Dear Diary,

I've been having the most horrible dream, over and over. In it, I am dead and entering the underworld. Hel greets me, gives me a seat in her hall, then tells me I must remain there forever. I described my dream to mother, and it turns out that she's been dreaming of my death, too. I am terrified that these dreams may come true: why else would mother and I both have them, over and over again?

– Balder

Dear Diary,

I keep having that dream that I'm dead. I wish it would just go away. My father was so concerned about it that he convened a council to figure out what to do. He's decided to saddle Sleipnir and ride to the underworld to consult with a powerful prophetess who lives there. Hopefully, she'll be able to get to the bottom of these dreams.

– Balder

Dear Diary,

Well, the news just keeps getting worse and worse. When my father met with the prophetess in the underworld, she told him that the residents there are already brewing beer and preparing a place in anticipation of my arrival. It seems I really am about to die. I'm not ready to die! Maybe the prophetess is wrong. Some of the things she predicted don't make any sense. Apparently, she foretold that my own brother, Hod, would kill me with a branch. A branch? Why would Hod want to kill me? The prophetess also said that my death would be avenged by a child just one day old, which obviously can't be true. So maybe this prophetess is just a crazy old lady, and there's no need to worry after all.

– Balder

Dear Diary,

The prophetess predicted something else. Apparently, my death would mean that the world is ending. If I die, volcanoes, earthquakes, bad weather, and gruesome battles will afflict Asgard. After that, the world will be reborn, and I will return to it. How trippy is that? I hate all of this death talk.

– Balder

Dear Diary,

I feel so much better today. My mother has decided to require everything in the world to swear an oath never to hurt me. Besides totally proving that prophetess wrong, this oath has had the interesting effect of making me invincible. You can now throw arrows, rocks, daggers, cows, and barrels of ale at me, and none of it has any effect, because they've all taken the oath. A new favorite game among the Aesir gods is to hurl things at me as I run through a field. I'm getting better at dodging, but it doesn't matter anyway, because nothing can harm me. Ever. Even though my dream continues, I know now that it's really nothing more than a dream.

Well, I'd better go. I'm scheduled to play our new game today at noon.

– Balder