On this personage _historically_—if indeed there ever was one of this name and character—we have already dwelt[117]; we have now to consider him _mythologically_. Balder had fearful dreams, and he believed that something dreadful was impending over him. He consulted his mother Frigga, who, though a prophetess, could not interpret his dreams, or foresee the kind of danger that was at hand. The gods were assembled; and as from ancient oracles they had learned how their fate was linked with his, they were the more anxious for the result. But all was darkness. Odin cut Runes in vain. Thrain and Dain, two dwarfs who excelled all beings in Runic wisdom, could only say that the dream was heavy, and that it portended evil. At this time Iduna was in the power of Thiasse[117], but she must be consulted, for she was a great prophetess. Heimdall, Loke, and Braga went to Jotunheim for that purpose. As she groaned for the joys of Asgard, the gods out of pity had previously sent her a wolf’s skin, by clothing herself in which she forgot the past. Why then should the three Aser proceed on their monstrous horses to her abode? Her only reply was by tears, which, though they proved that she dreaded, also proved that she knew not the cause of that dread. Again were the Aser convoked; and it was then resolved that Frigga should exact from every thing an oath not to injure Balder. But how could destiny be averted? She overlooked the Mistletoe. At this crisis, when the future was impenetrable to the most prophetic of gods and dwarfs, Odin descended to consult the awful Vala, whose tomb lay on the confines of Helheim. His descent we have before related.[118] He returned to Asgard with the certainty that nothing could avert the fate of his beloved son, or that of the gods, of whose ruin it was the forerunner. In the work of destiny, Loke, as might be expected, was the most active agent. He it was who drew from Frigga the secret of the Mistletoe; he it was who directed the blind Hoder to cast it; he it was who after Hela had consented to release Balder from her empire, if all creatures would lament for him, either persuaded the giant-woman to refuse, or personated one himself. That this mythos of Balder—one of the most celebrated in the whole range of Scandinavian lore—has a physical meaning, is evident: it denotes the departure of the summer sun from the northern hemisphere. Some of the circumstances, however, have not been happily explained; and for the reason that we have more than once assigned,—that they never can be explained, since they were invented, not on physical principles, but to embellish the fable, and render it more interesting. PUNISHMENT OF LOKE.