Freya is one of the preeminent goddesses in Norse mythology. She is a warrior goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. She wears the sacred necklace Brísingamen and rides a chariot pulled by two cats, which are her sacred animal. Freya keeps the boar Hildisvíni by her side and possesses a cloak of falcon feathers which she lends to the other gods in times of need.
Along with her twin brother Freyr, their father, Njörðr, and their unnamed mother, Freya is a member of the Vanir, the group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, nature, and seiðr, a form of sorcery. As seiðr was originally associated with the Vanir, Freya is credited with introducing the practice to the Æsir. Freya rules over the heavenly afterlife field of Fólkvangr whose inhabitants she selects from among the warriors slain in battle.
Freya is one of the preeminent goddesses in Norse mythology. She is a warrior goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. She wears the sacred necklace Brísingamen and rides a chariot pulled by two cats, which are her sacred animal. Freya keeps the boar Hildisvíni by her side and possesses a cloak of falcon feathers which she lends to the other gods in times of need.
Along with her twin brother Freyr, their father, Njörðr, and their unnamed mother, Freya is a member of the Vanir, the group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, nature, and seiðr, a form of sorcery. As seiðr was originally associated with the Vanir, Freya is credited with introducing the practice to the Æsir. Freya rules over the heavenly afterlife field of Fólkvangr whose inhabitants she selects from among the warriors slain in battle.
Freya is one of the preeminent goddesses in Norse mythology. She is a warrior goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. She wears the sacred necklace Brísingamen and rides a chariot pulled by two cats, which are her sacred animal. Freya keeps the boar Hildisvíni by her side and possesses a cloak of falcon feathers which she lends to the other gods in times of need.
Along with her twin brother Freyr, their father, Njörðr, and their unnamed mother, Freya is a member of the Vanir, the group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, nature, and seiðr, a form of sorcery. As seiðr was originally associated with the Vanir, Freya is credited with introducing the practice to the Æsir. Freya rules over the heavenly afterlife field of Fólkvangr whose inhabitants she selects from among the warriors slain in battle.
Seriously bothers me.
A lot!
Okay so… there are a lot of different neopagan and heavily christianized influences in modern international heathenry. These influences actually litter the greater heathen community to such a degree that there are a lot of little things that annoy me, but there are some things that just plain anger me to no end.
One of these things is the declawing of Freyja.
What I mean by that is that Freyja is often described primarily as a goddess of love and beauty and many of the images and icons created by and for heathens depict her as this gorgeous woman in a supple, soft, even gentle pose.
I’ve even seen a statue of Freyja that looks a lot like a virgin mary statue with a fresh coat of paint.
Freyja is associated with cats and cats are elegant and beautiful and soft little murder machines and this association is spot on.
Freyja is described as incredibly beautiful, yes, but also as incredibly powerful (magic wise, and incredibly violent.
She is the leader of the valkyries, which aren’t just “sheild maidens” or women i fantasy-rpg-style armor cheering on the sidelines.
They choose who lives and who dies.
They choose where you go when you die.
And they ride point into battle and Revel in the sheer bloodlust and carnage.If it was raining blood from the heavens, Freyja would dance and sing in the rain.
This aspect of her is important.
It’s an equal measure of everything she is.
Beauty, power, wisdom, and fucking bloodlust.
When we speak of her as a goddess of love it feels disingenuine.
She’s more to do with the raw, the carnal, lust.
She’s not found in a cute and harmless flirt with that cute person.
She’s found in fingers reaching, grabbing, hot breath, wordless sounds of pleasure, two hearts beating hot, hard, and in tune with one another.
She has less to do with a kiss on a cheek, and more to do with an orgasm.But this too, this hunger is lost as her active role is downplayed, her sword and spear taken from her hand, her sensible armor and cloak of hawk’s feathers with which she can literally fly into battle, her battle chariot, her wild boar, everything stripped away from the fierce and proud goddess, and she’s declawed, and turned into something soft and sweet and gentle.
It frustrates me to see her declawed and turned into a synonym for the virgin mother.
It angers me to see the female fury of my ancestors turned into a polite, christian, crush.And most of all, it angers me to see heathens use this watered down, declawed, christianized version, to explain how women should be.
I agree with everything this says, except for this part:
“When we speak of her as a goddess of love it feels disingenuine.
She’s more to do with the raw, the carnal, lust.
She’s not found in a cute and harmless flirt with that cute person.
She’s found in fingers reaching, grabbing, hot breath, wordless sounds of pleasure, two hearts beating hot, hard, and in tune with one another.
She has less to do with a kiss on a cheek, and more to do with an orgasm.”In my experience? Romance is rarely like this anyway. Flirtation isn’t harmless, it’s dangerous and powerful, and in the old days (and even now), flirting with someone has been considered tantamount to witchcraft.
Don’t get me wrong, Freyja is big on the lust. Everything I’ve ever read about her, and also everything I’ve ever experienced with her personally, leads to that conclusion. However, she’s also very comfortable with the arranging of romance.
See, the thing people miss here, probably because of the Disneyfication of the concept of romance is, it’s about choosing one’s fate. Romance is about choosing to create a moment that is more important than any other moment in the world, between themselves and another person (or people, I’m poly).
That is in direct defiance of the whole “do as you’re told” mentality many cultures (including old Norse) subscribed to, as they depended upon things like marriage and social contract to keep the community together and help each other prosper.
Freyja’s magic is about manipulating and influencing nature and fate. Romance and attraction are hers. And that’s why crushes aren’t polite, and why many forms of attraction are warlike and violent and result in horrible outcomes like abuse or harassment.
It’s also why Freyja’s more than willing to come to the defense of victims of said abuse, especially women. She is about taking the world by force, but primarily she’s about overturning the status quo to empower the underdog. Remember how her followers were treated, and how the Vanir were at war with the Aesir? Even now, she’s still fighting the fight of her people, to honor and venerate the old ways.
So, as a goddess of love, she’s a goddess of choice and ruthless commitment to happiness for those under her care. She teaches them to be fierce, and she helps them find love, and she reminds them to defend that love (and even pursue it) with a sword and a thirst for blood.
Berserkers go into blood rages and emulate bears? Psh. Freyja is the queen of the jungle, and her followers are her pride. Their nature doesn’t fade or pass after a while. They remain as they always have- wild and free.
Frøy & Frøya (Freyr & Freyja) by Johan Egerkrans
These are gorgeous. Love ‘em
T E E N A G E G I R L S + M Y T H O L O G Y: Freyja
There’s a cat winding its way around her legs, a shawl of feathers draped across her back. When she smiles, golden piercings glint in the sun, reflecting back faces of awe. They fall in love, they fall out of love. She watches them, sees the circle of life itself unfold. Her posture is regal, if not a little stiff, but nobody mentions this. They do not dare, for there is no denying that this girl holds something in her bones of great importance. She walks tall, fingers twitching in a mysterious and near rhythmic manner. Somewhere, magic exists.
Forged By Fate- A Freyja Playlist
Gold Guns Girls// Metric
Boys Wanna Be Her// Peaches
Warrior’s Dance// The Prodigy
Falcon Jab// Ratatat
Cat People (Putting Out The Fire)// David Bowie
Gold Lion// Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Prayer For Death And Fire// Jess And The Ancient Ones
Freya// The Sword
Bedazzled Fingernails// Mastodon
Iron Clad// Sleater-Kinney
Running Red// Kylesa
Dismantle Me// The Distillers
South of Somewhere// Royal Thunder
Heurt// Amesoeurs
The Falconist// High On Fire(also on Spotify)
literature women // freyja
freyja the fair then went they to find
hear now the speech that first he spake:
“bind on, freyja, the bridal veil,
for we two must haste to the giants’ home.”wrathful was freyja, and fiercely she snorted,
and the dwelling great of the gods was shaken,
and burst was the mighty brisings’ necklace:
“most lustful indeed should i look to all
if i journeyed with thee to the giants’ home.”
