Freya- Norse GodDeity"Lady of the Vanir"

Lady of the Vanir

Freya belongs to the Vanir, the ancient tribe of fertility deities who waged a devastating war against the Æsir in the earliest ages of the world. The conflict began when the Vanir sorceress Gullveig came to Asgard and the Æsir, disturbed by her sorcery and greed for gold, attempted to destroy her. They stabbed her with spears and burned her three times. Each time she rose again, and the Vanir marched to war in retribution. The war ended in a truce that saw hostages exchanged between the divine tribes. Freya came to live in Asgard along with her twin brother Freyr and their father Njörðr.

Her name means simply "Lady" (Old Norse freyja), just as her brother's name Freyr means "Lord." Titles so fundamental they needed no elaboration.

Goddess of Love and Beauty

So desirable is Freya that numerous giants seek to win or steal her as a bride. When the master builder constructing Asgard's walls demanded Freya as payment along with the sun and moon, the gods were nearly trapped by their own bargain. Only Loki's trickery saved them. When the giant king Þrymr stole Thor's hammer Mjölnir and refused to return it unless he received Freya as his bride, the very suggestion threw Freya into such rage that her famous necklace burst from her neck. The Æsir would not surrender her. Thor disguised himself as a bride instead.

Mistress of Seiðr Magic

Seiðr was women's magic: prophecy and fate-weaving. For a man to practice it was ergi, shameful and unmanly. Freya taught it to the Æsir anyway. Odin himself learned it from her. He accepted the stigma for the power it granted.

As a völva, Freya could perceive the future and work spells that bound hearts and minds. The Ynglinga saga credits her with bringing seiðr to the gods.

Chooser of the Slain

Freya has first choice of those who fall in battle. Half of all warriors slain in combat go to her hall Sessrúmnir in the realm of Fólkvangr. Only after she has made her selection does Odin receive the remainder for Valhalla. The Grímnismál states: "Fólkvangr is the ninth, and there Freyja arranges the choice of seats in the hall; half of the slain she chooses each day, and half has Odin."

Fólkvangr itself remains a mystery. Sessrúmnir is described as great and fair, but what the slain do there and what distinguishes them from Odin's einherjar, the sources do not say.

The Brísingamen

The Brísingamen takes its name from brísinga ("fire" or "amber") or from the Brísingar, the four dwarven craftsmen who forged it. Freya found them at their forge near Svartálfaheim. The necklace they were making was unlike anything she had seen. They would not sell it for any amount of gold or silver; instead, each demanded one night with the goddess as payment. She spent four nights with the dwarven smiths and emerged with the Brísingamen around her neck.

Loki later stole the necklace at Odin's command. He transformed into a fly to enter Freya's sealed chamber, then into a flea to bite her. She shifted in her sleep, and he unfastened the clasp. When Freya discovered the theft and confronted Odin, he agreed to return the necklace only if she would stir up eternal war between two mortal kings, each slain warrior to rise and fight again forever. Freya agreed.

The Chariot and the Falcon Cloak

Freya travels in a chariot drawn by two large cats. She also possesses a cloak of falcon feathers (valshamr) that allows the wearer to transform into a bird and fly between worlds. When the giant Þjazi kidnaps Iðunn and her apples of immortality, Freya lends the cloak to Loki so he can fly to Jötunheim and rescue them. When Thor's hammer is stolen, Loki again borrows it for reconnaissance.

Freya and Hyndla

The Hyndluljóð preserves one of Freya's most distinctive adventures. Her protégé Óttar, a mortal devotee who had sacrificed so faithfully that his altar turned to glass from the heat, wagered his inheritance on proving his divine lineage. Freya personally undertook the quest to obtain that proof. She rode not her cat-drawn chariot but the boar Hildisvíni to the cave of the giantess Hyndla, a keeper of genealogical lore who dwelled beneath the earth.

Hildisvíni was not what he appeared. Freya had transformed Óttar himself into the boar so he could travel in disguise and absorb the genealogical knowledge directly. Hyndla proved hostile. She accused Freya of promiscuity and mocked her as a night-rider. Freya pressed her case with mounting intensity. The giantess relented and recited vast genealogies that traced Óttar's ancestry through heroes and gods.

But when Hyndla refused to provide the "memory-ale" that would fix this knowledge in Óttar's mind, Freya threatened to surround the giantess with fire until she yielded. Hyndla cursed Freya but complied.

Óðr and the Tears of Gold

Freya's husband is the obscure figure Óðr, whose name means "frenzy" or "poetry," the same root that forms part of Odin's name. Óðr wanders far and wide on mysterious journeys, and Freya waits alone in Asgard. She searches for him weeping, and her tears transform into red gold. The skalds called gold "Freya's tears."

She travels under many names during these searches. The Gylfaginning lists Hörn and Sýr among them, names she takes in different lands while looking for the husband who does not return.