Freya was the blue-eyed, blonde-headed northern beauty presiding over love and beauty….. and the battlefield? Queen of the Valkyries, Freya and her warrior ladies got first choice from half of all those slain in battle. The chosen ones were then wined and dined at Folkvang, along with all the pure maidens and faithful wives. It sounded so wonderful that women would rush onto the battlefield after watching their lovers fall in hopes that they, too, would be killed and could go to Folkvang.
Like any beautiful goddess, Freya loved beautiful things. Sometimes she coveted an object, such as her golden necklace, simply because of its beauty. Once, in the underground kingdom, she came upon four dwarves working upon a golden necklace of exquisite beauty and craftsmanship. The goddess immediately entreated them to let her have, but the craftsmen would accept none of her offers. Finally, in desperation to possess the necklace, she asked what they would take. The dwarves requested that she should spend a night with each of them. This she did, and received her coveted necklace. She wore it almost constantly. And once, Odin had it stolen from around her neck while she slept. Freya started a war getting it back.
Freya
also personified the earth. It was in this capacity that she married Odur,
representing the summer sun. Their union produced two daughters, Hnoss
and Gersemi. Now Freya loved Odur dearly, and while Odur loved her back,
he couldn’t help his roving eye. Eventually the summer sun took off for
warmer climates, leaving a bereft wife behind. It’s said that where her
tears hit the stones that gold was left. And where they landed in the sea,
they created amber. All the land suffered due to poor Freya’s grief.
Eventually
the goddess grew tired of sitting and mourning and so, set off in search
of her husband. She wandered all over the earth before finding him sitting
under a myrtle tree in the south. Once more reunited, the two lovers returned
home, spreading growth and fertility in their wake.
Freya was the daughter of Niord and Nerthus, or Skaldi and her brother was none other than Frey. Cats, swallows, and cuckoos were all sacred to her, as were butterflies (Freya’s hens) and fairies. She loved to watch them dancing in the moonlight.
Encyclopedia Mythica. [http://www.pantheon.org/articles/f/freya.html]
Guerber, H. A. Myths of Northern Lands. New York: American Book Company, 1895. (An absolutely wonderful little book. It even feels nice just to hold it.)
Norse Mythology. [http://www.ugcs.Caltech.edu/~cherryne/myth.cgi/Freya.html]
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Originally
composed September 2001.
Copyright
Laurel Reufner, 2001. Comments? Email me!