Hermod was the messenger and herald of the Norse gods — the bold and swift son of Odin who undertook the most desperate errand in all of myth: to ride down the long dark road to the realm of the dead and beg the goddess Hel to release the slain Baldr. His journey into death and back is one of the great quests of Norse legend.
The Brave Messenger
Hermod (Old Norse Hermóðr, “war-spirit”) was a son of Odin and counted among the gods as their messenger and herald — the swift one who carried the will of the All-Father. He was distinguished by his courage and his daring (his epithet was “the bold”), qualities that fit him for the most dangerous mission the gods would ever send anyone upon: a journey into the land of the dead itself, from which no traveler was meant to return.
The Ride to Hel
When the shining god Baldr was slain by the mistletoe and the gods were plunged into grief, it was Hermod who volunteered to ride down to the realm of the dead and seek Baldr's release. Mounting Odin's eight-legged steed Sleipnir, Hermod rode for nine nights through deep, dark valleys, descending ever downward toward the world below. He came at last to the river Gjöll and its golden-roofed bridge, guarded by the maiden Móðguðr, who told him that Baldr had indeed passed that way; and then he rode on to the towering gates of Hel's realm. There Sleipnir leaped clean over the great gate, and Hermod rode into the hall of the dead, where he found Baldr seated in the highest seat of honour.
The Bargain with Death
Hermod pleaded with the death-goddess Hel for Baldr's return, telling of the boundless grief of the gods. Hel, ruler of the dead, set a condition to test the truth of that grief: if every single thing in all the world, living and dead, would weep for Baldr, then she would release him; but if even one thing refused to weep, she would keep him. Hermod rode back with this hope, and the gods sent word throughout all the worlds, and all things wept — all but one giantess (Loki in disguise), whose single refusal doomed Baldr to remain among the dead. Hermod's heroic errand had so nearly succeeded, undone at the last by Loki's spite.
The Rider Between the Worlds
Hermod endures as the brave herald of the gods and the rider who dared the road to death — the one figure willing to descend, living, into Hel's realm and bargain with death itself for the sake of love and grief. He embodies the Norse ideal of fearless devotion, the courage to ride nine nights into the dark on a hopeless errand simply because it must be attempted, and to come back having done all that could be done.
He rode nine nights down into the dark on Odin's eight-legged horse, leaped the gates of death, and bargained with Hel herself — and came so close to bringing the dead god home.