There was this young Norse god called Baldr, see? His dad was Norse god boss Odin, his mum, Frigg, Queen of Asgard (look it up, or just watch the film).
Baldr was a popular guy, loved by everything and everyone. Despite all this adulation, Baldr began freaking out about dying, with scary premonitions and everything.
Like any good goddess mum would do, Frigg pulled a few strings and got all the creatures on Earth to promise never to harm her nervy son.
The rest of the gods passed the time – it was a tough gig back then – throwing stuff at Baldr to show how hard he now was.
But, just like in an episode of The Only Way is Viking, troublemaking Asgard traitor, Loki (again, watch the film) twigged that mistletoe hadn’t got the message about not harming Baldr.
So, Loki tricked the blind god Höðr – who was also Baldr’s brother (you couldn’t make this stuff up) - into launching an arrow/spear/something sharp made of mistletoe at the posturing Baldr, who died instantly.
Naturally, Frigg was distraught, so much so that her tears turned into the white berries we now see on the non-mythological version of mistletoe.
From that day on, the plant would come to symbolise love, hence its status as a leafy licence for Christmas kissing*
In our view, Baldr should just have chilled out with a glass of Kirkjuvagr Orkney Gin and stopped worrying so much.
We’d recommend that same course of action to all our followers, whether Norse gods or not. You can buy some here, or pick it up at your quality local retailer.
Loki? He should have been banged up years ago.
Mistletoe – it’s for Christmas kissing, not killing gods.
*Other versions of this story are available. Ours might not be completely accurate, given it’s based on mythology, not gin distilling.
