Baldr
Baldr was a bit of a precious lad, loved to be looked at - very shiny was our Baldr, always being seen. He was soooo popular! Boy did Loki get jealous! Well, Baldr started to have some rather disturbing dreams, about his own death, and basically had a bit of a crisis of confidence - we've all been there right? Usually when trying to do a particularly difficult cache. Well, his Mum was quite powerful, being the all-knowing Frigg (wife of Odin, and since Odin was always either down the pub or brooding on his watchtower (hangover?), we know who ran things in Asgard, right?) - and she did a pretty darned audacious thing to protect her little boy - she had every single living thing swear that it would never hurt her lad - everything, I mean EVERYTHING! Basically throw anything at the lad after that and the thing wouldn't hit him - it'd just stop, bounced away, fly over his head - like he had a force field or something.
Well, Loki was fuming! He never got such treatment, and no-one liked him anyway. So he craftily found out what one thing Frigg had neglected to check on - Mistletoe ("oh, it's always so young and soft and kind, Loki, I didn't need to make it swear" Big mistake, Missus). Guess what Loki did? Go on guess! I think you can. And what's more he gets Baldr's blind brother to chuck the darned thing too!
Anyway, after the spear was made, the deed done ("OMG what did I do?" said the poor ol' sap, who was promptly slain by vengeful gods), Odin tries to get everything living thing to go and cry for the boy - if everything living thing cried, he'd come back to life. But Loki put on a disguise and refused to cry, so Baldr will stay dead until the end of the world.
So, not a happy ending then? Must be a Norse myth.
Oh let me play! Yes I can throw!
I chuck this spear of mistletoe!
Oh brother dearest, did it bounce off your head?
What - silence? Oh no! Dearest brother is dead!
Diversionary Myths
This is part of an alternative walking route through the lovely Barlaston Down area for those on the Mythplaced walk.