Freyja
- See Freya radar for German World War II radar. For the municipality, see Frøya, Norway.
Freya (Old Norse: Freyja), the sister of Frey (Freyr) and the daughter of Niord (Njǫrðr), is usually seen as the fertility goddess of Norse mythology. Freya means lady, female ruler, in Old Norse (cf. fru or Frau in Scandinavian and German). While there are no sources suggesting that she was called on to bring fruitfulness to fields or wombs, she was a goddess of intimacy whose tears were gold. She was also goddess of love, sex, war, prophecies, and attraction, and correspondingly became one of the most popular goddesses. She might be considered the counterpart of Venus and Aphrodite. It is likely that she is the most direct mythological descendant from Nerthus.
Freya as goddess of love
Freya was thought to be the most desirable of all goddesses, owner of the attractive piece of jewellery Brosingamen (Brísingamen), which she bought from four dwarfs (Dvalin, Alfrik, Berling, and Grer) for the price of a night with her. Freya loved jewelry so much that she named her daughter "Hnoss", meaning "jewel".
Freya had a husband, a mortal shapeshifter named Ottar, brother of Fafnir. Ottar would often go away on long journeys. Ottar was later killed accidentally by Loki. Ottar was hunting for fish one day in the form of an otter. Loki was hunting on the same day, with Odin and Heimdall. Loki soon spotted Ottar sleeping off a meal in his otter form. He picked up a large rock and threw it at Ottar, killing him. He then brought the "otter" to Odin and Heimdall, and they skinned and ate him. Because Ottar never came back this time, Freya cried tears of red gold.
Early Eddas do not distinguish clearly between Freya and Frigg, though in the later Scandinavian mythology, Freya and Frigg were obviously not one and the same. They were different goddesses with separate functions, personalities and symbols. They appeared in the same text together on many occassions.
The giants seemed to be quite interested in Freya, and some giants even requested to marry her. Whenever this happened Freya would often throw a fit of rage and strongly refuse.
Some sources say she was married to Odin, most likely due to Frigg and Freya once being the same character, and others claim that she had a sexual relationship with her brother Frey.
Freya as battle goddess
As a battle-goddess, Freya rides a boar called Hildisvín the Battle-Swine. In the poem Hyndluljóð, we are told that in order to conceal Ottar, Freya transformed him into the guise of a boar. The boar has special associations within Norse Mythology, both relative to the notion of fertility and also as a protective talisman in war. Seventh century Swedish helmet plates depict warriors with large boars as their crests, and a boar-crested helmet has survived from Anglo-Saxon time and was retrieved from a tumulus at Benty Grange in Derbyshire. In Beowulf, it is said that a boar on the helmet was there to guard the life of the warrior wearing it.
Other sources show that Freya had a chariot drawn by a pair of cats the size of lions.
Freya chooses certain of the slain on the battlefield whilst Odin gets the others, according to Grímnismál:
- The ninth hall is Folkvang, where bright Freyja
- Decides where the warriors shall sit:
- Some of the fallen belong to her,
- And some belong to Odin.
This association of Freya with death is underlined in Egil's saga when his daughter, Thorgerda (Þorgerðr), threatens to commit suicide in the wake of her brother's death, saying: "I shall not eat until I sup with Freya".
Freya's palace is known as the "Rich-in-Seats".
Freya as a witch
Freya was a skilled practitioner of seiðr, a form of magic which Snorri relates in the Ynglinga Saga in his Heimskringla she introduced among the Aesir. It has been been widely speculated that Gullveig was Freya under another name.
Freya's possessions
Freya was the driver of a wagon drawn by a pair of cats as big as lions. She was queen of the elves. Her chambermaids were Fulla, Hlín and Gná. Her palace was in Fólkvangr and her hall was Sessrúmnir.
Besides the necklace, she owned a cloak of hawk/eagle feathers, which gave her the ability to change into any bird. She lends this garment to Loki in Þrymskviða.
Other names
Forms of "Frey(j)a"
- Freia
- Froya
- Common Danish and literary Swedish form: Freja
- Common Norwegian, and rural Swedish form: Frøya, Fröa
Other forms
- Gefn (according to Snorri Gefyon/Gefjun is not the same as Gefn)
- Heath
- Vanadís
Sources
- Grimnismál
- Egils Saga
- Snorri Sturluson, The Younger Edda
- H R Ellis Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe
- E O G Turville-Petre, Myth and Religion of the North
- Jan de Vries, Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte, 2nd Edition (the seminal work of reference on Germanic and Scandinavian religion).
- Brian Branston, "Gods and Heroes of Viking Mythology"