Goddesses

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Our goddesses are mainly divided into two families: the Aesir´s and the Vanirs – and to some extent the Giants and Alfr´s. Different goddesses possess different qualities and have different personalities. Different goddesses are worshipped for different occasions. Many goddesses have more than one name. There are more than a hundred named deities in the Asatru, here is a selection.

EIR

Eir, which means ‘peace’ or ‘reconciliation’, is the goddess of healing. She is the one to whom you should turn if you want to cure illnesses or ailments.

JÖRD

Jörd, also known as Fjorgyn, is a giantess with very close ties to the Aesir and full access to the inner halls of Valhall. She rules over the earth and everything that grows in it.
Jörd is Odin’s first wife and the mother of Thor. She is the daughter of Natt and Anar, half-sister of Dagr and Aud.

FREYJA

Freyja, also known as Froa, Valfreyja or Vanadis, is Freyr’s sister and they are both of Vanir descent. She is a goddess of love and fertility. Freyja is also skilled in seidr and is described as the most beautiful of all goddesses. She is the daughter of Njordr. With her husband Od, she has daughters Hnoss and Gersimi.
Freyja is the leader of the Valkyries who watch over the dead and bring them to the afterlife. Half of those killed in battle end up in her castle Folkvangr, the other half end up with Odin in Valhall. As she welcomes and houses the fallen in her castle, she could also be called a goddess of death.

Freyja’s cart is pulled by two cats. She also has a wild boar called Hildisvini. Freyja owns a falcon hamr, which allows whoever uses it to turn into a falcon.

She also owns the Brisingamen necklace, described as the most beautiful piece of jewelry in the world. It was forged by the four dwarves – Grer, Berling, Dvalin and Alfrik. However, the dwarves wouldn’t sell it to Freyja, so she had to spend a night with each of them to get it – which she did. When Odin found out about this, he was so furious that he forced Freyja to start a war between two human kings. The kings and their armies fight during the day, turn to stone at night and come back to life the next day – to continue the war. This war will not end until Ragnarok..

When the jealous Loki heard about the jewelry, he decided to steal it. He kept watch outside Freyja’s castle every night, but she never forgot to lock the door. Loki then found a small crack in the door, he changed his shape into a small fly and went through it. Freyja was asleep in bed with the jewelry around her neck. The clasp of the jewelry was turned down towards the bed, so Loki could not unbutton it without waking her. He then changed into a flea and bit her cheek so that she woke up and turned over. Loki could then easily undo the clasp and steal the jewelry.

He then hid the jewelry on a rock called Singasten, changed into a seal and lay down to guard it. The Aesir Heimdall realized that Loki was behind the theft when he heard about it. He too changed into a seal and went to Singasten. There was a fierce battle between the ‘seals’, but Heimdall eventually won and returned the jewel to Freyja.

The giants Rungner and Trym have expressed interest in marrying Freyja.

FRIGG

Frigg, meaning ‘the lovable one’, is Odin’s wife and the mother of Baldr, Hermódr and Honr. She is possibly the daughter of Jörd. Her messenger, Gna, meaning ‘the tireless one’, has a horse called Hofvarpner that can ride through air and over water. Frigg’s servant called Fulla, the goddess of secrets, carries her shrine and looks after her shoes.

Frigg is the supreme goddess and has knowledge of the fates of all gods and humans, though she is happy not to reveal anything about them. She is also the goddess of motherhood and marriage.
Her abode is called Fensalir, which means ‘the swamp halls’.

FULLA

Fulla, whose name means ‘perfect’ or ‘abundance’, is the goddess of secrets. She should be invoked if you want a secret to remain secret. She belongs to Frigg’s court of asynjas and is possibly the sister of Frigg or Freyja. Fulla serves Frigg by looking after her shoes and carrying her shrine. She is part of Frigg’s secret council and Frigg tells her everything about the fates of the gods and men, and entrusts her with missions. Fulla usually wears a headband of gold and has her hair down.

GEFJON

Gefjon, meaning ‘the giver’, is the goddess of agriculture and chastity and protector of virgins. She is also a fertility goddess and protector. Women who die as virgins and unmarried come to her abode.
According to legend, Gefjon lived at Lejre on Zealand in Denmark with Odin’s son Skjold. Odin is said to have once sent her to get more land. The Svea king Gylfe promised her as much land as she could plow in one day. Gefjon then traveled to the kingdom of the giants and produced four giant sons, which she turned into an ox. The strong ox helped her plow up a large land mass. The land they plowed is now Lake Mälaren in Sweden, which in ancient times was called Lögrinn. They carried the land mass away and created the island of Zealand in Denmark.
At one point, Loki accuses her of ‘wrapping her thighs around’ Heimdall.

HEL

Hel, possibly meaning ‘the one who hides’, is the ruler of the realm of the dead. The kingdom of the dead also bears her name – Hel’s kingdom. She is the daughter of the giants Loki and Angerboda. Hel lives at the edge of Hvergelmir in the ice kingdom of Niflheim. She has a knife called Famine, a table dish called Hunger, a sill called Falling Perdition, a bed called Sickbed and a bedspread called Shining Wretchedness. She also has two slaves who walk so slowly that no one has ever seen them walk. When she is seen riding her three-legged horse, hunger and disease are imminent.
Hel lived among the Aesir´s in Asgard until Odin was alerted to Hel’s rise and cast her down to Niflheim.

Hel is sometimes called the ‘pale sister of the wolf’ and the ‘protector of graves’.

IDUN

Idun, meaning ‘the rejuvenator’, is the goddess of youth. She is the wife of Bragi.
Idun guards the magic apples that the gods eat to keep themselves young and strong. She is the only goddess who knows how to grow them.

Idun was once betrayed by Loki and kidnapped by the giant Tjatse – who was transformed into an eagle. When the Aesir no longer received their magic apples, they began to age and weaken. Odin realized that Loki was behind Idun’s disappearance and because Loki was afraid of Odin’s wrath, he quickly confessed. However, Loki promised to save Idun and bring her back to Asgard. He borrowed Freyja’s falconhamr and flew to Tjatse’s home. However, the giant was not at home when he arrived and he found Idun inside. Loki turned Idun into a nut, which he took in his beak and flew back to Asgard. Tjatse, still transformed into an eagle, saw Loki and started chasing him in the air. At the wall of Asgard, the Aesir had a large pile of wood shavings. As soon as Loki flew over the wall, the Aesir set fire to the wood shavings. Tjatse flew straight into the flames and crashed to the ground. Thor rushed forward and killed him with Mjolnir, then he threw the giant’s eyes up into the sky and they became stars.

NATT

Natt (means night), as her name suggests, is the goddess of the night. She is the daughter of the giant Norve. Night has been married three times. She has a son Aud with the giant Nagelfar, not to be confused with the ship, and a daughter Jörd, who is Thor’s mother, with the giant Anar. She also has a son, Dagr, with the Aesir Delling, and a son, Moon, and a daughter, Sol, with the Aesir Mundilfare. Odin has given her the dark horse Rimfaxe, which drools out the morning dew of the whole world. Every night she rides across the sky, followed by a huge wolf that chases her in an endless circle

RAN

Ran, which means ‘rån’, is a goddess of the sea and death. She is married to the giant Aegir.
Ran catches drowned people with her large net. She then takes the drowned to her halls at the bottom of the sea – where they spend their afterlives. She once lent her net to Loki to catch the dwarf Andvare – who was transformed into a pike.

Together with Aegir, Ran has nine daughters, all named after different types of water waves: Himingläva – meaning “the heavenly one”, Dufa – possibly meaning “dove”, Blodughadda – meaning “the one with bloody hair”, Hefring, Unn, Hrönn, Bylgja – meaning “wave”, Båra – meaning “wave top” and Kolga.

SIF

Sif, possibly meaning ‘wife’, ‘sister-in-law’ or ‘marriage’, is Thor’s wife. She is the mother of Ullr, Modi and Trud. Sif, like Frigg, is a goddess of marriage. She is described as the fairest of all goddesses and is quiet and withdrawn. If you want strong and healthy children, you should call on her.
The malevolent Loki once cut off Sif´s hair as a joke. Thor was naturally furious and Loki had the dwarf blacksmiths, the sons of Ivalde, forge her a new head of pure gold. When the gold hair was placed on her head, it immediately grew back.

SKADI

Skadi is a goddess of hunting and winter. She is the daughter of the giant Tjatse, but she is interpreted as both giantess and Asynja. Skadi lives in the mountains in a place called Trymheim. Her father was killed by the Aesir. So she armed herself and traveled to Asgard to seek revenge. However, no battle ever broke out, instead the two parties were reconciled. Skadi was then offered the choice of one of the Aesir´s to marry, but she only got to see their feet. She looked at all of them, but in the end she fell at the feet of Njordr. Njordr has nice and clean feet because he lives by the sea and wades all day. However, the marriage was not a success because they were unable to live together. They only spent nine nights together, but Skadi hated living by the sea and listening to the seagulls, and Njordr hated living in Trymheim and hearing the wolves howl.

SNOTRA

Snotra, meaning ‘the wise one’, is the goddess of wisdom and knows how to behave well. Snotra is very sparsely mentioned in the stories of the gods.

SÓL/SUNNA

Sól is the goddess who brings the sun across the sky and lights up the world every day. She drives the chariot Alfrödull, which is pulled by the horses Arvaker and Allsvinn. Under the horses sits Isarnkol, who protects them from the sun’s rays. Behind the cart is the huge wolf Sköll, who wants to devour her. Sól is the daughter of the gods Mundilfare and Natt, her brother is called Máni.

VALKYRIES

Valkyries, which roughly translates as ‘those who crown fallen warriors’, are a group of female deities. When a person leaves earthly life, the Valkyries descend from Asgard to view the deceased and bring them to the afterlife. The bravest warriors end up with Odin in Valhall, the others end up with Freyja in Folkvangr, with Hel or with Gefjon. Freyja is the leader of the Valkyries.
The Valkyries also serve at Valhalla’s great feasts by serving Heidrun’s mead and Saerimner’s pork to the warriors. The fallen warriors that the Valkyries bring to Valhalla are called einherjar. Every morning the einhejrar march out of Valhall towards Idavollr where they fight to the death with each other, in preparation for Ragnarok when Odin will lead them against the forces of chaos. By evening, however, the cast blood dries back into the flesh, the severed limbs find their way back to their bodies, and the einherjars rise again. They then go back to Valhall to feast. There, each night is so long that even the einherjar who falls asleep last is able to get a good, long sleep. The next day they all wake up refreshed.

There are a number of named Valkyries: Frejya – the leader of the Valkyries, Skögul, – who pours out Odin’s horns, Hild, Gunn, Hårfjätter, Skäggald, Brynhild, Sigrun, Rota, Trud, Lökk, Göll, Geirahöd, Randgrid, Rådgrid, Reginleif, Mist, Rist and Göndul.

Why we choose not to cover everything and everyone in this text is of course first and foremost because we have Henrik’s booklet to read, and that it would be far too long a text to sit and read through on the computer. These mentioned are also of different families, Aesir, giants, etc. you can immerse yourself in this when you read the booklet. Many will certainly find new powers that they have not read about before, new goddesses that are worth being exposed to. If the goddess in question is mentioned under several names, this is indicated in brackets.

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