Freya

She Who Shines over the Sea

**Also known as:** Valfreya; Freyja

**Classification:** Vanir

**Pantheon**: Norse

**Title**: Queen of the Valkyries

**Authority**: Love and Passion

## Information

Freya, most beautiful of the Norse spirits, has dominion over love, sex, fertility, magic, witchcraft, warcraft, death, pleasure, and glory. Freya literally means “Lady” and may be a title, not a name. (Her twin brother is Freyr, or “Lord.”) She is simultaneously a spirit of fertility and death, beauty and war.

Freya, daughter of Njord and Herta (Nerthus), Sea and Earth, is among the Vanir hostages who joined the Aesir to maintain spiritualpeace. Freya, however, quickly became a dominant force in her new realm. When she first arrived in Asgard, she taught the Aesir how to craft charms and potions. She inducted Odin into the world of magic.

Freya is invoked for love, romance, and fertility, but she is a death goddess, too. Under the name Valfreya, she leads the Valkyries to the battlefield where she lays claim to half the dead who are brought to dwell in her beautiful palace, Folkvang, where love songs play continuously.

Freya was no obscure goddess but beloved and worshipped over a vast European territory including Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, the Germanic lands, Holland, and Anglo-Saxon Britain. She remains among the most beloved and widely venerated Pagan goddesses today. No spirit annoyed Christian authorities more than Freya. Ironically, the result was that Freya survives more vividly than virtually any other female European spirit. Constant condemnation kept Freya from fading into obscurity.

Freya was denounced as a Queen of Witches. Women who venerated her were automatically branded “witches.” And, of course, Freya’s rites and traditions did encourage magical practice, mediumship, shamanism, and female autonomy with Freya herself as the role model, behaviour the new regime considered abhorrent and sinful.

* Freya weeps tears of amber.
* Honey contains her essence.
* Freya knows the power of the runes. They can be used to communicate with her.

**Favoured people:** Soldiers, veterans, jewelers, seers, shamans, practitioners of the magical arts

**Manifestations:** Usually as a golden, beautiful, charismatic woman, but she is a shape-shifter and can take any form.

**Attributes:** Magical falcon feather cloak enabling her to fly; Brisingamen, the glowing necklace forged by dwarves

**Metal:** Gold

**Planet:** Moon

**Day:** Friday (literally: Friday is Freya’s Day)

**Number:** 13 (the number of months in a lunar year)

**Sacred date:** Any Friday the 13th

**Flowers:** Primroses; mugwort; bird berry; holly; bedstraw; flax; hemp

**Runes:** The runes with which Freya is associated include Berkano and Ehwaz

**Animals:** Cats, rabbits, boars, oxen; lady-bugs

**Birds:** Cuckoo, falcon, swallow

**Mounts:** Two grey cats pull Freya’s chariot, possibly lynxes.

**Offerings:** Honey; mead; flowers; sing love songs for her or compose poetry; Freya will accept humble offerings, but she has fine taste and will gladly accept lavish offerings of jewelry and perfume. Freya’s devotees held dinners in her honor, offering her ale, apples, barley, and pork. It is traditional to feed stray or feral cats as an offering to Freya. Adopting some cats may get you into good graces, too, provided that you treat them well.

**See Also:** Aesir; Dwarves; Freyr; Frigg; Herta; Odin; Valkyrie; Vanir

## A Solitary Pagan

Freyja is the Viking goddess of love and sexuality and can be invoked for rituals to increase confidence in inner beauty and worth, for the increase of passion and for fertility in every aspect. A witch goddess, she is potent for all magick, especially astral projection and crystal and gem magick.

## Smite Lore

Valkyries, the elite and angelic warriors of the Nordic Pantheon, are as beautiful and dangerous as a midnight winter storm. Yet their queen, Freya, so irresistibly desirable, so uncompromising in warfare, make the Valkyries seem nothing more than plain paper dolls. She’s the object of desire for every God, every man, and the envy of every woman. Even the Frost Giants crave her for their own, often devising devious plans to trick or force her into marriage. But Freya is proud and strong, with the cunning to escape her enemies and ruthlessly retaliate. Every rose bears thorns, but this one wields swords.

Were it up to her, Freya would have little to do with blood and blades. Her name literally means “the lady,” and none of more worthy of the title. She adores bright flowers, pleasant company, and the sweet lilt of a sad love song. She’s sensual and amorous, invoked by worshipers seeking to bear a child or find a lover. Ruler of the realm of Sessrumnir, a place much like Valhalla, where the souls of dead warriors spend eternity, Freya provides comfort and bliss to the fallen.

Once, Freya was married to the mysterious and elusive God, Od. Immediately following their wedding, Od went on a journey to distant and inhospitable lands. So long was he gone the Gods presumed him dead. Distraught and heartbroken, Freya spilled tears of gold and searched the globe for him. Finally, she discovered him ship-wrecked and twisted into a hideous sea monster. Melancholy but loyal, she stayed and comforted him. Though one night, while she slept, a daring hunter slew the beast Od had become. Moved by Freya’s utter despair, the Gods agreed to allow Od into Sussrumnir, despite the fact he had not died in battle, so he and Freya could remain together forever.

## Appearances in Modern Media

From SmiteFrom Blood BrothersFrom Age of MythologyFrom Tower of SaviorsFrom Dawn of GodsFrom Puzzle & DragonFrom Reign of DragonsFrom Age of IshtariaFrom Unison LeagueFrom DislyteFrom Monster StrikeFrom Brave FrontierFrom Force of WillFrom Kamihime ProjectFrom Destiny Child
## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes

A Solitary Pagan