Working For A Better Life (valkyrieofodin) wrote in northern_trad, @ 2008-07-13 10:31:00 |
|
|||
Current mood: | contemplative |
The Relationship Between Freyr & Freyja
The relationship between Freyr, and Freyja is both complex and very simple. You can reduce it to the sentence, Freyr and Freyja are sister and brother and leave it at that. Or you can put it under a microscope. Some Heathens, will tell you that Freyr and Freyja are in fact Twins; literature does not support this if look strictly at the Eddas. But the UPGs of a large number of existing Heathens today have come together in such a way as to validate this and it has become accepted fact. The term UPG stands for Unverifiable Personal Gnosis. What this means is an experience, through personal revelation, by dream, direct contact/vision or inspiration that a certain thing is so. When enough individuals have the same UPG this falls into the public arena and becomes accepted as fact. We believe this may well have been true just as much so in times past as it is today. Now you may be wondering why it is that I am starting out here as anywhere, but the fact is, that what people perceive is very important when it comes to their Gods. Especially Freyr and Freyja, Freyr and Freyja have gone beyond the direct Heathen perception and have been used by other spiritual groups as well, and this has colored the overt impression that many have of them. It has also colored some of the information that is accessible out there. Much of it slanted in one wise or another. Which is why this piece is being written; Not too long ago I had someone come to me and ask me what the relationship between Freyr and Freyja really was. I asked them what they thought it was and they responded that they had read that Freyr was married to Freyja. Now as you may or may not guess I about flipped my wig. Luckily this consultation was going on via chat and they were not able to see exactly how shocked I was. So I told them, no that Freyja is Freyr’s sister and Gerd is his wife. At that point this individual told me that they had heard that too, in fact, they had heard that not only was Freyr married to Gerd and to Freyja but also to Skadhi, and that they had no idea what was actually true. At which time I asked if they had indeed read Skirnismal. The individual in question didn’t know what Skirnismal was. I asked if they had a copy of the Elder Edda(also known as the Poetic Edda) and they said no. We then went to http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/ind
I do not think that Freyr and Freyja are necessarily twins, though they embody twin principals and this is what confuses people quite a bit. The idea is that a masculine principal and a feminine principal bring to bear the differing parts of the right to rule within a society by showing different aspects of what is needed to treat people in a gracious manner and yet get the most out of relationships in general. This is why their names each equal out to Lord and Lady.
Freyr is a husbandman of the people, finding their strengths and buoying up their weaknesses. Giving of himself in a manner which allows them to see that he is part of the whole and holding himself aloof from the process. His flesh becomes a part of the land and he finds that his firm gentleness will warm the hardest aspects making them shine. He does not lose control of himself but has those within his range who go forth for him showing what needs must be met while he stays to guard that which is closest. He also teaches the ways of the people and holds the knowledge of times past. This is part of what comes of being lord of the mound and of the alfar( alvs and ancestors)their knowledge descends through him and he passes it on when it is necessary. There is dynamic change involved here, This does not denote that he inhibits necessary change, but allows that it happens in a manner that has to do with what is best for the people as they grow, seeing themselves as a cohesive whole rather than a mob. He is also a defender. Finding a capability within himself to do so, whether armed in traditional ways or with what is to hand. This is a way also of empowering all those who are within his realm to learn the best within themselves as it comes, to take care of those they care for and themselves so it is not left to someone outside themselves when it comes to monitoring defense. He is the guardian who is less needed and who does not impose his will unless there is ultimate need. In modern times he has become a champion of those who are depressed, or disabled from what I have seen, by bringing the light of Ljosalfheim to them and giving them a sense of purpose and joy when there had been none previously. Though historically, there is no note of this, we have lost a great deal of lore in relation to most of the Gods, and so it is possible that this is a function that he has carried forth from past to present. It would make some sort of sense as he rides forth upon his golden boar Gullinbursti bringing a kind of second sun forth, and spreading joy as he rides forth across the land. Though historically, the images we have of him seem to be primarily of his huge phallus, Initiating the concept of him as a god of fertility first and foremost, fertility of the mind, and kindling of emotion is just as important as impregnating the land. In this, the ability to bring forth the best among those who give him honor is I think a great attribute of Freyr. There have been many with UPG experiences of him as a God that gives great hugs, or love that is platonic and yet kindles great healing within them. I think that this is consistent. His largest act of care for his people is an act of self sacrifice not one asking them to do for him. As he relates to his sister, there is a closeness that relates to several levels but first we will define her.
Freyja, the feminine principal, in this case shows that she has the ability to produce and yet the ability to choose why and how. Something that is very valued within the Vanic pantheon. She is more of the Lady who gives out of her innate sense of who and what she is. She finds that there is an exchange in all things in this world or any other. When she desires something she makes an exchange for it, and that exchange leads to her journeying through many and many a world seeking for her husband who leaves her.. As she journeys she cries tears that fill the land with gold veins and the lands through which she travels welcome her by flowering in joy and becoming filled with life. Those lands she leaves behind mourn her by the wild life and the life of the fields becoming dead until the next cycle. So she is a goddess of the fertile earth. Simply by offering up some portion of who and what she is in a continuous cycle. She finds new ways, and paves new paths for people to tread. She teaches that extremes of emotion are not to be feared but embraced and that when all is said and done you can still find a sense of self at the end of the day. Self rule, is extremely important as a way of knowing Freyja. Her ability to choose her lovers and not conform to the mores of society is very much at the heart of things as well. Though she has a husband who does not manifest more than once in legend she has lovers throughout(ottar whom she turns into a boar in order to find out his lineage so that he may win out in a contest related to such as per the poetic eddas), she is given the role of one honored enough to have guardianship over the Disir,(the spirits of the female ancestors) and she receives half the slain in battle. Whether she actually fights in battle has been disputed, It is possible that they are simple given to her in tribute for the knowledge she gave Odin in regards to Seidr or it is possible that she leads the Valkyrie into battle herself, she has been known as the Queen of the Valkyrie. At the least she is not known to be a woman of complete peace. Freyja is a goddess of manifest will and magic, of finding new ways of being within the old, of giving pathways for the female spirits to come forth and showing the essence of the independence of spirit that a woman needs in order to find her way. She is rarely displayed as crude in the execution of any of these things however, but always is given to being regal and capable. Something that many do not think of in this day, today many of the qualities they see displayed by her are coupled with crudity and with a sense that there is no capability of conduct with self control. We see however, that this is a woman of self possession when others try to say to her whom she will have congress with in Thrymskiva and tell her that she must marry the jotun Thrym at which she rejoins she will not ever have such a pairing or she would certainly be love struck indeed. In her stead Thor must go dressed in bridal attire to retrieve his hammer. Though this appears to be comic, actually it proves that her judgment is always sound as to what and whom she is in fact having encounters with. As her brother seems to draw those who are physically or emotionally disadvantaged to him, Freyja has of recent times seemed to draw to her, followers of (sexual) abuse, I have encountered this phenomena myself meeting several women and a few men, who were dedicated to her, who had been through varying forms abuse. Some sexual some not. She tends to be a goddess who is willing to teach one how to stand up for themselves and also extend her protection as well. Though not what many would consider to be the traditional mother figure, she has the ability to teach how to say no, which is important to abuse survivors, and also when it is appropriate to fight back, and when to make peace. Her pride in self is very appropriate and she gives back to folk the ability to hold their heads high. Again, lore does not give this as an attribute of Freyja, this comes from personal experience of those whom I have met, and from what I have been through myself. I think that there is much that fell to the wayside of time unfortunately.
Coming to the point as to what the relationship between her and her brother actually is. In Lokasenna, Loki accuses Freyja of having a sexual relationship with Freyr which no-one denies.
Loki says:” Hush thee, Freya, I full well know thee:
Though art not free from fault:
All AEsir and alfs within this hall has lured to love with thee”
Freya said: “Thy slanderous tongue, ‘twill thy sorrow be,
And still work thee woe;
Wroth are the gods and the goddesses,
Thou’lt fare sadly home from hence.”
Loki said: Hush thee Freya, a whore thou art,
And ay wast bent on ill;
In thy brother’s bed the blessed gods caught thee,
When, Freya, thou didst fart.”
Njorth said: “Little sin me seemth, though beside her mate
A wedded wife can have a lover:
That the unclean `As with us should dwell,
I wonder, who was a woman.”
( Lokasenna in the Poetic Edda translated by Lee M. Hollander 1962)
This shows that Frey and Freyja’s relationship was not a relationship of shame, but common knowledge not meant to be downplayed or used for the sport of others in a bawdy way. Only the mores of society change. In my personal opinion, there is more going on here than the simple bedding of a sister and a brother.. But the sharing of the right to rule; in many societies you will see that this is often shared between siblings, or even bestowed by one sibling upon the other by right of gender. As in the Pharonic Lines of Egypt in which case a sister and brother were required to marry so that right of succession was in place.. This of course causes a lot of interesting permutations.. There are some indications that this might have had some bearing in the Vanic Pantheon. The God and Goddess Njiord and Nerthus are said to be the father and mother of Freyr and Freyja as well as brother and sister. They were considered to be a God and Goddess of water and earth, covering most of the essential necessities of life and showing much of the qualities that we see in Freyr and Freyja only in a grander manner to some extent. Also, their pairing does not appear to have been permanent as Freyr and Freyja’s pairing is not permanent either. Njiord is a God of the water/sea and of prosperity, he gives great gifts to those who would come to him, and he extends protection to those who ride the waves, but he is limited to his range, as he does not like that beyond the beach, the sand, the foam. An alternate pairing was tried for him with Skadhi a mountain Jotun who came to marry into the AEsir pantheon after the slaying of her sire. Nerthus, is a bog/earth goddess, who lives upon an isle and who is taken yearly upon a wain to visit the local areas and bless them with prosperity, she does not wish for her statue to be seen or those who look upon it must be slain. She grants great good harvests and there were many who were sacrificed to the bogs and to her. Amber is often connected first with her and then with Freyja. We primarily heard of Nerthus from Tacitus as he related how things were among the Germania.(The Agricola And The Germania Tacitus, penguin books 1970) She has been likened to Nehallinnia, who was a Goddess of plenty worshipped on the isle of Walcheren in Roman times.(Gods and Myths of Northern Europe by H.R.Ellison Davis) It appears then, that sister brother relationships among the Vanir are relationships that mirror one another, in one way or another, either in a sense of elemental necessity as in the Nerthus/Njiord relationship, where Nerthus is more mobile than Njiord, but both then tend to grand similar blessings,(though hers come with a greater price it would appear). Where later down the line, their children, tend to grant the blessings of promise and joy, of prosperity and so forth as well. Note, that Freyr seems to stay put more than Freyja also, in that he has a messenger that he sends forth the majority of the time. He does have his battle boar Gullinbursti, who he takes forth to fight battles, but this is not a regular event. Whereas Freyja has her own chariot(wain) and she travels across the land searching for her lost husband paving new ways for others to follow. She too has a beast of battle, so obviously the chariot is for regular use or maybe ritual use as like her mother? So cyclical patterns are a necessity in order to maintain some sort of order, and a male female balance is best because there are different ways of thinking that allow for us to initiate them.
We don’t hear of any children coming from the union of Freyr and Freyja but Freyja does have a daughter named Hnoss, it is possible, that Freyr has a son? Does the maintaining of names with the same first syllable mean anything? This is of course speculation as well.
Going back to where Freyr and Freyja come their relationship to one another, which I originally started on. This article had the concept of the right to rule. And I still believe that this is inherent here. As a team, they stood and said, these qualities, these responsibilities more than any other are what make the right to rule. It is not just in a name. It is a sense of capability, that the people have a faith. The people may have many and many a name for a deity, So many that they forget them all over time, falling back only on the default, the one that allows them the right to rule. Lord and Lady. Though as individuals, they may do their jobs well, as a team they are beyond question. In a land where it was difficult to say the least, to simply be, individuality often went by the wayside, the tribe came first and those who marked themselves for distinction were the ones who served the tribe best. How they conducted themselves was a matter of what made all prosper, not whether they were running around having all kinds of kinky sex in the hay.
If they had been doing that overly much, they would have lost the regard of the folk and simply been that guy and girl over in the corner.