32 freya
Skirnir asked an old shepherd for advice, but the man
offered no help. Instead he told Skirnir that he had
no hope of winning Gerda, for her heart was made
of ice. He said that Frey was doomed to failure and
death.
Skirnir knew that the Norns had decided his
fate and when he should die. There was nothing he
could do except to go about his duty with hope and
courage.
Inside her hall, Gerda looked coldly at Skirnir.
First he offered her golden apples if she would give
her love to Frey, but Gerda had plenty of gold. Then
he offered her Odin’s magic ring, Draupnir, but
Gerda had plenty of jewels.
Next Skirnir tried threats: He would cut off her
head with the magic sword. Gerda replied that her
father would kill Skirnir first and keep the magic
sword for himself. Skirnir followed by drawing from
his belt a wand and a knife. He said he would carve
the most terrifying magic runes upon the wand and
strike her with it. The runes would be curses that
doomed her to be forever lonely and filled with
longing. She would have no friends, no husband, no
children. Only the horrible frost giant Hrimgrimnir
would pursue her with foul corpses for companions.
Food and drink would taste loathsome to her. She
would always be cold and miserable and would slowly
dry up like a dying thistle, trampled underfoot and
forgotten by all.
At this dreadful threat, Gerda at last promised to
marry Frey. Skirnir left Frey’s magic sword behind as
a bride price for Gymir and rode back to Frey with
the happy news that Gerda would wed him in nine
days at the sacred barley patch, Barri. (In Norse
mythology, nine days symbolize the nine months of a
northern winter.) The long delay dismayed Frey.
It is said that after they were married, Frey and
Gerda were the happiest couple in the world, for the
warmth of Frey’s love had melted Gerda’s icy heart,
just as the Sun of spring thaws the frozen earth and
brings forth the plants from seeds hidden inside it.
The story of Frey and Gerda is told in S kirn -
ismal , a 10th-century poem in the P oetic E dda ,
and by Snorri Sturluson in his 13th-century
G ylfaginning .
F reya (Lady)
The goddess of love and fertility.
Freya was the daughter of the Vanir god Njord and
the sister of Frey. Freya came to Asgard with her
brother and father after the Aesir/Vanir War ended
in an eternal peace treaty. Freya’s home in Asgard was
in the region known as Folkvangr in a hall named
Sessrumnir.
Freya was married to Od, but this mysterious
character (whose name means “roamer”) disappeared.
Freya was said to roam the Earth looking for him and
shedding tears that turned to pure gold. Freya and Od
had a daughter named Hnossa, which means “jewel.”
Freya was exceedingly beautiful, and many fell in love
with her, including giants, dwarfs, and humans.
Like most of the Vanir, Freya had a talent for
witchcraft. It is said that when she came to Asgard,
she instructed the gods in the magical arts of Seid.
Freya also had a warlike side and shared Odin’s
love of battle. It is said that she and Odin divided the
slain human heroes between them so that some went
to Odin’s Valhalla while others went to Sessrumnir.
Freya’s boar, the gold-bristled Hildisvini, was a
symbol of war. Its name means “Battle Boar.”
Freya possessed a boar chariot and a chariot pulled
by two gray or black cats. She also had a falcon skin
that she sometimes donned to fly away. She lent the
falcon skin to Loki, the trickster god, in the stories
“Idunn’s Apples” (see under Idunn) and “The Theft
of Thor’s Hammer” (see under Thor). Her most
precious possession was the Brisinga men.
Freya, Ottar, and the Giantess Hyndla Freya,
goddess of love and fertility, was loved by many,
including the human male Ottar. In the Lay of
Hyndla (see H yndluljoth ) from the P oetic E dda ,
Freya transforms Ottar into the shape of her boar,
Hildisvini, and visits the giantess Hyndla in her
cave. Hyndla is a powerful seeress. Freya cajoles
and bullies Hyndla into telling Ottar all about his
ancestors from far back so he may win