Frigg: The Beloved Goddess and Her Complex Identity
Frigg, often Anglicized as “Frigga,” holds a paramount position among the Aesir goddesses in Norse mythology. She is the spouse of Odin, the chief deity, and the mother of Baldur. Despite her significant status, the extant primary sources on Norse mythology provide only limited insights into her character, actions, or specific attributes. What details do emerge often overlap with those of Freya, another goddess associated with both the Aesir and Vanir tribes. This intersection suggests that during the late Viking Age, when these materials were recorded, Frigg and Freya were likely distinct in name only, having evolved from the earlier Germanic deity Frija.
Frigg and Freya’s Shared Characteristics
Both Frigg and Freya are portrayed as völvas, practitioners of seidr—a form of Norse magic that involves divining fate and manipulating it for various purposes, analogous to weaving new events into existence. In the Old Norse poem Lokasenna, Freya warns Loki that Frigg possesses knowledge of all fates, highlighting her seidr capabilities. Both goddesses also own falcon feathers, enabling them to transform into birds.
In Viking society, the völva was a traveling seeress and sorceress who performed seidr rituals in exchange for hospitality and other compensation forms. Her status was complex; she could be revered, feared, or even scorned.
During the Migration Period (approximately 400-800 CE), the role that later transitioned into the völva was essential among Germanic tribes. This society featured warbands led by chieftains and their wives, with the wife, known as a veleda, tasked with predicting the outcomes of planned actions through divination and influencing them using active magic.
The Old English epic Beowulf offers a glimpse of such a woman through Hroðgar’s queen, Wealhþeow. Her actions uphold the unity of her warband, hinting at oracular abilities and reflecting a more potent politico-theological concept in the past. This concept draws from the mythological framework of Frija and Woðanaz, who are the predecessors to Freya/Frigg and Odin, respectively. Thus, the goddess who developed into Freya (and Frigg) was initially the wife of the god who became Odin.
Intertwined Destinies
Freya’s husband, Óðr, shares a name and meaning with Odin (the form of “Odin” in Old Norse), both referring to “ecstasy” or “inspiration.” While Óðr remains an almost vague reference in literature, the Prose Edda portrays him as often absent, with Freya mourning for him. This pattern reflects the frequently wandering nature of Odin himself.
Both goddesses are mentioned in contexts portraying infidelity to their common husband. Freya’s freedoms and Frigg’s rumored past affairs, as narrated by historians, suggest that distinguishing between the two based on fidelity alone is problematic.
The name “Friday” in Germanic languages is derived from Frija, linking her to the themes of love and desire, areas in which Freya also presides. This overlap extends to the essence of their names, with Freya being more of a title and Frigg meaning “beloved.”
Thus, it seems they are ultimately two facets of the same goddess, yet late Old Norse texts separate their identities without clear explanations for this differentiation.
As a point of interest, the ambiguity surrounding their distinct representations in the Norse texts remains a topic for further exploration into the nuances of myth and cultural evolution.
