Breiðablik (sometimes anglicised as Breithablik or Breidablik) is the home of Baldr in Nordic mythology.
The word Breiðablik has been variously translated as 'broad sheen', 'Broad gleam', 'Broad-gleaming' or 'the far-shining one', [1][2][3][4]
The Eddic poem Grímnismál describes Breiðablik as the fair home of Baldr:
Old Norse text[5] | Bellows translation[6] |
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In Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning, Breiðablik is described in a list of places in heaven, identified by some scholars as Asgard:[7]
Old Norse text[8] | Brodeur translation[9] |
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Þar er einn sá staðr, er Breiðablik er kallaðr, ok engi er þar fegri staðr. |
Then there is also in that place the abode called Breidablik, and there is not in heaven a fairer dwelling. |
Later in the work, when Snorri describes Baldr, he gives another description, citing Grímnismál, though he does not name the poem:
Old Norse text[10] | Brodeur translation[11] |
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Hann býr þar, sem heitir Breiðablik. Þat er á himni. Í þeim stað má ekki vera óhreint... |
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The name of Breiðablik has been noted to link with Baldr's attributes of light and beauty.[1]
Similarities have been drawn between the description of Breiðablik in Grímnismál and Heorot in Beowulf, which are both free of 'baleful runes' (Old Norse: feicnstafi and Old English: fācenstafas respectively). In Beowulf, the lack of fācenstafas refers to the absence of crimes being committed, and therefore both halls have been proposed to be sanctuaries.[12]