Norse mythology series Freya

Norse mythology series Freya, made of stainless steel.

Highly detailed execution of jewelry in the Norse mythology series.

This pendant honors Freya.

Freya is the most important åsynjen, the goddess, in Åsgård and in Norse mythology. She is actually one of the vanes, and her special area of responsibility is eroticism, love and fertility, but also death and seid, which is a form of magic and deep knowledge about life and death.

Freya is the daughter of the Vanir Njord and sister of the fertility god Frey. Once upon a time there was a great war between the Aesir and the Vanir. When the war ended, Freya was given to the Aesir as a hostage as part of the peace treaty, and she was accepted among them. This is why one of Freya's many names is Vanadis, "Vanegoddess".

Freya is married to Od. He went on a long journey, and Freya cried tears of red gold in longing and set out to look for him. On this journey she used several different names, such as Mardoll, Horn, Syr and Gjevn. Freya is closely related to Odin, and it can be argued that Freya's husband Od is the same as Odin, but the relationship between them may also have been of an extramarital nature.

In Gylvaginning it is said that Freya has two daughters. They are named after her love of jewelry: Hnoss means "jewel" and Gersemi means "treasure".

Freya and the dead

Freya and the Dwarves

Freya visits the dwarves. The illustration was created by Harry George Theaker for a children's book, Children's Stories from the Northern Legends by M. Dorothy Belgrave and Hilda Hart, published in 1920.

Freya and the Dwarves

By Harry George Theaker.

License: Public domain

Odin and Freya divide those who die on the battlefield between them. According to Gylvaginning and Grimnesmål, Freya herself chooses half of the dead warriors and takes them to Folkvang. There they are allowed to live in the hall, Sessrumne. The name means "rich in seats", and there is room for many here. The other half of the fallen come to Odin in Valhalla.

Freya and the art of silk weaving

Freya is associated with seid and blot. In Snorri's Ynglingesaga she is also referred to as blotgydje, the goddess who blots. The Vanir ruled over fertility and seid, and since Freya was of the Vanir lineage, she had these abilities. It was she who brought knowledge of seid to Odin and the other Æsir and taught them how to perform the art.

Freya owns a golden feathered helm that enables her to fly. In the Trymskvadet it is said that Loki borrows this feathered helm to search for Thor's hammer. The fact that Freya can change into a bird helm can be seen in connection with her tasks in seid. When she seid, she could send her soul in the form of a bird on a journey.

The sensual Freya

Freya is the goddess of fertility – a responsibility that covers crops and growth as well as human love. In Gylvaginning we learn that Freya appreciates love poems and is good for humans to pray to in matters of love.

Freya was also active in many love stories herself. In Loketretten, Loki accuses Freya of promiscuity. He claims that she has had erotic relations with all the Æsir and elves, including her own brother, Frey. Many sources indicate that he was largely right.

Freya was particularly fond of jewelry and gold, and her most important characteristic is a special piece of jewelry called Brisingamen. The piece of jewelry was made by four dwarves, and Freya bought it from them by paying the price they set. The price was that she would spend a night with each of them, and Freya agreed.

When Freya travels, she rides in a chariot pulled by two male cats. This is the one she rides in when she arrives at Balder's bonfire.

Freya also has the boar Hildesvinet, which the dwarfs Dåin and Nabbe have forged for her. In the poem Hyndleljod it is told that the wolf Hyndla and Freya ride together to Valhalla. The wolf rides a wolf and Freya rides the Hildesvinet.

Freya and the Jyots

"Ah, what an ugly maid it is!"

Thor dresses up as Freya to trick the giants. He is wearing the Brisingamen jewel, and Freya's cats look on. Illustration from In the Days of Giants: A Book of Norse Tales by Abbie Farwell Brown from 1902

"Ah, what an ugly maid it is!"

By Elmer Boyd Smith.

License: Public domain

Freya is the most beautiful and most sought-after in Åsgård. In the eternal struggle between the jötunns and the Æsir, one of the jötunns' goals is to get hold of Freya. The Trymskvadet gives us an example of this. The jötunn king Trym steals Thor's stolen hammer, Mjölner, and demands Freya in exchange for returning the hammer. The Æsir depend on Thor having Mjölner to protect Åsgård, and are willing to fulfill the demand. Freya becomes so enraged by this that Brisingamen breaks in two, and she refuses to offer herself as a bride for Trym.

It ends with Thor having to dress up as Freya. He puts his hair up, puts on women's clothes, puts two stones in his dress as breasts and puts on Brisingamen. That's how Thor manages to sneak into Trym's hall. Trym would like to have a kiss from his future bride, but Thor demands to get Mjölner first. When he gets it, he shows who he is and kills all the jongins in the hall.

The cherished Freya

Freya was central to Norse mythology, and she is often mentioned in written sources. Among the most important are Gylvaginning, Trymskvadet and Loketretten, but she is also mentioned in later sources as Sorletåtten in Flatøybok. Many Nordic place names can be linked to the Freya cult and also testify to her popularity.

Freya was popular, and during the transition to Christianity, the church people were particularly dissatisfied with the valued Freya. They actively advocated stopping the cult around her.

Chain 4 mm. 60 cm

Weight 37g

Diameter 35 mm.