History of Mistletoe and a Norse Myth

A lady came into the shop and bought some and started to tell me the tale of the mistletoe that nobody remembers she said, so I looked on the internet and found a piece about the myth.

Mistletoe is a parasite that grows on trees, the oak and the apple primarily especially the apple in Europe. the berries are poisonous.

The mistletoe is still hung up in houses and kitchens at Christmas, and the men can rightfully kiss the girls under it as the tradition goes, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked there should be no more kissing, that is how it was but today in modern times the berries aren't plucked and kissing continues by both sexes, come on you girls !!

Norse myths

The myth of Baldur. Baldur's death and resurrection is one of the most fascinating Norse myths and stands at the beginning of the history of mistletoe as a "kissing" plant.
Baldur's mother was the Norse goddess, Frigga. When Baldur was born, Frigga made each and every plant, animal and inanimate object promise not to harm Baldur. But Frigga overlooked the mistletoe plant -- and the mischievous god of the Norse myths, Loki, took advantage of this oversight. Ever the prankster, Loki tricked one of the other gods into killing Baldur with a spear fashioned from mistletoe. The demise of Baldur, a vegetation deity in the Norse myths, brought winter into the world, although the gods did eventually restore Baldur to life. After which Frigga pronounced the mistletoe sacred, ordering that from now on it should bring love rather than death into the world. Happily complying with Frigga's wishes, any two people passing under the plant from now on would celebrate Baldur's resurrection by kissing under the mistletoe.
(I have taken this off the internet By David Beaulieu)

I love history and also the romantiscm of myths and legends