Difference between revisions of "Frigg" - New World Encyclopedia

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==Connection between Frigg and Freyja==
 
==Connection between Frigg and Freyja==
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Given the similarities between Frigg and [[Freyja]], with the former as the highest goddess of the [[Æsir]] and the latter as the highest goddess of the [[Vanir]], it is perhaps unsurprising that scholars have debated a possible relationship between them. Specifically, many arguments have been made both for and against the idea that Frigg and Freyja are really the same goddess.<ref>Davidson, 10; Grundy, Stephen, 56-67; Nasstrom, 68-77.</ref> Some arguments are based on linguistic analysis, others on the fact that Freyja is only mentioned in Northern German (and later Nordic) accounts, and still others on specific mythic tales. On the other hand, they sometimes appear at the same time in the same text.<ref>Welsh, 75.</ref> This final fact would seem to imply that Frigg and Freyja were similar goddesses from different pantheons who, at initial contact, were syncretically conflated with each other, only to be distinguished again at a later date.
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Frigg is the highest goddess of the [[Æsir]], while [[Freyja]] is the highest goddess of the [[Vanir]]. Many arguments have been made both for and against the idea that Frigg and Freyja are really the same goddess, avatars of one another. <ref>Davidson, 10; Grundy, Stephen, 56-67; Nasstrom, 68-77.</ref>
 
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Some arguments are based on linguistic analysis, others on the fact that Freyja wasn't known in southern Germany, only in the north, and in some places the two goddesses were considered to be the same, while in others they were considered to be different. <ref>Welsh, 75.</ref> There are clearly many similarities between the two: both had flying cloaks of falcon feathers and engaged in shape-shifting, Frigg was married to Odin while Freyja was married to [[Óðr]], both had special necklaces, both had a personification of the Earth as a parent, both were called upon for assistance in childbirth, etc. On the other hand, they sometimes appear at the same time in the same text.
 
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There is also an argument that Frigg and Freyja are part of a triad of goddesses (together with either [[Hnoss]] or [[Iðunn]]) associated with the different ages of womankind. The areas of influence of Frigg and Freyja don't quite match up with the areas of influence often seen in other goddess triads.  This may mean that the argument isn't a good one, or it may tell us something interesting about northern European culture as compared to Celtic and southern European culture.
 
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Finally, there is an argument is that Frigg and Freyja are similar goddesses from different pantheons who were first conflated into each other and then later seen as separate goddesses again. (See also [[Frige]].) This is consistent with the theological treatment of  some Greek, Roman, and Egyptian deities in the late classical period.
 
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==Toponyms (and Other Linguistic Traces) of Frigg==
 
==Toponyms (and Other Linguistic Traces) of Frigg==
 
[[Image:Galium verum01.jpg|right|150px|thumb|[[Lady's Bedstraw|Frigg's grass]].]]
 
[[Image:Galium verum01.jpg|right|150px|thumb|[[Lady's Bedstraw|Frigg's grass]].]]
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The name of a lost farm in the parish of [[Hegra]] was written "af Fryggiosætre" around 1435. This seem to be [[North Germanic languages|Norse]] ''Friggjarsetr'', where the first element is the genitive case of ''Frigg'' (and the last element is ''setr'' 'homestead, farm'). If that is the case, then this is the only name in Norway containing ''Frigg''.
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The most notable linguistic survival of Frigg is in the English calendar, where "Friday" is derived from her name. As suggested in an Old English account:
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:The sixth day they appointed
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Friday
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:to the shameless goddess
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:called Venus
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:and Fricg [Frigg] in Danish.<ref>Turville-Petre, 189.</ref>
  
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Further evidence of her erstwhile import can be found in surviving toponyms, many of which can be found in Sweden (i.e. ''Friggjarakr'' ("Frigg's Cornfield") in Västergötland).<ref>Lindow, 129. Turville-Petre, 189.</ref> In addition to the Swedish survivals, archaeologists have also found an abandoned Norwegian farm (ca. 1435), whose name  (''Friggjarsetr'') can be translated "Frigg's homestead." However, this find is somewhat anomalous, as no other Friggic toponyms have been found in Norway.
  
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The [[Orion (constellation)|Orion]] [[constellation]] was known as "Frigg's [[Distaff]]" (''Friggerock'')<ref>Schön, 228.</ref>. Some have pointed out that the constellation is on the celestial equator and have suggested that the stars rotating in the night sky may have been associated with Frigg's spinning wheel<ref>Krupp, 60.</ref>.
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The constellation [[Orion]] was once known as "Frigg's Distaff" (''Friggerock'').<ref>Schön, 228.</ref>. To explain this attribution, some scholars have pointed out that the constellation is on the celestial equator and have suggested that the stars rotating in the night sky may have been associated with Frigg's spinning wheel.<ref>Krupp, 60.</ref>
  
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She helped women give birth to children, and Scandinavians used the plant [[Lady's Bedstraw]] (''Galium verum'') as a sedative, they called it ''Frigg's grass'')<ref>Schön, 228.</ref>.
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Given the goddess's association with woman and childbirth, the Scandinavians named Lady's Bedstraw (''Galium verum''), a plant commonly prescribed as a sedative for pained mothers, ''Frigg's grass''.<ref>Schön, 228.</ref>
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==

Revision as of 21:55, 12 March 2007

Frigg spinning the clouds, by J C Dollman

In Norse mythology, Frigg (Eddas) or Frigga (Gesta Danorum) was said to be "foremost among the goddesses,"[1] the wife of Odin, queen of the Æsir, and goddess of the sky. One of the Ásynjur, she is a goddess of fertility, love, household management, marriage, motherhood, and domestic arts. Her primary functions in the Norse mythological stories are as wife and mother, but these are not her only functions.

Frigg in a Norse Context

As a Norse deity, Frigg belonged to a complex religious, mythological and cosmological belief system shared by the Scandinavian and Germanic peoples. This mythological tradition, of which the Scandinavian (and particularly Icelandic) sub-groups are best preserved, developed in the period from the first manifestations of religious and material culture in approximately 1000 B.C.E. until the Christianization of the area, a process that occurred primarily from 900-1200 C.E.[2] The tales recorded within this mythological corpus tend to exemplify a unified cultural focus on physical prowess and military might.

Within this framework, Norse cosmology postulates three separate "clans" of deities: the Aesir, the Vanir, and the Jotun. The distinction between Aesir and Vanir is relative, for the two are said to have made peace, exchanged hostages, intermarried and reigned together after a prolonged war, which the Aesir had finally won. In fact, the most major divergence between the two groups is in their respective areas of influence, with the Aesir representing war and conquest, and the Vanir representing exploration, fertility and wealth.[3] The Jotun, on the other hand, are seen as a generally malefic (though wise) race of giants who represented the primary adversaries of the Aesir and Vanir.

Frigg's main roles in the Norse pantheon are as the queen of the Aesir and the wife of Odin.

Attributes

File:Fricka.jpg
As "Fricka" — Arthur Rackham's illustration to the Die Walküre opera by Richard Wagner

She is said to have woven or spun the clouds.

Frigg's name means "love" or "beloved one" (Proto-Germanic *frijjō, cf. Sanskrit priyā "dear woman") and was known among many northern European cultures with slight name variations over time: e.g. Frea in southern Germany, Frija or Friia in Old High German, Friggja in Sweden, Frīg (genitive Frīge) in Old English, and Frika in Wagner's operas.[4] Modern English translations have sometimes altered Frigg to Frigga. It has been suggested that "Frau Holle" of German folklore is a survival of Frigg.[5]


Frigg's hall in Asgard is Fensalir, which means "Marsh Halls." [6] This may mean that marshy or boggy land was considered especially sacred to her but nothing definitive is known. The goddess Saga, who was described as drinking with Odin from golden cups in her hall "Sunken Benches," may be Frigg by a different name.

Symbols associated with Frigg:
Keys
Distaff
Drop spindle (spinning wheel)
Mistletoe

Frigg was very much the goddess of married women. (aid in childbirth)

She has the power of prophecy although she does not tell what she knows [7], and is the only one other than Odin who is permitted to sit on his high seat Hlidskjalf and look out over the universe. She also participates in the Wild Hunt (Asgardreid) along with her husband. Frigg's children are Baldr, Höðr and, in an English source, Wecta; her stepchildren are Hermóðr, Heimdall, Tyr, Vidar, Váli, and Skjoldr. Thor is either her brother or a stepson. Frigg's companion is Eir, the gods' doctor and goddess of healing. Frigg's attendants are Hlín (a goddess of protection), Gná (a messenger goddess), and Fulla (a fertility goddess). It is unclear whether Frigg's companions and attendants are simply different aspects of Frigg herself (cf. avatar). According to the poem Lokasenna Frigg is the daughter of Fjorgyn (masculine version of "Earth," cf. feminine version of "Earth," Thor's mother), her mother is not identified in the stories that have survived.

Mythic Representations

The Death of Balder

The most famous story featuring Frigg has her predominantly in the role of mother. Frigg especially loved her son Balder, and with a mother's concern she set about trying to protect him after he had a prophetic dream of his own death. She had everything in the world promise not to harm him, but did not extract a promise from mistletoe (which seemed to small and insignificant to bother with). The gods soon made a game of throwing things at Balder and watching them bounce off without hurting him. This pastime soon becomes deadly when Loki gives a mistletoe dart to Balder's blind brother Höðr and offers to help him take part in the festivities. With Loki's guidance, the blind god flings the dart, which pierces his brother's heart and kills him instantly.[8]

Even though Frigg must have known that Balder was doomed, due to her own precognitive abilities and her son's prophetic dreams, she nonetheless tried to alter his fate. After his death, she sends an emissary (Hermodr) to the Underworld to speak to its queen (Hel), in an attempt to ransom her unfortunate son. The icy queen agrees to release Balder on the condition that all living things weep for him. In a parallel to her initial quest, Frigg speaks to everyone and everything in the world, who all agree to weep for the beloved god of spring. However, the last being to be petitioned, a giantess named Thökk, refused to weep, saying: "Living or dead, I loved not the churl's son. Let Hel hold to that she hath!"[9] With that, Balder was lost to the world forever.

The Winnilers and the Vandals

In a story from the Historia Langobardum of Paulus Diaconus, Frigg is, once again, shown in the role of wife, but as one who knows how to get her own way - in spite of her strong-willed husband. In it, the narrator describes a conflict between two Germanic tribes, the Winnilers and the Vandals (one of whom (the Vandals) had the support of Odin, the other (the Winnilers) favored by Frigg). After a heated discussion, Odin swore that he would grant victory to the first tribe he saw the next morning upon awakening, knowing full well that the bed was arranged so that the Vandals were on his side. While he slept, Frigg told the Winniler women to comb their hair over their faces to look like long beards, so that they appeared to be an army of men. She also turned the All-Father's bed, so the Winniler women would be on Odin's side. When he woke up, Odin was surprised to see the horde of unfamiliar, bearded men outside of this window and asked his wife who these "long-beards" were.[10] Outsmarted, Odin kept his oath and granted victory to the Winnilers, eventually admitting the wisdom of Frigg's choice.[11]

Frigg's Sexuality

Despite her general reputation as a wife and mother, some accounts depict Frigg as somewhat sexually licentious. In the Lokasenna, a ribald and insulting poem which features Loki lobbing invective at the Aesir, Frigg is accused of having slept with of Odin's brothers (Vili and Ve) - an accusation that she makes no effort to deny.[12] Details on this episode can be found in Snorri's Ynglinga Sage, which states that:

Odin had two brothers, the one called Ve, the other Vilje, and they governed the kingdom when he was absent. It happened once when Odin had gone to a great distance, and had been so long away that the people Of Asia doubted if he would ever return home, that his two brothers took it upon themselves to divide his estate; but both of them took his wife Frigg to themselves. Odin soon after returned home, and took his wife back.[13]

In an even more provocative account (from the Gesta Danorum) describes Frigg desecrating a golden statue of Odin in order to reclaim the gold for jewelry. Unable to take down the statue herself, she enlists the aid of a servant by seducing him.[14]

These accounts are difficult to categorize, as they are rather incompatible with the general picture of Frigg as a loving wife and mother (as characterized throughout the large majority of sources).

Connection between Frigg and Freyja

Given the similarities between Frigg and Freyja, with the former as the highest goddess of the Æsir and the latter as the highest goddess of the Vanir, it is perhaps unsurprising that scholars have debated a possible relationship between them. Specifically, many arguments have been made both for and against the idea that Frigg and Freyja are really the same goddess.[15] Some arguments are based on linguistic analysis, others on the fact that Freyja is only mentioned in Northern German (and later Nordic) accounts, and still others on specific mythic tales. On the other hand, they sometimes appear at the same time in the same text.[16] This final fact would seem to imply that Frigg and Freyja were similar goddesses from different pantheons who, at initial contact, were syncretically conflated with each other, only to be distinguished again at a later date.

Toponyms (and Other Linguistic Traces) of Frigg

Frigg's grass.

The most notable linguistic survival of Frigg is in the English calendar, where "Friday" is derived from her name. As suggested in an Old English account:

The sixth day they appointed
to the shameless goddess
called Venus
and Fricg [Frigg] in Danish.[17]

Further evidence of her erstwhile import can be found in surviving toponyms, many of which can be found in Sweden (i.e. Friggjarakr ("Frigg's Cornfield") in Västergötland).[18] In addition to the Swedish survivals, archaeologists have also found an abandoned Norwegian farm (ca. 1435), whose name (Friggjarsetr) can be translated "Frigg's homestead." However, this find is somewhat anomalous, as no other Friggic toponyms have been found in Norway.

The constellation Orion was once known as "Frigg's Distaff" (Friggerock).[19]. To explain this attribution, some scholars have pointed out that the constellation is on the celestial equator and have suggested that the stars rotating in the night sky may have been associated with Frigg's spinning wheel.[20]

Given the goddess's association with woman and childbirth, the Scandinavians named Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum), a plant commonly prescribed as a sedative for pained mothers, Frigg's grass.[21]

Notes

  1. ↑ Sturluson, Snorri. Prose Edda, Gylfaginning.
  2. ↑ Lindow, 6-8. Though some scholars have argued against the homogenizing effect of grouping these various traditions together under the rubric of “Norse Mythology,” the profoundly exploratory/nomadic nature of Viking society tends to overrule such objections. As Thomas DuBois cogently argues, “[w]hatever else we may say about the various peoples of the North during the Viking Age, then, we cannot claim that they were isolated from or ignorant of their neighbors…. As religion expresses the concerns and experiences of its human adherents, so it changes continually in response to cultural, economic, and environmental factors. Ideas and ideals passed between communities with frequency and regularity, leading to and interdependent and intercultural region with broad commonalities of religion and worldview.” (27-28).
  3. ↑ More specifically, Georges Dumézil, one of the foremost authorities on the Norse tradition and a noted comparitivist, argues quite persuasively that the Aesir / Vanir distinction is a component of a larger triadic division (between ruler gods, warrior gods, and gods of agriculture and commerce) that is echoed among the Indo-European cosmologies (from Vedic India, through Rome and into the Germanic North). Further, he notes that this distinction conforms to patterns of social organization found in all of these societies. See Georges Dumézil's Gods of the Ancient Northmen (especially pgs. xi-xiii, 3-25) for more details.
  4. ↑ Claims of a connection between Frau Holle and Frigg can be traced back at least to Jacob Grimm. However, some recent scholarship suggests that the linguistic evidence connecting Frau Holle with Frigg is based on a mistaken translation from Latin. See Smith, 167, 169.
  5. ↑ Simek, 81.
  6. ↑ Simek, pages 93-94. Also: Lindow, 128-130.
  7. ↑ Sturluson, Snorri. Prose Edda, Skáldskaparmál. "She will tell no fortunes, yet well she knows the fates of men."
  8. ↑ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning XLIX. Brodeur 70-75.
  9. ↑ Gylfaginning XLIX. Brodeur, 75. It should be noted that Snorri considers this giantess to be Loki in disguise.
  10. ↑ In an etiological sense, this myth explains the origin of the name "Langobards" (literally "long beards," by saying that the group changed its appellation in honour of their new divine sanction. See [Paulus Diaconus.
  11. ↑ Summarized in Orchard, 120; Full text available online at Northvegr.org: History of the Langobards. This particular tale can be found in chapter VIII.
  12. ↑ Summarized in Lindow, 129.
  13. ↑ Snorri Sturluson, Ynglinga Saga 3, accessed online at northvegr.org.
  14. ↑ Lindow, 128-129.
  15. ↑ Davidson, 10; Grundy, Stephen, 56-67; Nasstrom, 68-77.
  16. ↑ Welsh, 75.
  17. ↑ Turville-Petre, 189.
  18. ↑ Lindow, 129. Turville-Petre, 189.
  19. ↑ Schön, 228.
  20. ↑ Krupp, 60.
  21. ↑ Schön, 228.

Bibliography

  • Björnsson, Eysteinn (ed.). Snorra-Edda: Formáli & Gylfaginning : Textar fjögurra meginhandrita. 2005. http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/gg/
  • Grundy, Stephen. "Freyja and Frigg" in Roles of the Northern Goddess. Hilda Ellis Davidson (editor). London: Routlege, 1998. 56-67.
  • DuBois, Thomas A. Nordic Religions in the Viking Age. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8122-1714-4.
  • Dumézil, Georges. Gods of the Ancient Northmen. Edited by Einar Haugen; Introduction by C. Scott Littleton and Udo Strutynski. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973. ISBN 0-520-02044-8.
  • Grammaticus, Saxo. The Danish History (Volumes I-IX). Translated by Oliver Elton (Norroena Society, New York, 1905). Accessed online at The Online Medieval & Classical Library.
  • Krupp, E. C. "The Thread of Time." Sky and Telescope 91(1), Jan. 1996. Start page: 60.
  • Lindow, John. Handbook of Norse mythology. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001. ISBN 1-57607-217-7.
  • Munch, P. A. Norse Mythology: Legends of Gods and Heroes. In the revision of Magnus Olsen; translated from the Norwegian by Sigurd Bernhard Hustvedt. New York: The American-Scandinavian foundation; London: H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1926.
  • Nasstrom, Brit-Mari. "Freyja, A Goddess with Many Names" in The Concept of the Goddess. Edited by Sandra Billington and Miranda Green. London: Routlege, 1996. 68-77.
  • Orchard, Andy. Cassell's Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. London: Cassell; New York: Distributed in the United States by Sterling Pub. Co., 2002. ISBN 0-304-36385-5.
  • Schön, Ebbe. Asa-Tors hammare, Gudar och jättar i tro och tradition. Värnamo: Fält & Hässler, 2004.
  • Simek, Rudolf. Dictionary of Northern Mythology, Translated by Angela Hall. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1993.
  • Smith, John B. "Perchta the Belly-Slitter and Her Kin: A View of Some Traditional Threatening Figures, Threats and Punishments." Folklore. 115(2), Aug. 2004. 167-186.
  • Sturlson, Snorri. The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson: Tales from Norse Mythology. Introduced by Sigurdur Nordal; Selected and translated by Jean I. Young. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1954. ISBN 0-520-01231-3.
  • Sturluson, Snorri. The Prose Edda. Translated from the Icelandic and with an introduction by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur. New York: American-Scandinavian foundation, 1916. Available online at http://www.northvegr.org/lore/prose/index.php.
  • Turville-Petre, Gabriel. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964.
  • "Völuspá" in The Poetic Edda. Translated and with notes by Henry Adams Bellows. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1936. Accessed online at sacred-texts.com.
  • Welsh, Lynda. Goddess of the North. York Beach: Weiser Books, 2001.

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