Norse

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Norse

Freya

The Queen of Valkyries

Domain: Love & Sorcery
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Element: Light
Relics of Power: Brisingamen Necklace

Speak with Freya

The full Codex

5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

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The People

People

Norse & Germanic peoples

Region

Scandinavia & northern Europe

Period

Viking Age, 8th–11th c.

The gods of Asgard were worshipped by the Norse peoples of Scandinavia and by the Germanic tribes, especially during the Viking Age. Warriors sought to die in battle to reach Odin's Valhalla, and the myths were preserved in the Icelandic Eddas. The cult declined with the region's Christianization around the year 1000.

The Norse celebrated blóts, seasonal sacrifices with feasts of meat and mead, such as the Yule of the winter solstice. The great temple at Uppsala, in Sweden, hosted every nine years one of the largest sacrificial festivals of the Viking world.

At a glance

Freya (Old Norse Freyja, 'The Lady') is a principal goddess in Norse mythology, associated with love, Vanir magic, gold, and fallen warriors. A member of the Vanir, she is the daughter of Njord and sister of Freyr. In Ynglinga saga, section 4 in Laing's translation, Njord and Freyr are sent as hostages after the war between Aesir and Vanir; Freya is presented as a priestess of sacrifices and teacher of Vanir magic. Medieval sources record that she drives a chariot drawn by cats, owns a feather garment that Loki borrows to fly, and owns the necklace Brísingamen. She resides in Fólkvangr, associated in prose with her hall Sessrúmnir; Freya receives half of the fallen warriors, while the remaining half goes to Odin in Valhalla. Mythic tradition also records her weeping tears of red gold for her absent husband Óðr and her role as the first to teach the Aesir the magic art of the Vanir (Ynglinga saga 4).

18 min read · Reviewed on October 5, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

Brísingamen necklace, cat-drawn chariot, falcon and the boar Hildisvíni

Family

Parents

NjordNjord's unnamed sister (Ynglinga saga, section 4, Laing)

Siblings

Freyr

Freya

Unions

Odr

Children

HnossGersemi

Genealogy according to Gylfaginning 24, 35 (Brodeur, 1916): https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Prose_Edda_(1916_translation_by_Arthur_Gilchrist_Brodeur)/Gylfaginning; Ynglinga saga 4, 13 (Laing, 1844): https://sacred-texts.com/neu/heim/02ynglga.htm

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning 24, 35. translation: Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (1916). read
Snorri Sturluson, Ynglinga saga, §§4, 13 in Laing's numbering. translation: Samuel Laing (1844). read
Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál 1, 20, 37, Brodeur (1916). translation: Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (1916). read
Anônimo / Anonymous / Anónimo, Grímnismál 14. translation: Henry Adams Bellows (1923). read
Anônimo / Anonymous / Anónimo, Thrymskvitha 1–19. translation: Henry Adams Bellows (1923). read
Anônimo / Anonymous / Anónimo, Hyndluljóð 1–11, 46–51 and introduction/notes. translation: Henry Adams Bellows (1923). read
Anônimo / Anonymous / Anónimo, Lokasenna 24–36. translation: Henry Adams Bellows (1923). read
Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning 24, 35, 42, 49. translation: Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (1916). read
Richard Wagner, The Rhinegold, second scene. translation: Margaret Armour (1910). read

Name and epithets

Freyja is the Old Norse form and transparently means “lady, mistress.” According to the English Wikipedia entry “Freyja” (Etymology section, which cites specialist literature), the name comes from the Proto-Germanic fem…

In the ancient sources

Poetic Edda (Grímnismál), Preserved in Codex Regius (13th-century manuscript containing older oral tradition).. Attests the division of battle-slain warriors between Freya at Fólkvangr and Odin.

The myths

The Division of the Slain at Fólkvangr. Grímnismál 14 presents Fólkvangr as the ninth dwelling and states that Freya determines the seats in the hall: each day she chooses half the dead, and Odin receives the other half…

Worship and archaeology

Literary testimony connects Freya with prayer and sacrifice without establishing a universal calendar of worship.

How the god was depicted

Freya's literary attributes are more secure than automatically identifying archaeological images. In Gylfaginning 24 she travels in a chariot with cats; in chapter 49 the cats accompany her again at Baldr's funeral.

What scholars debate

Genealogy and narrative sequence. Ynglinga saga 4 places Njord's union with his unnamed sister among the Vanir and makes Freyr and Freya their children.

After antiquity

A documented modern reworking appears in Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold. In Margaret Armour's translation published in 1910, Freia is listed among the work's goddesses; in the second scene, Fasolt demands her surrender…

Did you know?

The title of honour Frú, given to noblewomen, comes from Freya’s name according to Gylfaginning 24. Ynglinga saga 13 gives a similar explanation: because she alone remained of the gods, women of distinction came to be c…

Codex relic

Brisingamen Necklace. A hypnotic golden amulet emitting divine beauty.

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