![]() Balder’s death, caused ultimately by Loki’s tendency for unnecessary harm that increases as the Ragnarok chapter grows closer. Loki, the brother of the all-wise god Odin, serves to hurry the gods’ ultimate fate of Ragnarok along: he is a shapeshifting god with a “darkness” inside of him that sets him apart from the other Aesir gods. We see darkness really come to the forefront with the death of Balder, a god who represents the “beautiful” and is often associated with the sun and light. The tone of each myth shifts, but becomes especially dark in the closing chapters as Ragnarok approaches. This is not to say, however, that Gaiman’s work is kitsch or skips over the dark realities of suffering and loss. ![]() ![]() Odin consulting a dead seeress to learn about fate (Franz Stassen, 1920) ![]()
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