubis won out.
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