Ode to Mercury

The AEsir and the holy touch,
The godly will, and the golden lush-
Illuminates, and thus gives life,
The god of Beauty, the god of Light;
And though Frigg commanded Earth objects,
Never to harm her son-
She accidentally forgot to seal just one,
With this mistake, Loki prevailed
And his mistletoe arrows fell like hail-
Baldr's strength was undone,
And with this, Baldr was slain, and the war had begun.

Ragnarok raged with heavenly fire
And the battle of void and light climbed to the spire,
The music for the epic schism was sang in words,
As Bragi's poetry reigned, and as Gods drew swords-
Forseti presided with an eloquent stare,
As lighting and thunder rumbled the Heavenly lair;
Freyr and Freya came from worlds away,
And swords they did bear, and rains they did make.

Heimdall guarded all of the Gods, and he could not pick side
So he strayed from Ragnarok-
And on the Bifröst, he continued to reside,
The Gods quickly questioned his request
But with articulate words, he calmly expressed:
"Between Midgar and Asgard, one must stay,
for if the Bifröst is taken, souls will know no other way."
The Gods agreed, and with that it went on,
They fought through dusk, and through dawn.

Frigg could not accept her son's dying,
And for thirty three nights, she went on crying
But she created a plan, to bring her son Baldr back,
And the war he would join, and the opposing Gods he'd attack;
"Come ye oh Hermóðr, I call upon you on behalf of Odin!
Take Sleipnir, Odin's eight legged hourse,
And south you will ride, for Hel is your course-
Find my son, and plea for his life,
For the war has begun, and our Gods are in strife."

So for nine nights, Hermóðr had journeyed,
Through lands most dark, dank, and thorny-
And finally Hermóðr arrived to Gjöll,
The bridge carefully constructed of the finest Gold;
"I am Móðguðr, keeper of this bridge,
Why do you come here? What is your wish?"
Hermóðr replied- "I come here on behalf of the Gods,
The Gods who in Asgard, Endlessly weep-
And it is Baldr I wish to see."

"Come pass thy bridge, and south you will climb,
Where in the dark, thou wilt be blind."
And Hermóðr reached the palace of Hel,
Where on the great throne was Baldr, who'd fell-
Baldr listened carefully to Hermóðr's pleas,
And he began to rise as to leave,
But Baldr's body was suddenly stopped,
And from the shadowy ceilings, the King of Hel swiftly dropped;
"I have heard your wishes, and they are sincere,
but let me make this perfectly clear,
I will agree to let Baldr go, and back to Asgard shall he storm,
but only if all things, living and non, for Baldr mourn."

And with this it had been sealed
Hermóðr could not complete such deal,
But Baldr gave Hermóðr a gift;
"This is Draupnir, the ring of health,
and with it shall come eternal wealth-
To my father Odin shall you return,
And God like status, you shall have earned."
Hermóðr returned to Frigg, and explained himself well,
And she was sad, but was intrigued by stories of Hel,
So when Hermóðr's asked to hear how Baldr had died,
She began to speak the story with great sighs.

Höðr, Baldr's brother,
by his mother's doing- had his ego smothered
And jealous was Höðr, and envious was he,
For his brother Baldr was eternal to be.
But Höðr found hope one day in Asgard,
As he was approached by a disguised fallen God-
Loki was he, and evil was his temptation
But in Höðr's eyes, it was an opportunity for holy salvation,
Loki spoke serpent words;
"It's unfair of Baldr, to take all of your fame,
What a shadow you dwell in, what a sinister shame
But of one weakness there is that I know-
And to access this weakness, you I will show."