REALMS archive of entities

Höðr

deity Germanic single tradition · 7

Höðr is the blind brother of Baldr in Germanic mythology. He is tricked into shooting a mistletoe-tipped arrow at Baldr, inadvertently killing him.

↻ synthesized from 7 sources

When

First attested
500 CE
Attested period
500 – 2020
Historical notes
Account likely first written down in the 12th century.

Relationships

co occurs with
Lanikuala, Kaili, Ho-Musubi, Bendis, Kotys, Völva, Beldeg, Rindr, Litr, Hermod, Balderus, Móði, Magni, Þökk, Norns, Helheim, Frigg, Fulla, Narfi, Kagu-tsuchi, Izanagi, Izanami, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipōca, Persephone, Cybele, Ištar, Thor, Hyrrokin, Viðarr, Hel
sibling of
Baldr
enemy of
Vali, Baldr
allied with
Loki, Helgi, forest maidens
consort of
Nanna
child of
Odin, Hothbrodd

Expand to full subgraph →

Mentioned by

Sources

wikipedia (7)
  1. Dying-and-rising god
  2. Kotys
  3. Baldr
  4. The Ballad of Baldr
  5. Höðr
  6. Nanna (Norse deity)
  7. Váli

Source passages

“Germanic mythology, for example, Baldr (whose account was likely first written down in the 12th century), is inadvertently killed by his blind brother Höðr who is tricked into shooting a mistletoe-tipped arrow at him.”

#12057 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“The name Kotys is believed to have meant "war, slaughter", akin to Old Norse Höðr "war, slaughter".”

#27082 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“Loki gave the spear to Baldr's brother, the blind god Höðr, who then inadvertently killed his brother with it (other versions suggest that Loki guided the arrow himself). For this act, Odin and the ásynja Rindr gave birth to Váli, who grew to adulthood within a day and slew Höðr.”

#37756 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“The name Höðr occurs in skaldic poetry as a part of warrior-kennings. Thus Höðr brynju, "Höðr of a byrnie", is a warrior and so is Höðr víga, "Höðr of battle".”

#40977 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“The authors focused on that the universal feature of the story was that Baldr was killed by his brother Höðr with mistletoe. Since they were not going with Snorri's version they used the story found in Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus, which had the brothers being human princes fighting over a princess.”

#41037 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001