User:Obotlig/Frigg and Freyja origin hypothesis

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The Welschingen-B bracteate (IK 389).

Some scholars hypothesize that both Frigg and Freyja may have their origin in a Common Germanic goddess. There is no firm evidence for this, but scholars have found some similarities both in their mythological features and the possible etymologies of their names, as well as place-names associated with them.[1] Due to linguistic variations between branches of Germanic languages, where even a god that is the same may be called by different-looking names, confusion about apparent cognates has not been conclusively resolved. 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."[2]

Weekday[edit]

The day of the week Friday in Old Norse is called both Freyjudagr and Frjádagr (for Freyja and Frigg respectively), in Faröese Fríggjadagur, and in Old High German was Frîatac, Frîgetac, and now Freitag, for Frigg. On Old English Frigedæg refered to Frigg as well.

The name of the early English goddess is attested only in the name of the weekday, although frīg (strong feminine) as a common noun meaning "love" (in the singular) or "affections, embraces" (in the plural) is attested in poetry.[3]

Artifacts[edit]

File:Oberwerschen B-bracteate.jpg
The Oberwerschen-B bracteate (IK 311).

Among historical artifacts that have been found, the "woman" type of bracteates[4] has been identified as possibly depicting Frigg-Frija. There are five known bracteates of this type, IK 259 (Großfahner-B), IK 311 (Oberwerschen-B), IK 350 (site of discovery unknown, reportedly from "south-western Germany"), IK 389 (Welschingen-B), IK 391 (Gudme II-B).[5] In all of these bracteates, the female figure depicted is holding a cross-shaped staff, interpreted as a distaff. The distaff is linked with both Frigg and Freyja in Scandinavian folklore. IK 350 is additionally decorated with a number of crosses, and IK 259 has additional swastikas. Iconographically related are five gold bracteates found in Hüfingen, Bavaria.[5]

Mythological similarities[edit]

See also: Frigg and Freyja

Frigg is the most prominent female member of the Aesir faction of the Germanic gods, and often identified as the spouse of the chief god, *Wōdanaz (Woden, Odin). Freya is the most prominent female member of the Vanir faction of the gods, is described as being adept at seid (magic), and is the wife of Ód.

In West German traditions only Frigg is attested. Frigg appears a number of times in surviving Norse mythology. In Gylfaginning Frigg is described by Snorri as the preeminent goddess. She fills the role of wife, mother, and advisor to Odin. In the story she warns Odin not to doubt Vafthrúdnir, the wisest giant. Frigg quarrels with Odin in the prose introduction to Grímnismál.[6] Frigg is sometimes accused of infidelity to Odin, specifically in Ynglinga saga, Gesta Danorum and Lokasenna, where Loki accuses her of it. Frigg does not deny the charge from Loki, and in this story Freyja intervenes, warning Loki that Frigg has powers of prophecy.

Some significant similarities between Frigg and Freyja have been noted:

  • The power of prophecy is attributed to Frigg, which seems more properly related to the seid (magic or divination) of Freyja.[1]
  • Hugo Junger argues that place-names in Scandinavia seem to link cult sites for Freyja with names derived from Frigg.[1]
  • Freyja's husband Ód is often away on journeys, like Frigg's husband Odin.[1]
  • Both Frigg and Freyja are described as having traded sex for jewelry.[2]

Frigg is often associated with weaving, combining the aspects of a love goddess and a domestic goddess.[7][8] In Sweden and some parts of Germany, the asterism of Orion's Belt is known as her distaff or spindle.[9] Fulla is named as Frija's sister in the Merseburg charms. In Norse mythology Fulla appears as one of a train of sixteen goddesses. These goddesses have been theorized as each performing a task representing an aspect of Frigg's, among them also Freyja.

Etymology[edit]

Areas of worship. Blue indicates Vanir, red Aesir and purple a combination.

The name Freyja ultimately means "the Lady", from a Common Germanic *Frawjō, cognate with modern German Frau. The theonym Freyja was thus an epitheton in origin, replacing a personal name that is now unattested.[10] The connection with and possible earlier identification of Freyja with Frigg in the Common Germanic period is a matter of scholarly dispute.[10]

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 Scandinavian and non-Scandinavian Germanic peoples, and whose name is reconstructed as Proto-Germanic *Frijjō. Proof for the existence of a common Germanic goddess once known as *Fraujon does not exist, but scholars have commented that this may simply be due to lack of evidence.[10]

The etymology of Frigg may ultimately derive from Proto-Indo-European *prih-y(a)h, cognate to Sanskrit priya "dear, beloved",[11] which however in Germanic split into two etymons, one covering the semantic field of "love, courtship, friendship" (English friend), the other the field of "freedom" (English free).[12]

According to Jacob Grimm[13]Langobardic Frea is a cognate of the Old High German Frîa, and not only corresponds with Frigg, but is the original form of the name. He says that is not directly related to Freyja and the Old English masculine freá. He argues for a subtle difference in meaning, where Freyja implies "gladsome, gladdening, sweet and gracious" and Frigg implies "free, beautiful, lovable". Grimm says that Frejya is associated with frau (mistress) and Frigg with frî (woman).

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Lindow (2001:129)
  2. ^ a b Grundy (1998:57).
  3. ^ OED s.v. "Friday".
  4. ^ Frauenbrakteaten, type B7, also called Fürstenberg or Oberwerschen type.
  5. ^ a b Pesch (2007:125-128)
  6. ^ Lindow (2001:128)
  7. ^ MOTZ (2002:70)
  8. ^ Enright (1990:54-70)
  9. ^ Edwardes and Spence (1913); in Swedish both Friggerock "Frigg's distagg" and Frejerock "Freyja's Distaff", see Schön, Ebbe. (2004). Asa-Tors hammare, Gudar och jättar i tro och tradition. Fält & Hässler, Värnamo. p. 228.
  10. ^ a b c Grundy (1998:56—66).
  11. ^ Wodtko, pp. 568-573
  12. ^ Gothic frijôn translates φιλειν, αγαπαν "to love". Old English freogan, freon Old Saxon friehan. Also cognate are the Germanic terms for friend. The Old High German verb frijôn "nubere, uxorem ducere, woo, to take a wife" (Modern German freien) contrasts with frijan "liberare". It is foreign to Upper German, and was probably adopted from Low German (Grimm).
  13. ^ Grimm (1882)

References[edit]

  • John Lindow, Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs, Oxford University Press (2001), ISBN 0-19-515382-0.
  • Stephan Grundy, "Freyja and Frigg" in Billington, Sandra; Green, Miranda; ed., The Concept of the Goddess. Routledge (1998). ISBN 0-415-19789-9.
  • Wodtko et al., Nomina im Indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg (2008) ISBN 978-3-8253-5359-9
  • Lotte Motz, Rudolf Simek and Wilhelm Heizmann, Mythological Women: Studies in Memory of Lotte Motz, 1922-1997, Fassbaender, 2002, ISBN 9783900538736
  • M. J. Enright, The Goddess Who Weaves: Some Iconographic Aspects of Bracteates of the Fürstenberg Type. In: FMSt 24, 1990
  • Alexandra Pesch, Die Goldbrakteaten der Völkerwanderungszeit: Thema und Variation, Walter de Gruyter, 2007 ISBN 978-3-11-020110-9
  • Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, 1882

Additional reading[edit]

  • M. Scheller, Vedisch ‘priyá-’ u. die Wortsippe ‘frei, freien, Freund’ (1959).
  • D. H. Green, Lang. & Hist. Early Germanic World (1998) 39-41.
  • Jan de Vries, Studien over germaansche mythologie, VII: De skaldenkenningen met de namen der godinnen Freyja en Frigg, Tijdschrift voor nederlandsche taal- en letterkunde 53 (1934), 210-217.
  • Marian Edwardes, Lewis Spence, Dictionary of Non-Classical Mythology (1913); 2003 reprint ISBN 978-0-7661-4453-8, 2005 reprint: ISBN 978-1-59605-342-7, pp. 70f.

External links[edit]

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