ORIGIN: Nordic [Icelandic]
TYPE: The blind god
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: Viking period (circa CE 700) and earlier through to Christianization (circa CE 1100)
SYNONYMS: Hod, Hodur
ART REFERENCES: None known, but probably the subject of anonymous carvings.
LITERARY SOURCES: Icelandic Codices: Prose Edda (Snorri); Historia Danica (Saxo); runic inscriptions.
INFORMATION: Hoder is one of the less well-defined of the Norse Aesir gods whose chief claim to notoriety lies in that he is responsible, in two separate narratives (Snorri's and Saxo's), for the death of the god Balder. In Snorri's Icelandic version Hoder is persuaded by Loki to hurl a piece of mistletoe at Balder (the only thing from which he is not protected); It turns into a lethal spear. According to Snorri, Hoder may even represent an agent of Hel. Saxo's Danish account has Hoder and Balder contesting the hand of the goddess Nanna. She eventually weds Hoder, who then slays Balder with a magic sword. Hoder himself is slain by his arch-enemy, the god Vali.