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Freya
Norse Fertility Goddess, Patron Goddess of Love

In Norse mythology, Freya is considered the patron goddess of love, beauty,
sex, attraction, fertility, crops and birth, and the consummate symbol of
sensuality. The most beautiful of the goddesses, she was also a
goddess of war, death, magic, prophecies and wealth. She loves music, spring and
flowers, and is particularly fond of the fairies. Freya is one of the foremost
goddesses of the Vanir, Freyja means "lady" in Old Norse.
In Norse myth, the Vanir are originally a group of wild nature and fertility
gods and goddesses, the sworn enemies of the warrior gods of the
Aesir. They were
considered to be the bringers of health, youth, fertility, luck and wealth, and
masters of magic. The Vanir live in
Vanaheim.
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.
Freya
is depicted as wearing 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.
This photograph is Freyja and the apple tree at the end of the world as
depicted in an illustration by
Arthur Rackham.
Cloak
Freya owned a cloak of robin feathers, which gave her the ability to change
into any bird. She lends this garment to Loki in
Þrymskviða.
Freyja rides a boar called Hildisvín,
the Battle-Swine. In the poem
Hyndluljóð,
we are told that in order to conceal Ottar,
Freyja transformed him into the guise of a boar. The
boar has special
associations within Norse Mythology, both relative to the notion of fertility
and also as a protective talisman in war.
Other sources show that Freyja rode a chariot drawn by a pair of cats.
The photo is a depiction of Freyja riding a cat-driven chariot and
flanked by Italian Renaissance-inspired putti by Swedish painter Nils Blommér.
Jewelry
One
of Freya's attributes is the precious necklace of the Brisingamen, which is
said to be an amber
necklace.
When she wore it no man or god could withstand her charms, which was obviously a
matter of great concern to the other goddesses during springtime when she
reputedly wore it. The necklace also gave support to any army which she favored
on the battlefield. She reportedly obtained the necklace by sleeping with
four persistent and demanding dwarves named Davlin, Alfrik, Berling, and Grer.
Some time later, Loki stole the necklace at the insistence of Odin. Odin then attempted to bed
Freya using the same persistent and demanding strategy as the dwarves, though he was unsuccessful. Freya loved
jewelry so much that she actually named her daughter "Hnoss" ("Jewel").
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyja
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