Frigg and Freyja

A look at the two most prominent Norse goddesses and the question of whether they might have been considered the same at some places and times, plus some thoughts about our sources and their limitations.

Dr. Jackson Crawford is Instructor of Nordic Studies and Nordic Program Coordinator at the University of Colorado Boulder (formerly UC Berkeley and UCLA). He is a historical linguist and an experienced teacher and translator of Old Norse, Modern Icelandic, and Norwegian.

Logos by Elizabeth Porter (snowbringer at gmail).

[pmgbeos]

*Looks at Cowboy hat*
*Looks at his interest in guns*
*Looks at job description*

“I’m not Indiana Jones”

Mmmmhhhh?

[MisterBones]

Your denial of being Indiana Jones makes me feel like you're really Indiana Jones

[stephenclark]

Snorri's description of Freyja traveling under many names as she searches for Óðr is weirdly reminiscent of far more ancient myths concerning the Egyptian goddess Isis (who adopts many names as she searches for Osiris, betrayed and sealed away in a sarcophagus by Set). As with Freyja, special attention is drawn to her tears. Instead of crying tears of gold (a reference to Baltic amber, most likely), Isis' tears result in the annual flooding of the Nile. In both cases, these tears stood in for something of huge cultural and economic import.

[Dobj]

What? You are not Indiana Jones? So, then, are you Colorado Jones ;-)

[natemarx]

Who else has this channel on notification? I want us to be friends forever!

[NevadaBerserker]

Sounds like Odin, was living two lives and took a lot of business trips lol

[SarahGreen]

Thank you for posting these lectures! You have become my main source for Norse mythology with the added bonus of hearing the language spoken in it's context. So very helpful!

[graffics]

Thinking of a unique name for our first daughter was painstaking- then I thought of Freya but didn't think the other half would go for it.. She DID! Freya Rose has a nice ring to it (she originally wanted to name her Rosalie)

[faramund]

"The picture that people often get is that you're Indiana Jones". Well the way you dress surely doesn't help with dismissing that idea xd.

[nantahalawildman]

Awaiting my copies of your books, "The Poetic Edda" and "The Sagas..." Looking forward to your "Prose Edda" translation. Thank you for these videos!

[einarbolstad]

What, no Edda 3? I'll stop sleeping outside the bookstore then.

[swaggattarius]

I had a dream the other night that I was a giant warrior goddess, I’ve never heard the name Frig before, only Freya but I was called Frig in my dream. Which is why I clicked on this video, now I’m going to have to binge watch this whole channel....

Not saying by any means my dream has any validity at all, I also had a dream last week that Leonardo DiCaprio was bitten on the shoulder by a chimpanzee. 🤷‍♀️

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, I could listen to you read poems for hours...

[deemon]

Mr Crawford is increasingly becoming my favorite person😂

[SilverScale.]

At 22:47 -- yes. "Friday" in Romanian (a Romance language) is "Vineri, " etymologically related to "Veneris dies, " the day of the goddess Venus.

[DrINTJ]

This was a pleasure to watch. One of your best ever.

It was a delight to do through these hypotheses that may never be settled while being comforted by clear warnings about the lack of data and the high uncertainty of findings, without discounting the wonder of speculation.

[reneedunaway]

We're choosing a name for our newly adopted dog. Freya came to mind as something that "sounds nice and has mythological significance." And here I am, down the rabbit hole. Thank you for the education! I know nothing about Norse mythology and am appreciating how complex following the historical evolution of storylines must be. And, having more context on the name origin of "Freya/Freyja/Freja" to see if it's appropriate to name our pet. She has drifted through many homes before ours with several different names, so I appreciate that parallel :)

[ericph]

Not really the main focus of the video, but an idea I had regarding Folkvangr: Freyja and Óðinn could be like team captains picking teams for the day's training/battles, like a game of basketball in middle-school, but probably more violent.

[Jayde_Seraph]

It could also be possible, from my limited understanding of general mythology, that since Freyja and Frigg are considered to be members of their respective clan/family of gods, that to differentiate their presence in the two families her name was split or she was given a new name. This would also explain odinn and odr as he would also become a member of both clans/families. This wouldn't be too dissimilar to how Kore the goddess of spring became known as Persephone, queen of the underworld, and would be referred to by either name depending on which role she was in at the time, though now we just know her as Persephone. This would also explain the presence of both Freyja and Frigg in stories like when Loki insults the gods, as Kore and Persephone are considered to be two separate beings.

[colinnelson]

I have a personal theory that Freyja, who came to Asgard as a Vanir hostage, then marries Odin to cement the alliance of Aesir and Vanir, and Frigg is her married name. Was just a thought I had, but could explain the process of the development of the understanding of her as two separate goddesses

[greymane]

it would make more sense to me that as husband and wife tend to mirror one another's interests to a degree hence the attraction that Freya was Odin's wife each taking their own half of the battle slain and then she hosts at Valhall as would be her right as the wife of the man whose Hall is owned.