120 yngvi
An ash tree in Burgwald, Hesse, Germany. The mythical tree Yggdrasil was of the same species. (Photo by
Willow/Used under a Creative Commons license)
Y ngvi
Another name, or perhaps title, for the
god Frey; also possibly a little-known son of Odin.
This name is sometimes joined with Frey, as in
Yngvi-Frey, in the poetry and legends of Norse
mythology. Snorri Sturluson, the author of the
P rose E dda , explained that Yngvi was a term of
respect used to refer to this particular god.
Yngvi, like Ing, is used in Norse poetry to refer
to kings and dynasties. Scholars suggest that Yngvi
might refer to the Swedes and Norwegians, who are
often called “Yngvi’s people.”
In the introduction to the Prose Edda, Snorri
presents a version of history that says Odin
was a powerful leader from Asia who traveled
north into Scandinavia and made many of his sons
rulers in the lands he conquered. Yngvi was the
son who became king of Sweden after Odin (see
Saeming).