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Sturluson, Snorri. “Gylfaginning.” Prose Edda. Translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur. Internet Sacred Text Archive. https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre04.htm. And straightway the hammer Mjöllnir was raised aloft; he paid the wright’s wage, and not with the sun and the moon. [5] Additionally, “Friday” was likely named after Freya. The word was believed to be a portmanteau of “Freya’s day.” Attributes
The Ynglinga saga also claimed that Freya introduced the gods to the practice of seidr, the soothsaying art that foretold the destruction of the gods. According to the saga, Freya was said to be the last of the gods—this claim appeared nowhere else in Norse tradition, however. Freya, the Helpful Thus was Freya saved from an unwanted marriage to the hill giant. The gods also gained a fortress, albeit rather treacherously, and a new foal. While Loki was in the form of a mare, Svadilfari successfully impregnated him with Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse that eventually became Odin’s mighty steed.Freya had many epithets, and was known as the Gefn (“the giver”), Hörn (“flaxen,” probably in reference to her flaxen hair), Mardöll (“sea shaker”), Sýr (“sow,” a creature that stood for fertility much like Freya herself) and Valfreyja (“lady of the slain”). Freya’s brother (and possible twin) was Freyr, a god associated with wealth, prosperity, healthful weather, and male virility. He was often depicted with the phallus that was typical of fertility gods. Thea's favorite thing to do on Thursday mornings is to teach young fairies how to dance a fairy jig. Freyja and Frigg are similarly accused of infidelity to their (apparently common) husband. Alongside the several mentions of Freya’s loose sexual practices can be placed the words of the medieval Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, who relates that Frigg slept with a slave on at least one occasion. [12] In Lokasenna and the Ynglinga Saga, Odin was once exiled from Asgard, leaving his brothers Vili and Ve in command. In addition to presiding over the realm, they also regularly slept with Frigg until Odin’s return. [13] [14] Many scholars have tried to differentiate between Freya and Frigg by asserting that the former is more promiscuous and less steadfast than the latter, [15] but these tales suggest otherwise. Sue Bentley was born in Northampton, England. She worked in a library after completing her education and began writing for children once her own began school. Bentley is the author of the Magic Kitten, Magic Puppy, and S Club series and lives in Northamptonshire.
Linda Chapman has written over 50 children's fiction books, including the following series: My Secret Unicorn, Stardust, Not Quite a Mermaid, and Unicorn School. She lives in Leicestershire with her husband and daughters. Sturluson, Snorri. “Ynglinga Saga.” Heimskringla. Translated by Samuel Laing. Internet Sacred Text Archive. https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/heim/02ynglga.htm. In later life, Freya took Odr as her husband. Odr was a mysterious god whose name meant “furious and passionate,” as well as “mind and sense.” He would often be away on long journeys, and it was said that his frequent absence caused Freya to weep tears of gold. With Odr, Freya had two daughters: Hnoss and Gersemi, whose names meant “treasure.” After a loudspeaker announces that the otters will be fed soon, drawing everyone else out of the tunnel, Thea turns the girls into fairies with a little extra magic that will let them breathe underwater. She leads the way under an access door for staff and up to the surface of the tank, where all three jump in and head straight for the pirate ship. It takes both girls to unhook the flag and tow it to Thea, who shrinks her flag to Fairyland size then uses magic to create a replacement flag that looks only slightly different. Daisy Meadows is the pseudonym used for the four writers of the Rainbow Magic children's series: Narinder Dhami, Sue Bentley, Linda Chapman, and Sue Mongredien. Rainbow Magic features differing groups of fairies as main characters, including the Jewel fairies, Weather fairies, Pet fairies, Petal fairies, and Sporty fairies.
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When the two sides reached a peace settlement, Odin asked Freya to oversee the offering of sacrifices. In this role, Freya preserved peace among the gods and maintained the cycles of fertility that kept the world in motion. She was praised and celebrated, so much so that her personal name was applied to all “ladies” of good social standing. Freya’s occupying this role amongst the gods is stated directly in the Ynglinga Saga, and indirect hints are dropped elsewhere in the Eddas and sagas. For example, in one tale, we’re informed that Freya possesses falcon plumes that allow their bearer to shift his or her shape into that of a falcon. [6] Clearly, then, the two are ultimately the same goddess. Why, then, are they presented as nominally distinct in the late Old Norse sources? Unfortunately, no one really knows. Heide, Eldar. 2006. Spinning Seiðr. In Old Norse Religion in Long-Term Perspectives: Origins, Changes and Interactions. Edited by Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbert, and Catharina Raudvere. p. 166.
Much was uncertain about the identities of Freya and Odr. It was likely that Freya was another version of Frigg (Odin’s wife), and as such it appears that Odr may have actually been Odin. The deities’ various names and identities reflected linguistic, cultural, and mythological differences among the Germanic groups that told stories of these gods and goddesses. The Norse mythology that reemerged in modern times was not canonical in the sense that an authoritative version of it did not exist. Rather, separate traditions existed simultaneously, and mythic sources such as the Poetic Edda often transposed these different traditions onto one another. Family Tree As with most Norse gods and goddesses, little was known of Freya’s childhood and early development. In the Ynglinga Saga, a book of the Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson, Freya was presented as a leading deity of the Vanir and a player in the Aesir-Vanir War. She was the wife of Odr, with whom she had the daughters Hnoss and Gersemi, who “were so very beautiful, that afterwards the most precious jewels were called by their names.” [3]Freya’s cultural popularity witnessed a resurgence with the rise of Germanic nationalism in the nineteenth century. She was mentioned in the Danish national anthem, “Der er et yndigt land” (“There is a Lovely Land”) by Adam Oehlenschläger, which read “it is called old Denmark and it is Freya’s hall.” [8] She also appeared as a character in Richard Wagner’s epic operatic cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen. The work was a seminal artistic production of the nineteenth century and a rallying cry for German nationalism across Western and Northern Europe. Loki discovered that Mjölnir had been claimed by Thrym, who demanded Freya be given to him in exchange for it. When Loki approached Freya with the news, she reacted with such fury that the palace of the gods shook on its foundations and her torc, Brísingamen, fell to the ground: Freya presides over the afterlife realm Folkvang. According to one Old Norse poem, she chooses half of the warriors slain in battle to dwell there. (See Death and the Afterlife.)
Seidr is a form of pre-Christian Norse magic and shamanism that involved discerning the course of fate and working within its structure to bring about change, often by symbolically weaving new events into being. [3] This power could potentially be put to any use imaginable, and examples that cover virtually the entire range of the human condition can be found in Old Norse literature. One literary portrait of such a woman comes to us from the medieval Old English epic poem Beowulf, which recounts the deeds of King Hroðgar and his warband in the land that we today know as Denmark. The name of Hroðgar’s queen, Wealhþeow, is almost certainly the Old English equivalent of the Proto-Germanic title that Tacitus latinised as “veleda.” [9] Wealhþeow’s “domestic” actions in the poem – which are, properly understood, enactments of the liquor ritual described above – are indispensable for the upkeep of the unity of the warband and its power structures. The poem, despite its Christian veneer, “hint[s] at the queen’s oracular powers… The Hrothgar/Wealhtheow association as presented in the poem is an echo of an earlier more robust and vigorous politico-theological conception.” [10] Grímnismál.” Poetic Edda. Translated by Henry Adams Bellows. Internet Sacred Text Archive. https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe06.htm. The word for “Friday” in Germanic languages (including English) is named after Frija, [18] the Proto-Germanic goddess who is the foremother of Freya and Frigg. None of the other Germanic peoples seem to have spoken of Frija as if she were two goddesses; this approach is unique to the Norse sources. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that in the Norse sources we find a confusion as to which goddess this day should have as its namesake. Both Freyjudagr (from Freyja) and Frjádagr (from Frigg) are used.
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Frigg is depicted as a völva herself. Once again in Lokasenna, after Loki slanders Frigg for her infidelity, Freya warns him that Frigg knows the fate of all beings, an intimation of her ability to perform seidr. [16] Frigg’s weaving activities are likely an allusion to this role as well. And, as it turns out, Freya is not the only goddess to own a set of bird-of-prey feathers for shapeshifting – Frigg is also in possession of one. [17] The context here was important, however. The setting of the poem was a dinner party at which Loki, deep in his cups, accused every woman (including Frigg) of having slept with others promiscuously. He even accuses Freya of sleeping with her brother, Freyr. The deeper lesson of all this—and likely familiar one—could be that women in Norse and Germanic societies were judged more harshly than men for their perceived sexual improprieties. Pop Culture If nothing else, the story of Thrym’s theft of Mjölnir showcased how jealousy Freya guarded her own reputation. “Most lustful indeed should I look to all If I journeyed with thee to the giants’ home,” she claimed in her anger. Nevertheless, Freya was known for her promiscuity, a reputation she earned by using both her beauty and her sex as weapons. Narinder Dhami was born in Wolverhampton, England on November 15, 1958. She received a degree in English from Birmingham University in 1980. After having taught in primary and secondary schools for several years she began to write full-time. Dhami has published many retellings of popular Disney stories and wrote the Animal Stars and Babes series, the latter about young British girls of Asian origin. She lives in Cambridge, England with her husband and cats.
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