Rindr- Norse GodDeity"Princess of the Ruthenians"
Also known as: Rinda and Rind
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Description
She refused Odin three times, rebuffing every disguise the Allfather wore, until his sorcery overcame her will. From that union came Váli, a god who grew to manhood in a single day and killed Höðr before nightfall to avenge Baldr.
Mythology & Lore
Odin's Pursuit
After Baldr's death, the seeress in Baldrs draumar named the avenger: a son not yet born, to be conceived with Rindr. Odin set out to win her. She refused.
Saxo Grammaticus tells the fullest version. Odin came to Rindr disguised as a warrior, then a craftsman, then a healer. Each time she turned him away. In the end he used sorcery to overcome her resistance and conceived the child the prophecy demanded. The Eddic sources name the result without describing the pursuit: Rindr bore Váli.
The Birth of Váli
Váli grew to manhood in a single day. Baldrs draumar says he "neither washed his hands nor combed his hair until he had carried Baldr's killer to the pyre." Born in the morning, he killed Höðr before nightfall. The blind god who had thrown the mistletoe was dead before the sun set on the day Váli was born.
Rindr had no other story. She existed in the sources for this one purpose: to bear the avenger. She said no, and Odin found a way past it, and the son she bore fulfilled the prophecy in a single day.
Relationships
- Family