Freyja Njordsdotter, Norse Goddness

Freyja Njordsdotter, Norse Goddness Norwegian: Frøya Njordsdatter, Nordisk Gudinne
Also Known As:	"Freyja", "Frøya", "Freya"
Birthdate:	circa 237
Birthplace:	Vanaland
Death:	Folkvang, Aasgard
Immediate Family:	Daughter of Njörd and Sister-wife of Njord Wife of Ods Of Sweden Mother of Hnoss Odsdatter and Gersemi Odsdatter Sister of Yngve-Freyr, mythological king in Sweden
Occupation:	Norse Goddess of love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death, Norse Goddess of love, fertillity, Offerprestinne, Nordisk Gudinna

Managed by:	Gábor Balogh
Last Updated:	April 27, 2022

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Immediate Family

Ods Of Sweden

husband
Hnoss Odsdatter

daughter
Gersemi Odsdatter

daughter
Njörd

father
Sister-wife of Njord

mother
Yngve-Freyr, mythological king i...

brother
Skade Tjatsedotter

stepmother

About Freyja Njordsdotter, Norse Goddness

http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freja

http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freija

http://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/the-vanir-gods-and-go...

http://www.pakanaverkko.fi/vox/arkisto/vox-2011/vox-paganorum-12011...

From Ynglingesoga, section 4-10:

Father: Njord

Mother: Sister of Njord

Husband: Od

Daughters: Noss and Gjerseme

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyja

'In Norse mythology, Freyja (Old Norse the "Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot driven by two cats, owns the boar Hildisvíni, possesses a cloak of falcon feathers, and, by her husband Óðr, is the mother of two daughters; Hnoss and Gersemi. Along with her brother Freyr (Old Norse the "Lord"), her father Njörðr, and her mother (unnamed in sources), she is a member of the Vanir. Stemming from Old Norse Freyja, modern forms of the name include Freya, Freja, Freyia, and Freia.'

Freyja (sometimes anglicized as Freya), cognate to Sanskrit Priya, is a major goddess in Norse Paganism, a subset of Germanic Paganism. Because the documented source of this religious tradition, the Norse Mythology, was transmitted and altered by Christian medieval historians, the actual role, heathen practices and worship of the goddess are uncertain.

In the Eddas, Freya is portrayed as a goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. Blonde, blue-eyed, and beautiful, Freyja is described as the fairest of all goddesses, and people prayed to her for happiness in love. She was also called on to assist childbirths and prayed to for good seasons.

Freyja was also associated with war, battle, death, magic, prophecy, and wealth. She is cited as receiving half of the dead lost in battle in her hall Fólkvangr, whereas Odin would receive the other half at Valhalla. The origin of Seid was ascribed to Freyja.

Frigg and Freyja are the two principal goddesses in Norse religion, and described as the highest amongst the Asynjur. Freyja is the goddess most honoured after or along with Frigg, and her worship seems to have been even the more prevalent and important of the two. In the Droplaugarsona Saga, it is described that in a temple at Ölvusvatn, Iceland, statues of Frigg and Freyja have been seated upon higher thrones opposite those of Thor and Freyr. These statues were arrayed in drapery and ornaments of gold and silver.

In Heimskringla, Freyja is also presented as a mythological Princess of Sweden. Her father Njörðr is seen as the second mythological King of Sweden, and her brother Freyr is the third. Freyr and Freyja's mother is Njörðr's sister (who has been often linked to the ancient Germanic goddess Nerthus), as it is a custom of the Vanir and allowed by their laws.

Further in Heimskringla, it is written that many temples and statues of native pagan gods and goddesses were raided and destroyed by Olaf Tryggvason and Saint Olaf during the gradual and violent process of the Christianization of Scandinavia. During and after the extent that the process of Christianization was complete, Freyja and many things associated with her were demonized by the growing influence of Christian missionaries. After Christian influence was cemented in law, traces of belief went increasingly underground into mainly rural areas, surviving into modern times in Germanic folklore and most recently reconstructed to varying degrees in Germanic neopaganism.

Freyja appears in various poems of the Poetic Edda, a compilation of poems composed around the 9th to the 11th century.

Þrymskviða ("The Song of Thrymr") is arguably the best and oldest of all Eddic poems. The poem begins with Thor one day finding his legendary hammer, Mjolnir, stolen. Thor goes with Loki to Fólkvangr to borrow Freyja's hawk's plumage.

Loki then used the feathered cloak to transform into a bird to seek for Thor's hammer. He met Thrymr, King of the Rime Jötuns, who admitted that he had hidden the hammer somewhere, and demanded to marry Freyja in return.

Loki came back to Asgard and went to Fólkvangr again.

Freyja was so wrathful that all the gods' dwellings were shaken and the necklace Brísingamen broke off from her neck

Since Freyja refused, gods and goddesses hold a council. And following Heimdallr's advice, Thor and Loki borrowed Brísingamen. They went to the wedding disguised as "Freyja and her maid", where Thrymr jubilantly welcomed his new bride.

At the banquet, Thrymr was shocked as "Freyja" ate an ox, eight salmon, and drank three casks of mead, but Loki was quick to make lies.

The Jötuns eventually gave "Freyja" the hammer.

Thor took back his hammer, sprang out from his disguise, slew Thrymr and all his kin.

This myth is also recorded in a Swedish folksong called the Thor song (18th Century), where Freyja is called miss Frojenborg, "den väna solen" (the fair sun).

Hyndluljóð ("The Lay of Hyndla") was found only in a late edition of the Poetic Edda (around 1400), where it is preserved in a very poor shape. The poem is in fact two poems mixed up together, the semi-historical "Lay of Hyndla" and another labelled by Snorri as "The lesser Völuspá". The date it was composed is generally accepted as around 12th century. In this poem, Freyja rode on her boar Hildisvini to enlist the help of the giantess Hyndla (She-Dog) to find the pedigree of Óttar, her protégé. Óttar here is maybe another name of Freyja's husband, Óðr.

Freyja arrived at Hyndla's cave and called her to Valhalla. But Hyndla quickly realized that the boar is Óttar in disguise.

Hyndla came with Freyja, riding on a wolf. On the road, Freyja explained her duty, and how Óttar had induced her to help him: "For me he built a hörgr with rocks; those stones are now turned to glass; as he reddened it with fresh blood of cattle".

Hyndla gave a very long list of heroes' names as Óttar's ancestors (this is the main part and purpose of the poem). Freyja then confirmed that the boar is Óttar in disguise. She further requested Hyndla to give Óttar a potion that would enable him to remember all that he had been told. But the giantess refused.

Hyndla was forced to give the memory-mead, but did not forget to curse it first.

Njördr in Nóatún begot afterward children: the son was called Freyr, and the daughter Freyja; they were fair of face and mighty. [...] Freyja is the most renowned of the goddesses; she has in heaven the dwelling called Fólkvangr, and where so ever she rides to the strife, she has one-half of the kill, and Odin half [...]

Her hall Sessrúmnir is great and fair. When she goes forth, she drives her cats and sits in a chariot; she is most conformable to man's prayers, and from her name comes the name of honor, Frú, by which noblewomen are called. Songs of love are well-pleasing to her; it is good to call on her for furtherance in love.

Freyja is most gently born (together with Frigg): she is wedded to the man named Óðr. Their daughter is Hnoss: she is so fair, that those things which are fair and precious are called hnossir. Óðr went away on long journeys, and Freyja weeps for him, and her tears are red gold. Freyja has many names, and this is the cause thereof: that she gave herself sundry names, when she went out among unknown peoples seeking Óðr: she is called Mardöll and Hörn, Gefn, Sýr. Freyja had the necklace Brísingamen. She is also called Lady of the Vanir.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyja

Freya

by Micha F. Lindemans

In Norse mythology, Freya is a goddess of love and fertility, and the most beautiful and propitious of the goddesses. She is the patron goddess of crops and birth, the symbol of sensuality and was called upon in matters of love. She loves music, spring and flowers, and is particularly fond of the elves (fairies). Freya is one of the foremost goddesses of the Vanir.

She is the daughter of the god Njord, and the sister of Freyr. Later she married the mysterious god Od (probably another form of Odin), who disappeared. When she mourned for her lost husband, her tears changed into gold.

Her attributes are the precious necklace of the Brisings, which she obtained by sleeping with four dwarfs, a cloak (or skin) of bird feathers, which allows its wearer to change into a falcon, and a chariot pulled by two cats. She owns Hildesvini ("battle boar") which is actually her human lover Ottar in disguise. Her chambermaid is Fulla. Freya lives in the beautiful palace Folkvang ("field of folk"), a place where love songs are always played, and her hall is Sessrumnir. She divides the slain warriors with Odin: one half goes to her palace, while the other half goes to Valhalla. Women also go to her hall.

Old Norse: Freyja, Friia

In Norse mythology, Freya is a goddess of love and fertility, and the most beautiful and propitious of the goddesses. She is the patron goddess of crops and birth, the symbol of sensuality and was called upon in matters of love. She loves music, spring and flowers, and is particularly fond of the elves (fairies). Freya is one of the foremost goddesses of the Vanir .

She is the daughter of the god Njord , and the sister of Freyr . Later she married the mysterious god Od (probably another form of Odin ), who disappeared. When she mourned for her lost husband, her tears changed into gold.

Her attributes are the precious necklace of the Brisings, which she obtained by sleeping with four dwarfs, a cloak (or skin) of bird feathers, which allows its wearer to change into a falcon, and a chariot pulled by two cats. She owns Hildesvini ("battle boar") which is actually her human lover Ottar in disguise. Her chambermaid is Fulla. Freya lives in the beautiful palace Folkvang ("field of folk"), a place where love songs are always played, and her hall is Sessrumnir. She divides the slain warriors with Odin: one half goes to her palace, while the other half goes to Valhalla . Women also go to her hall.

From Norsk mythology

Freyja, Freya - Member of the Vanir who lives with the Æsir, daughter of Njord, sister-consort of Frey.. Her emblem is the necklace Brisingamen. Hers is the magic of reading runes, trancing and casting spells. She is said to have taught Seidh to Odin. She owns a falcon cloak, takes dove form, rides in a chariot drawn by two cats, or rides a boar. As leader of the Valkyries, she takes half those slain in battle and is traditionally associated with death and sexuality. She was married to the God Od, perhaps identical to Odin, who mysteriously disappeared.Freya had two daughters, Hnoss and Gersimi, with Od. She weeps tears of gold, which become amber, called "Freyja's Tears". Her name means "The Lady".

Freya

Freya is the daughter of Niord and his sister. She is the sister to Frey. Her husband's name is Od, and he is missing. For this reason, she cries tears of amber and gold for him. Her daughters' names are Hnoss and Gersemi.

Freya animal is the cat. She has two of them pulling her chariot. With this, she rides over battlefields and chooses half of the slain for her hall. Hildisvini is the name of her boar.

She has a necklace called Brisingamin, which she received for the sexual services she gave four dwarves. This is an example of her security in her sexuality, for she is also the goddess of sexual pleasure.

Freya teaches Odin the seidhr magick practiced by women. Seidhr magick was that which she taught to women as Gulliveg before the First War (that between Aesir and Vanir).

As an example to the Queens of Sweden and Denmark, Freya serves mead to the slain in Valhalla. She is also the goddess of love poetry.

From http://www.timelessmyths.com/norse/vanir.html

Goddess of love, beauty, fertility, magic, war and death. Freyja was the daughter of Njörd (Njord) and Njörd's nameless sister (possibly Nertheus?). She was the sister of Freyr. Like her brother and father, she was originally a Vanir goddess, but she would later become an important goddess of the Aesir.

She was sometimes confused with Frigg, wife of Odin, since both of their names mean "Lady". Frigg sometimes also had the same attributes as Freyja. Another goddess, she was sometimes was confused with, was Idun, the Keeper of the Apple of Youth.

In several aspects, she and her brother were like the Greek deities Artemis and Apollo. They were twins; her brother was a god of light, like Apollo. Since she was Vanir goddess, Freyja was a goddess of fertility like Artemis (fertility of the wild animals). Unlike Artemis, who was also seen as virgin goddess, Freyja was also the goddess of love and sex.

Freyja was described as an extremely beautiful goddess, blonde and blue eyes. Like Aphrodite, Freyja was the goddess of love and beauty. Freyja married a god named Od or Odur, and became mother of two daughters, Nossa or Hnossa, and Gersimi (both daughters' names mean "Jewel"). However Od had mysteriously disappeared. She wandered the earth, searching for husband, weeping tears of gold. (Od may have been another name for Odin).

After her husband (Od) had abandoned her or disappeared on her, she became the most promiscuous of all goddesses; she was probably the goddess of sex rather than of fertility. She had many love affairs, with gods, human, elves and even dwarves. Freyja was often seen as the mistress of Odin. Loki had accused her of sleeping with every gods in Asgard and all the elves in Alfheim (Poetic Edda's Lokasenna). Loki had even accused her of sleeping with her brother Freyr. Freyja and her brother were husband and wife when they were living in Vanaheim (land of the Vanir), just like their father with an unnamed sister. As I understand it, incest was normal practice among the Vanir deities, but the Aesir frown upon incest.

Freyja was much sought after by the giants. The giants, Hrimthurs and Thrym, both wanted to marry Freyja. Thor had killed both giants.

Unlike Aphrodite, but like the Greek goddesses, Athena and Persephone, she was the goddess of war and death. Freyja enjoyed combat and battle. She ride into the battlefield, where she received half of the fallen heroes in combat; the other half goes to Odin in Valhalla. These warriors stayed in her great hall, Fólkvangar ("battlefield"), within her palace Folkvang ("Field of Folk"). Her other hall was the Sessrumnir.

She had a great love for gold. Her most prized possession was the necklace Brísingamen. She received the necklace by sleeping with four dwarves known as the Brisings (their name were possibly Alfrigg, Berling, Dvalin and Grerr). Odin was disgusted by her sexual promiscuity that he sent Loki to steal the Brísingamen. The gatekeeper of Asgard, Heimdall, who had great vision, saw the theft. He pursued Loki and recovered the necklace for Freyja. In a later version, Odin would only return the Brísingamen, on the condition that she starts wars in the world of men. See the Brisings.

Freyja received other gifts as well, such as a cloak of bird feathers (allowing her to transform herself into a falcon), and her chariot drawn by two cats. Another of her favourite animals was the pigs or boars. Her human lover Ottar disguised himself as a battle boar with golden bristles, known as Hildesvini. She was sometimes called Sr (sow), an epithet. She was also known to have wandered the countryside at night, in the form of a she-goat.

She was also the goddess witchcraft, a disreputable kind of magic called seidr (seior). Her love of gold and the witchcraft she practised, may have resulted in the confusion, surrounding her with another Vanir goddess, named Gullveig and the witch Heid, the reincarnation of Gullveig.

http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freja

http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freija

http://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/the-vanir-gods-and-go...

http://www.pakanaverkko.fi/vox/arkisto/vox-2011/vox-paganorum-12011...

From Ynglingesoga, section 4-10:

Father: Njord

Mother: Sister of Njord

Husband: Od

Daughters: Noss and Gjerseme

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyja

'In Norse mythology, Freyja (Old Norse the "Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot driven by two cats, owns the boar Hildisvíni, possesses a cloak of falcon feathers, and, by her husband Óðr, is the mother of two daughters; Hnoss and Gersemi. Along with her brother Freyr (Old Norse the "Lord"), her father Njörðr, and her mother (unnamed in sources), she is a member of the Vanir. Stemming from Old Norse Freyja, modern forms of the name include Freya, Freja, Freyia, and Freia.' -------------------- Freyja (sometimes anglicized as Freya), cognate to Sanskrit Priya, is a major goddess in Norse Paganism, a subset of Germanic Paganism. Because the documented source of this religious tradition, the Norse Mythology, was transmitted and altered by Christian medieval historians, the actual role, heathen practices and worship of the goddess are uncertain.