This chapter explores how mediation starts, using different concrete examples from the Nordic mediation experience to illustrate the complexities around mediation selection and initiation. It addresses a number of central questions: Why do the warring parties want mediation? Why do belligerents choose Nordic mediators? Why do the Nordic countries want to mediate? Which individuals are chosen as mediators? Why do international organizations appoint mediators from the Nordic countries? We also discuss the issue of perceived bias in mediation and how potential mediators can manage and relate to such perceptions. The key finding of the chapter is that the mediation selection process is closely associated with how the mandate for mediation is formed. In this chapter, we show how the formation of a mandate can be a multifaceted process and mediation efforts can be initiated in many ways, including through direct appeals to governments from the parties to a conflict. The Nordic countries’ mediation efforts constitute an interesting cross-section of these initiatives.