Norse Gods: 5 Gods The Vikings Prayed to During Their Reign

Norse Gods: 5 Gods The Vikings Prayed to During Their Reign

Michael Walker - March 21, 2017

Norse Gods: 5 Gods The Vikings Prayed to During Their Reign
Frigg by Doepler – Wikipedia

3. Frigg

Our only goddess in the list is the wife of the god Odin. Frigg concerns herself with marriage and motherhood and is the patroness of both. She is also the goddess of love and fertility. Frigg is the daughter of Fjorgyn, the goddess of Earth.

Her role as the patroness of marriage and motherhood is helped by her ability to be able to know every person’s destiny, but crucially she never reveals it. Women often prayed to her for the safe labor and delivery of their babies.

In some Viking myths, it is rumored that Frigg had love affairs with her husband’s brothers, Ve and Vili. According to the Ynglinga saga, Odin had gone traveling and Ve and Vili started to obsess over Odin’s substantial holdings. The brothers were convinced Odin would not return, and they began dividing up Odin’s inheritance. Eventually, they turned to Frigg, “but his wife Frigg they shared between them. However, a short while afterward, Odin returned and took possession of his wife again.” (The Poetic Edda).

As Thor gave his name to Thursday, Frigg is remembered in Friday, from the Old English “Frige’s Day”. Similar to other Norse gods, Frigg’s name can be found in several place names in Norway and Sweden.

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