Norse vs Hindu Mythology: Baldur and Ravana

 Odin and Frigg were the king and queen, respectively, of Norse lands during the time periods in Norse Mythology, and had two children, Hodr and Baldur. Baldur was loved and respected by all, and he had nightmares that he would be killed. Frigg did not like this, and basically in a nutshell went "Don't you ever talk to me or my son ever again!", traveling the land, sneaking oaths from all things, from steel and lightning, to dirt and moss, saying that they would not harm Baldur. However, she ignored one thing,  mistletoe, because it appeared too innocent and young, and she did not gather an oath from it. Loki, the trickster god, became jealous and hatched a plot to kill Baldur, while he(Baldur) and the other gods were partying. All the other gods were testing their weapons, and laughing gleefully when they failed, drunk and cheery. Now, we circle back to Hodr. Hodr was blind, and so he could not participate in the celebration. Then, Loki arrived, and told Hodr that he could help him throw a dart at him, allowing him to feel the glory and happiness that the others felt. He was literally the blind man in blind man's bluff, stumbling to do something. Surely you must have some indication of what happens, next, I presume? The dart in question, was fashioned out of mistletoe, and Loki had angled his throw to be lethal, and it pierced our god Baldur, leaving him dead.

(As seen in the image, Loki is hiding behind Hodr(left to right), with the many gods celebrating in the background and Baldur in the forefront, dead)

Now, we turn to our Hindu Myths. As is common in Hindu mythology, we start with a character performing penance to a god, to show devotion and prove themselves worthy of a boon. Ravana was a demon king, but nevertheless, he performed penance, consistently cutting off his head, to prove his worth to Lord Bramha. Seems to me like this just proves stupidity at it's finest, but whatever. Eventually, Bramha was pleased, and gave Ravana a boon, anything except immortality(Lots and lots of people took immortality and then decided that they wanted to be evil). Ravana, who wanted immortality, quickly readjusted and said that he wanted an oath from everything he thought was threatening(he gave a list, including gods, demigods, monsters, serpents, but he forgot mortal men, and from here you probably see where this is going) such that he would not die from them. Bramha granted the wish, and naturally, Ravana became evil, like every other person that did penance to Hindu gods. 

Pauses and proceeds to reflect on the wisdom of gods to continue offering boons and letting people go evil.

 Lord Vishnu, another Hindu god, eventually took the form of a mortal avatar named Rama(probs to you if you can infer which Hindu Epic this story is from), and killed him eventually.

(Here an image of Rama fighting Ravana, the demon with multiple heads descending from the sky)

So, we come to the good old compare, contrast, and conclusion. Obviously, in one story, the character was murdered for being liked and in the other the character was murdered for being evil, and in one it was directly inflicted(boon) and on the other it was given by others(Frigg asking for help). However, both had protection inflicted on them, and due to being careless when being a stereotype, failed(Frigg going "don't talk to me or my son", and Ravana going the "do boon become evil spiel". So, to sum it up, in both Hindu and Norse mythology, there is a life lesson of when you make your big list, make sure you check it, twice(to the beat of santa claus is coming to town)

When you make your big list, make sure you check it, twice

(to the beat of Santa Claus is Coming to Town)