The Worship of Baldr in Norway
“Whether he was a real or merely a mythical personage, Balder [i.e., Baldr] was worshipped in Norway. On one of the bays of the beautiful Sogne Fiord [Sognefjord], which penetrates far into the depths of the solemn Norwegian mountains, with their sombre pine-forests and their lofty cascades dissolving into spray before they reach the dark water of the fiord far below. Balder had a great sanctuary. It was called Balder's Grove. A palisade enclosed the hallowed ground, and within it stood a spacious temple with the images of many gods, but none of them was worshipped with such devotion as Balder. So great was the awe with which the heathen regarded the place that no man might harm another there, nor steal his cattle, nor defile himself with women. But women cared for the images of the gods in the temple; they warmed them at the fire, anointed them with oil, and dried them with cloths.” [1]
—J. G. Frazer, Balder the Beautiful, part 1 (The Golden Bough, vol. X, 1913, p. 104)
The Frithjof Memorial Stone at Leikanger in Sogne (first half of 19th century), by Hans Leganger Reusch. In the story of Frithiof, the hero's beloved Ingeborg is kept from him in Baldr's Grove; due to this association, the memorial stone is also known as Baldersteinen.
(Source: Hans Leganger Reusch, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
[1] Frazer's footnote: "Fridthjofs Saga, aus dem Altislӓndischen, von J. C. Poestion (Vienna, 1879), pp. 3 sq., 14-17, 45-52."












