In Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, Balder’s death follows Loki’s mistletoe plot.
Gaiman retells the traditional myth in which Balder, beloved son of Odin and Frigg, begins having dreams of his death. Frigg obtains promises from almost everything in the world that it will not harm him, but she overlooks the seemingly harmless mistletoe. Loki discovers the omission and turns it into a weapon.
At a gathering where the gods throw objects at Balder for amusement, Loki guides the blind god Hodr in throwing a mistletoe dart. It kills Balder, shocking the assembled gods and setting a chain of events in motion that includes an attempt to bring him back from the underworld.
Balder is sometimes confused with Baldur, another spelling of the same name. He is also distinct from Odin and Thor: Odin is his father, while Thor is his half-brother in the traditional mythology.