In Norse mythology, Balder was the god of light and beauty. The most beloved of the gods, he was the son of ODIN and FRIGG and the husband of Nanna, goddess of the Moon. A famous Norse myth tells how LOKI, the evil giant, had Balder killed with a dart made of mistletoe, the only thing in the world that had not promised his mother it would never harm him. Because Balder was the favorite of the gods, it was said that he would return to ASGARD, the home of the gods, at the end of the world. Balder's Greek counterpart is Apollo.