Frigg

In Norse mythology, Frigg (/frɪɡ/;[1] Old Norse), Frija (Old

High German), Frea (Langobardic), and Frīg (Old English) is a
goddess. In nearly all sources, she is described as the wife of the
god Odin. In Old High German and Old Norse sources, she is
also connected with the goddess Fulla. The English weekday
name Friday (etymologically Old English "Frīgedæg") bears her
name.

Frigg is described as a goddess associated with foresight and

wisdom in Norse mythology, the northernmost branch of
Germanic mythology and most extensively attested. Frigg is the
wife of the major god Odin and dwells in the wetland halls of
Fensalir, is famous for her foreknowledge, is associated with the
goddesses Fulla, Lofn, Hlín, and Gná, and is ambiguously
Frigg sits enthroned and facing the
associated with the Earth, otherwise personified as an apparently spear-wielding goddess Gná, flanked
separate entity Jörð (Old Norse "Earth"). The children of Frigg by two goddesses, one of whom
and Odin include the gleaming god Baldr. Due to significant (Fulla) carries her eski, a wooden
thematic overlap, scholars have proposed a connection to the box. Illustrated (1882) by Carl Emil
goddess Freyja. Doepler.

After Christianization, the mention of Frigg continued to occur in

Scandinavian folklore. During modern times, Frigg has appeared in popular culture, has been the subject
of art and receives veneration in Germanic Neopaganism.

Contents
Etymology, Friday, and toponymy
Attestations
Origo Gentis Langobardorum and Historia Langobardorum
Second Merseburg Incantation
Poetic Edda
Prose Edda
Heimskringla and sagas
Archaeological record
Scholarly reception and interpretation
Plays and art
See also
Notes
References
External links
Etymology, Friday, and toponymy
The theonyms Frigg (Old Norse) and Frija (Old High German) are cognate forms—linguistic siblings of
the same origin—that descend from a substantivized feminine of Proto-Germanic *frijaz (via
Holtzmann's law). *frijaz descends from the same source (Proto-Indo-European) as the feminine Sanskrit
noun priyā and the feminine Avestan noun fryā (both meaning "own, dear, beloved").[2] In the modern
period, an -a suffix is sometimes applied to denote femininity, resulting in the form Frigga.[3] This
spelling also serves the purpose of distancing the goddess from the English word frig.[4]

The connection with and possible earlier identification of the goddess Freyja with Frigg in the Proto-
Germanic period (Frigg and Freyja origin hypothesis) is a matter of scholarly debate.[5] Like the name of
the group of gods to which Freyja belongs, the Vanir, the name Freyja is not attested outside of
Scandinavia. This is in contrast to the name of the goddess Frigg, who is attested as a goddess common
among the Germanic peoples, and whose name is reconstructed as Proto-Germanic *Frijjō. Evidence
does not exist for the existence of a common Germanic goddess from which Old Norse Freyja descends,
but scholars have commented that this may simply be due to the scarcity of surviving sources.[5]

Regarding a Freyja–Frigg common origin hypothesis, scholar Stephan Grundy comments that "the
problem of whether Frigg or Freyja may have been a single goddess originally is a difficult one, made
more so by the scantiness of pre-Viking Age references to Germanic goddesses, and the diverse quality
of the sources. The best that can be done is to survey the arguments for and against their identity, and to
see how well each can be supported."[6]

The English weekday name Friday comes from Old English Frīġedæġ, meaning 'day of Frig'. It is
cognate with Old High German frîatac.[7] Several place names refer to Frigg in what are now Norway
and Sweden, although her name is altogether absent in recorded place names in Denmark.[8]

Attestations

Origo Gentis Langobardorum and Historia Langobardorum

The 7th-century Origo Gentis Langobardorum, and Paul the
Deacon's 8th-century Historia Langobardorum derived from it,
recount a founding myth of the Langobards, a Germanic people
who ruled a region of what is now Italy (see Lombardy).
According to this legend, a "small people" known as the Winnili
were ruled by a woman named Gambara who had two sons, Ybor
and Agio. The Vandals, ruled by Ambri and Assi, came to the
Winnili with their army and demanded that they pay them tribute Godan and Frea look down from their
window in the heavens to the Winnili
or prepare for war. Ybor, Agio, and their mother Gambara
women in an illustration by Emil
rejected their demands for tribute. Ambra and Assi then asked the Doepler, 1905
god Godan for victory over the Winnili, to which Godan
responded (in the longer version in the Origo): "Whom I shall
first see when at sunrise, to them will I give the victory."[9]
Meanwhile, Ybor and Agio called upon Frea, Godan's wife. Frea
counseled them that "at sunrise the Winnil[i] should come, and
that their women, with their hair let down around the face in the
likeness of a beard should also come with their husbands". At Winnili women with their hair tied as
beards look up at Godan and Frea in
sunrise, Frea turned Godan's bed around to face east and woke
an illustration by Emil Doepler, 1905
him. Godan saw the Winnili, including their whiskered women,
and asked "who are those Long-beards?" Frea responded to
Godan, "As you have given them a name, give them also the victory". Godan did so, "so that they should
defend themselves according to his counsel and obtain the victory". Thenceforth the Winnili were known
as the Langobards (Langobardic "long-beards").[10]

Second Merseburg Incantation

A 10th-century manuscript found in what is now Merseburg,
Germany, features an invocation known as the Second Merseburg
Incantation. The incantation calls upon various continental
Germanic gods, including Old High German Frija and a goddess
associated with her—Volla, to assist in healing a horse:

Old High German:

"Wodan Heals Balder's Horse" by
Phol ende
Emil Doepler, 1905
uuodan uuoran zi
holza. Bill Griffiths translation:
du uuart demo Phol and Woden travelled to
balderes uolon the forest.
sin uuoz birenkit. Then was for Baldur's foal
thu biguol en its foot wrenched.
sinthgunt, sunna Then encharmed it
era suister, Sindgund (and) Sunna her
thu biguol en sister,
friia, uolla era then encharmed it Frija
suister (and) Volla her sister,
thu biguol en then encharmed it Woden,
uuodan, so he as he the best could,
uuola conda: As the bone-wrench, so for
sose benrenki, the blood wrench, (and) so
sose bluotrenki, the limb-wrench
sose lidirenki: bone to bone, blood to
ben zi bena, blood,
bluot si bluoda, limb to limb, so be glued.[11]
lid zi geliden,
sose gelimida
sin![11]

Poetic Edda
In the Poetic Edda, compiled during the 13th century from earlier traditional material, Frigg is mentioned
in the poems Völuspá, Vafþrúðnismál, the prose of Grímnismál, Lokasenna, and Oddrúnargrátr.[12]
Frigg receives three mentions in the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá. In the first mention, the poem recounts
that Frigg wept for the death of her son Baldr in Fensalir.[13] Later in the poem, when the future death of
Odin is foretold, Odin is referred to as the "beloved of Frigg" and his future death is referred to as the
"second grief of Frigg".[14] Like the reference to Frigg weeping in Fensalir earlier in the poem, the
implied "first grief" is a reference to the grief she felt upon the death of her son, Baldr.[15]

Frigg plays a prominent role in the prose introduction to the

poem, Grímnismál. The introduction recounts that two sons of
king Hrauðungr, Agnar (age 10) and Geirröðr (age 8), once sailed
out with a trailing line to catch small fish, but wind drove them
out into the ocean and, during the darkness of night, their boat
wrecked. The brothers went ashore, where they met a crofter.
They stayed on the croft for one winter, during which the couple
separately fostered the two children: the old woman fostered
Agnar and the old man fostered Geirröðr. Upon the arrival of
The goddess Frigg and her husband,
spring, the old man brought them a ship. The old couple took the the god Odin, sit in Hliðskjálf and
boys to the shore, and the old man took Geirröðr aside and spoke gaze into "all worlds" and make a
to him. The boys entered the boat and a breeze came.[16] wager as described in Grímnismál in
an illustration by Lorenz Frølich,
The boat returned to the harbor of their father. Geirröðr, forward 1895
in the ship, jumped to shore and pushed the boat, containing his
brother, out and said "go where an evil spirit may get thee."[17]
Away went the ship and Geirröðr walked to a house, where he was greeted with joy; while the boys were
gone, their father had died, and now Geirröðr was king. He "became a splendid man".[16] The scene
switches to Odin and Frigg sitting in Hliðskjálf, "look[ing] into all the worlds".[16] Odin says: "'Seest
thou Agnar, thy foster-son, where he is getting children a giantess [Old Norse gȳgi] in a cave? while
Geirröd, my foster son, is a king residing in his country.' Frigg answered, 'He is so inhospitable that he
tortures his guests, if he thinks that too many come.'"[18]

Odin replied that this was a great untruth and so the two made a wager. Frigg sent her "waiting-maid"
Fulla to warn Geirröðr to be wary, lest a wizard who seeks him should harm him, and that he would
know this wizard by the refusal of dogs, no matter how ferocious, to attack the stranger. While it was not
true that Geirröðr was inhospitable with his guests, Geirröðr did as instructed and had the wizard
arrested. Upon being questioned, the wizard, wearing a blue cloak, said no more than that his name is
Grímnir. Geirröðr has Grímnir tortured and sits him between two fires for 8 nights. Upon the 9th night,
Grímnir is brought a full drinking horn by Geirröðr's son, Agnar (so named after Geirröðr's brother), and
the poem continues without further mention or involvement of Frigg.[18]

In the poem Lokasenna, where Loki accuses nearly every female in attendance of promiscuity and/or
unfaithfulness, an aggressive exchange occurs between the god Loki and the goddess Frigg (and
thereafter between Loki and the goddess Freyja about Frigg). A prose introduction to the poem describes
that numerous gods and goddesses attended a banquet held by Ægir. These gods and goddesses include
Odin and, "his wife", Frigg.[19]

Prose Edda
Frigg is mentioned throughout the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. Frigg
is first mentioned in the Prose Edda Prologue, wherein a euhemerized account of the Norse gods is
provided. The author describes Frigg as the wife of Odin, and, in a case of folk etymology, the author
attempts to associate the name Frigg with the Latin-influenced form Frigida.[20] The Prologue adds that
both Frigg and Odin "had the gift of prophecy".[20]

In the next section of the Prose Edda, Gylfaginning, High tells Gangleri (the king Gylfi in disguise) that
Frigg, daughter of Fjörgynn (Old Norse Fjörgynsdóttir) is married to Odin and that the Æsir are
descended from the couple, and adds that "the earth [Jörðin] was [Odin's] daughter and his wife".[21]
According to High, the two had many sons, the first of which was the mighty god Thor.[21]

Later in Gylfaginning, Gangleri asks about the ásynjur, a term for

Norse goddesses. High says that "highest" among them is Frigg
and that only Freyja "is highest in rank next to her". Frigg dwells
in Fensalir "and it is very splendid".[22] In this section of
Gylfaginning, Frigg is also mentioned in connection to other
ásynjur: Fulla carries Frigg's ashen box, "looks after her footwear
and shares her secrets"; Lofn is given special permission by Frigg
and Odin to "arrange unions" among men and women; Hlín is
charged by Frigg to protect those that Frigg deems worthy of
keeping from danger; and Gná is sent by Frigg "into various
worlds to carry out her business".[23]
Frigg reaches into a box presented to
In section 49 of Gylfaginning, a narrative about the fate of Frigg's her by a handmaid, Ludwig Pietsch,
1865
son Baldr is told. According to High, Baldr once started to have
dreams indicating that his life was in danger. When Baldr told his
fellow Æsir about his dreams, the gods met together for a thing
and decided that they should "request immunity for Baldr from all kinds of danger". Frigg subsequently
receives promises from the elements, the environment, diseases, animals, and stones, amongst other
things. The request successful, the Æsir make sport of Baldr's newfound invincibility; shot or struck,
Baldr remained unharmed. However, Loki discovers this and is not pleased by this turn of events, so, in
the form of a woman, he goes to Frigg in Fensalir.[24]

There, Frigg asks this female visitor what the Æsir are up to assembled at the thing. The woman says that
all of the Æsir are shooting at Baldr and yet he remains unharmed. Frigg explains that "Weapons and
wood will not hurt Baldr. I have received oaths from them all."[24] The woman asks Frigg if all things
have sworn not to hurt Baldr, to which Frigg notes one exception; "there grows a shoot of a tree to the
west of Val-hall. It is called mistletoe. It seemed young to me to demand the oath from."[24] Loki
immediately disappears.[24]

Now armed with mistletoe, Loki arrives at the thing where the Æsir are assembled and tricks the blind
Höðr, Baldr's brother, into shooting Baldr with a mistletoe projectile. To the horror of the assembled
gods, the mistletoe goes directly through Baldr, killing him. Standing in horror and shock, the gods are
initially only able to weep due to their grief. Frigg speaks up and asks "who there was among the Æsir
who wished to earn all her love and favour and was willing to ride the road to Hel and try if he could find
Baldr, and offer Hel a ransom if she would let Baldr go back to Asgard".[25]
Hermóðr, Baldr's brother, accepts Frigg's request and rides to
Hel. Meanwhile, Baldr is given a grand funeral attended by many
beings—foremost mentioned of which are his mother and father,
Frigg and Odin. During the funeral, Nanna dies of grief and is
placed in the funeral pyre with Baldr, her dead husband.[26]
Hermóðr locates Baldr and Nanna in Hel. Hermodr secures an
agreement for the return of Baldr and with Hermóðr Nanna sends
gifts to Frigg (a linen robe) and Fulla (a finger-ring). Hermóðr
rides back to the Æsir and tells them what has happened.
However, the agreement fails due to the sabotage of a jötunn in a
cave named Þökk (Old Norse 'thanks'), described perhaps Loki in
disguise.[27]

Frigg is mentioned several times in the Prose Edda section Frigg grips her dead son, Baldr, in an
Skáldskaparmál. The first mention occurs at the beginning of the illustration by Lorenz Frølich, 1895
section, where the Æsir and Ásynjur are said to have once held a
banquet in a hall in a land of gods, Asgard. Frigg is one of the
twelve ásynjur in attendance.[28]

Heimskringla and sagas

In Ynglinga saga, the first book of Heimskringla, a Euhemerized account of the origin of the gods is
provided. Frigg is mentioned once. According to the saga, while Odin was away, Odin's brothers Vili and
Vé oversaw Odin's holdings. Once, while Odin was gone for an extended period, the Æsir concluded that
he was not coming back. His brothers started to divvy up Odin's inheritance, "but his wife Frigg they
shared between them. However, a short while afterwards, [Odin] returned and took possession of his wife
again.[29]

In Völsunga saga, the great king Rerir and his wife (unnamed) are unable to conceive a child; "that lack
displeased them both, and they fervently implored the gods that they might have a child. It is said that
Frigg heard their prayers and told Odin what they asked".[30]

Archaeological record
A 12th century depiction of a cloaked but otherwise nude woman riding a large cat appears on a wall in
the Schleswig Cathedral in Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. Beside her is similarly a cloaked yet
otherwise nude woman riding a distaff. Due to iconographic similarities to the literary record, these
figures have been theorized as depictions of Freyja and Frigg respectively.[31]

Scholarly reception and interpretation

Due to numerous similarities, some scholars have proposed that the Old Norse goddesses Frigg and
Freyja descend from a common entity from the Proto-Germanic period.[5] Regarding a Freyja-Frigg
common origin hypothesis, scholar Stephan Grundy comments that "the problem of whether Frigg or
Freyja may have been a single goddess originally is a difficult one, made more so by the scantiness of
pre-Viking Age references to Germanic goddesses, and the diverse quality of the sources. The best that
can be done is to survey the arguments for and against their identity, and to see how well each can be
supported."[6]
Unlike Frigg but like the name of the group of gods to which Freyja belongs, the Vanir, the name Freyja
is not attested outside of Scandinavia, as opposed to the name of the goddess Frigg, who is attested as a
goddess common among the Germanic peoples, and whose name is reconstructed as Proto-Germanic
*Frijjō. Similar proof for the existence of a common Germanic goddess from which Freyja descends
does not exist, but scholars have commented that this may simply be due to the scarcity of evidence
outside of the North Germanic record.[5]

Plays and art

Frigg is referenced in art and literature into the modern period. In the 18th century, Gustav III of Sweden,
king of Sweden, composed Friggja, a play, so named after the goddess, and H. F. Block and Hans
Friedrich Blunck's Frau Frigg und Doktor Faust in 1937. Other examples include fine art works by K.
Ehrenberg (Frigg, Freyja, drawing, 1883), John Charles Dollman (Frigga Spinning the Clouds, painting,
c. 1900), Emil Doepler (Wodan und Frea am Himmelsfenster, painting, 1901), and H. Thoma (Fricka,
drawing, date not provided).[32]

See also
Frigga
Frigg (Marvel Comics)

Notes
1. "Frigg" (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/frigg). Random House Webster's Unabridged
Dictionary.
2. Orel (2003), p. 114.
3. See for example Bulfinch (1913), p. 344.
4. Sheard 2011, p. 238.
5. Grundy (1998), pp. 56–66.
6. Grundy (1998), p. 57.
7. Simek (2007), pp. 93–94.
8. Pulsiano & Wolf (1993), p. 503.
9. Foulke (2003), pp. 315–16.
10. Foulke (2003), pp. 316–17.
11. Griffiths (2006), p. 174.
12. Larrington (1999), p. 305.
13. Larrington (1999), p. 8.
14. Larrington (1999), p. 11.
15. See, for example, Larrington (1999), p. 266.
16. Larrington (1999), p. 51.
17. Thorpe (1907), p. 18.
18. Thorpe (1907), p. 19.
19. Larrington (1999), p. 84.
20. Faulkes (1995), p. 3.
21. Faulkes (1995), p. 13.
22. Faulkes (1995), p. 29.
23. Faulkes (1995), pp. 29–30.
24. Faulkes (1995), p. 48.
25. Faulkes (1995), p. 49.
26. Faulkes (1995), pp. 49–50.
27. Faulkes (1995), pp. 50–51.
28. Faulkes (1995), p. 59.
29. Hollander (2007), p. 7.
30. Byock (1990), p. 36.
31. Jones & Pennick (1995), pp. 144–45.
32. Simek (2007), p. 94.

References
Bulfinch, Thomas (1913). Bulfinch's Mythology. Thomas Y. Crowell Company.
Byock, Jesse (Trans.) (1990). The Saga of the Volsungs. University of California Press.
ISBN 978-0-520-27299-6.
Davidson, Hilda Ellis; Fisher, Peter (1996) [2008]. Saxo Grammaticus: The History of the
Danes, Books I-IX: I. English Text; II. Commentary. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-502-6.
Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). Edda. Everyman. ISBN 0-460-87616-3.
Foulke, William Dudley (Trans.) (2003) [1974]. Edward Peters (ed.). History of the
Lombards. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812210798.
Griffiths, Bill (2006) [2003]. Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic. Anglo-Saxon Books. ISBN 1-
898281-33-5.
Grundy, Stephan (1998). "Freyja and Frigg". In Billington, Sandra; Green, Miranda (eds.).
The Concept of the Goddess (https://books.google.com/books?id=IoW9yhkrFJoC&printsec
=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false). Routledge.
ISBN 0-415-19789-9.
Hollander, Lee Milton (Trans.) (2007). Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway (https://
books.google.com/books?id=qHpwje7-wNkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Heimskringla:+Histor
y+of+the+Kings+of+Norway&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false). University of Texas Press.
ISBN 978-0-292-73061-8.
Jones, Prudence; Pennick, Nigel (1995). A History of Pagan Europe. Routledge.
ISBN 9780415091367.
Larrington, Carolyne (Trans.) (1999). The Poetic Edda. Oxford World's Classics. ISBN 0-19-
283946-2.
Orel, Vladimir (2003). A Handbook of Germanic Etymology (https://archive.org/details/hand
bookofgerman0000orel). Brill. ISBN 90 04 12875 1.
Pulsiano, Philip; Wolf, Kirsten (1993). Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia. Taylor &
Francis. ISBN 9780824047870.
Sheard, K.M. (2011). Llewellyn's Complete Book of Names for Pagans, Wiccans, Witches,
Druids, Heathens, Mages, Shamans & Independent Thinkers of All Sorts who are Curious
about Names from Every Place and Every Time. Llewellyn Worldwide.
ISBN 9780738723686.
Simek, Rudolf (2007). Dictionary of Northern Mythology. translated by Angela Hall. D.S.
Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-513-1.
Thorpe, Benjamin (Trans.) (1907). Edda Sæmundar Hinns Frôða: The Edda of Sæmund the
Learned Part I. London: Trübner & Co.
External links
MyNDIR (My Norse Digital Image Repository) (http://myndir.uvic.ca/doc.htm?kwId=FrGg01)
Illustrations of Frigg from manuscripts and early print books. Clicking on the thumbnail will
give you the full image and information concerning it.

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