The Goddess Freya

Freya (Freyja, Freia) was one of the two highest ranked goddesses in the Norse pantheon. (The other goddess was Frigg; some scholars believe the two goddesses were actually one and the same.) Her name means "the Lady." Freya was a blonde, blue-eyed, beautiful goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, assisting in childbirth and magic, bringing good seasons, and bringing happiness in love. On the other hand, she was also associated with war and battles. She received in her sacred halls half of those warriors who fell in battle (the ones who were defending their kin or land); Odin received the other half (the ones who had gone looking for the fight).

Freya wears a cloak of falcon feathers and as a result can change into a bird and fly to another world. She drives a chariot drawn by cats (Norweigen forest cats or lynxes), and also rides a golden boar, an animal sacred in Norse Mythology for fertility and protection in war. Cats are sacred to Freya, and this links her to similar Indo-European goddesses who appear with cats or lions, such as Bast, Sekhmet, Durga, Rhea, Priya and others. Freya also has a holy necklace made of amber and gold; it even is mentioned in the Beowulf saga. She is attended by three minor goddesses, and is wedded and has daughters. When she misses her husband, tears fall from her eyes, and they are made of red gold.

When the Scandinavian and Germanic lands were Christianized, much artwork dedicated to Freya and other gods and goddesses was destroyed during this period, and many ways of worship were scorned and the deities were slandered and demonized. Two priests perpetuated the legend that Freya was a human concubine of the Asian (human) king Odin. She wished for a special golden necklace made by four dwarves and; they agreed to give it to her as long as she spent a night with each of them. She did so and returned home with it, omitting from telling Odin the finer details. Loki (also a man in this tale) told Odin of her deeds, and in his anger, Odin made her agree to have two kingdoms fight endlessly until brave christened men would enter into battle with them and kill everyone. In the tale, Freya was so greedy for the necklace that she instantly agreed. Of course, the Christian priests were pleased to report that their ranks had come to end this curse.

Even after Christianity took over, Freya was not forgotten, and her influence is still noted today. Plants named after her, such as Freya's tears and Freya's hair were renamed for the Virgin Mary; the Virgin Mary often replaced Freya's role in many respects. Other places and objects named after her have kept their names. The word Friday in the Germanic languages is derived from either Freya's or Frigg's name - but as has been said, they are sometimes believed to be the same goddess in any case. She also had a chemical element named after her, as was a constellation. Freja also remains to this day a very popular name in Denmark, England, Wales, and Scandinavia. Farms, islands, and temples are still named after her, and even gold was referred to as Freya's tears, or Freya's eyes. Beautiful things and gems are called daughters of Freya. Farmers always left apples in the trees for Freya to shake out of them for the sake of the next harvest. Lightning was also attributed to her.

Freya appeared in Wagner's operas, which popularized the Norse myths for a modern audience. In his version of events, Freya was the goddess of beauty who guards golden apples. When she was kidnapped by giants, the other gods (Thor, Freyr, Frigg, Odin, Loki) grew old and ugly until Odin paid a ransom for her.