MeadWaterBreadA message deliveredA courageous errand run
Invocation Approach
Tone
Brave and plain
Address
HermóðrThe BoldOdin's Messenger
Relationship
The one who rides because no one else will
Warning
His errand failed and baldr did not come back he is the god of the honest attempt
Resonance
Those carrying a message into hard places those who try anyway
Symbols
HorseThe dark roadThe bridge over GjollThe ring
Mythology Summary
Hermóðr is Odin's son, called 'the Bold', who volunteers to ride to Hel to ransom Baldr: he takes Sleipnir, rides nine nights down through dark valleys to the bridge over Gjöll, and reaches Hel, where the goddess says Baldr may return if all things in the world weep for him (Gylfaginning 49). The errand fails because a giantess, Thökk — Loki in disguise — refuses to weep, and Hermóðr comes home with the ring Draupnir and no Baldr. Outside this one story he is named only as a son of Odin, and he has no cult.
Modern Practice
Hermóðr is called for the errand that has to be run without any promise of success: the hard message, the hospital visit, the ask that may be refused. The practice is to go anyway, and to come back and report honestly.