Mistletoe

Plant, native to planet Earth

Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in several families in the order Santalales. These plants attach to and penetrate the branches of a tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they absorb water and nutrients from the host plant. Therefore, mistletoes are parasitic plants.

The word 'mistletoe' (Old English mistiltan) is of uncertain etymology. It may be related to the German Mist, for dung and Tān for branch, since mistletoe can be spread in the droppings of birds moving from tree to tree. Sometimes is connected with "Mazel tov" or "mazal tov" (Hebrew/Yiddish: מזל טוב, Hebrew: mazal tov; Yiddish: mazel tov; lit. "good luck".

European mistletoe, Viscum album, figured prominently in Greek mythology, and is believed to be The Golden Bough of Aeneas, ancestor of the Romans.

According to the 13th century Prose Edda, because of the scheming of Loki , the god Baldr was killed by his brother, the blind god Höðr , by way of a mistletoe projectile, despite the attempts of Baldr's mother, the goddess Frigg , to have all living things and inanimate objects swear an oath not to hurt Baldr after Baldr had troubling dreams of his death. Frigg was unable to get an oath from mistletoe, because "it seemed too young" to demand an oath from.

In the Gesta Danorum version of the story, Baldr and Höðr are rival suitors, and Höðr kills Baldr with a sword named Mistilteinn (Old Norse "mistletoe"). In addition, a sword by the same name appears in various other Norse legends.



The Neo Vikings of Nilfeheim consider the Mistletoe a sacred plant because it is mentioned in the Book of Legends (Edda). Branches are imported from Earth for important festivities, for weddings and other family events. Almost every Nilfeheim family keeps a preserved branch as decoration with traditional religious symbolic in their dwellings.

