Frigg, Freyja, And Frige

Frigg, Freyja, And Frige

Frigg is the highest goddess of the Aesir, while Freyja is the highest goddess of the Vanir. Many arguments have been made both for and against the idea that Frigg and Freyja are really the same goddess, avatars of one another. Some arguments are based on linguistic analysis, others on the fact that Freyja wasn't known in southern Germany, only in the north, and in some places the two goddesses were considered to be the same, while in others they were considered to be different.There are clearly many similarities between the two: both had flying cloaks of falcon feathers and engaged in shape-shifting, Frigg was married to Odin while Freyja was married to ??r, both had special necklaces, both had a personification of the Earth as a parent, both were called upon for assistance in childbirth, etc. On the other hand, they sometimes appear at the same time in the same text.

There is also an argument that Frigg and Freyja are part of a triad of goddesses (together with either Hnoss or I?unn) associated with the different ages of womankind. The areas of influence of Frigg and Freyja don't quite match up with the areas of influence often seen in other goddess triads. This may mean that the argument isn't a good one, or it may tell us something interesting about northern European culture as compared to Celtic and southern European culture.
Finally, there is an argument is that Frigg and Freyja are similar goddesses from different pantheons who were first conflated into each other and then later seen as separate goddesses again. This is consistent with the theological treatment of some Greek, Roman, and Egyptian deities in the late classical period.

Frige (Anglo-Saxon), Friia (German) or Frea (Langobard) was the love goddess of Germanic mythology, and the wife of Wotan (Odin). She has given her name to the weekday Friday (via the Old English friged?g, meaning the day of Frige) in analogy with Venus. In the last surviving and by far best known version of Germanic mythology, Norse mythology, some believe she had split into two clearly related goddesses, the promiscuous Freyja, who was married to Odr, and the sometimes unfaithful Frigg, who was the wife of Odin (Frigg is the Old Norse form of the name Frige, whereas Freyja is an unrelated noun which originally meant "lady"). However it should be said that this theory arises from the belief that Freo was indeed the same Goddess as Frige, as both have been described as Goddess of Love and sometimes as wife of Woden (West Germanic form of Odin). However there are contradictions to this, amongst others it seems that whereas Frige's element was real love, Freo's was erotic love. And so it can be assumed that Freo may have been either another aspect of Frige or a different deity altogether. Making it hard to determine whether Frige was split into Frigg and Freyja or whether the separate Goddess, Freo was given some of Frige's attributes.Frige (Anglo-Saxon), Friia (German) or Frea (Langobard) was the love goddess of Germanic mythology, and the wife of Wotan (Odin). She has given her name to the weekday Friday (via the Old English friged?g, meaning the day of Frige) in analogy with Venus. In the last surviving and by far best known version of Germanic mythology, Norse mythology, some believe she had split into two clearly related goddesses, the promiscuous Freyja, who was married to Odr, and the sometimes unfaithful Frigg, who was the wife of Odin (Frigg is the Old Norse form of the name Frige, whereas Freyja is an unrelated noun which originally meant "lady"). However it should be said that this theory arises from the belief that Freo was indeed the same Goddess as Frige, as both have been described as Goddess of Love and sometimes as wife of Woden (West Germanic form of Odin). However there are contradictions to this, amongst others it seems that whereas Frige's element was real love, Freo's was erotic love. And so it can be assumed that Freo may have been either another aspect of Frige or a different deity altogether. Making it hard to determine whether Frige was split into Frigg and Freyja or whether the separate Goddess, Freo was given some of Frige's attributes.

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