Mythology around runes: Jera

Mythology of Jera :

"The brightly decorated Christmas tree is the most familiar aspect of the rune Jera. Its image evokes happy memories and the yuletide spirit."


The symbolism of jera relates to the tragic tale of baldur and hodur, two of the sons of Odin. Baldur, who was known as "the Beautiful", shone like the sun. Poor hodur, on the other hand, was blind and so quiet that he was often ignored. Baldur was so beloved of both gods and humans that his mother, Frigga, spent a long time extracting a promise from every living thing that they would not harm him. However, she ignored the mistletoe because it was so puny that she could not imagine that it could possibly hurt her beloved son. Unfortunately, Frigga had not considered the malice of the deceiful fire god, Loki. Loki incited the other gods to trow weapons at baldur, all of which bounced off him. The he suggested other objects, such as pots and pans. No harm came to Baldur. Only blind Hodur held back because he could not see his brother, but wily Loki persuaded him to join in the game and offered not only to guide his hand, but to procide him with an unlikely weapon: a dart made from the puny mistletoe. This small dart alone hit its mark, and baldur fell down dead, slain by his brother's hand. But all was not lost, for Baldur eventually conquered death and was later resurrected, just like the sun on midwinter's day.