Saturday, May 21, 2011

Frigg: The Queen of the Gods




Frigg, was the daughter of Fiorgyn and the sister of Jörd. She was also the wife of Odin. Friggs wedding to Odin caused great rejoicing in Åsgard, where the goddess was dearly loved. After her wedding it was customary to celebrate all anniversaries with feast and song, and Frigg was declared the patroness of marriage as well as motherhood. Her health was always proposed with that of Odin and Thor at wedding or birthing feasts.

Frigg was also goddess of the clouds, and as such was represented as wearing snow-white garments. She was queen of the gods, and she alone had the privilege of sitting on the throne Hlidskialf, beside her husband Odin. From there she too could look over the entire world and see what was happening. She possessed the knowledge of the future, which no one could ever prevail upon her to reveal. She was good at keeping secrets.

Frigg was as a tall beautiful woman, crowned with heron plumes, and clothed in pure white robes which were secured at the waist by a golden girdle. On this girdle hung a bunch of keys, the distinctive sign of the Northern housewife. 

Although she often appeared beside her husband, Frigg preferred to remain in her own palace called Fensalir. This was the hall of mists or of the sea, where she plied her wheel spinning golden thread or weaving long webs of bright colored clouds. In   order to perform this work she made use of a marvelous jeweled spinning wheel which at night shone brightly in the sky as a constellation. This was known in the North as Friggas Spinning Wheel, while the inhabitants of the South called the same stars Orion’s Belt.

12 comments:

Laura Eno said...

Thanks for the story of Frigg and happy anniversary!

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary !!!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Siv .. Happy Anniversary .. and hope you're having a lovely weekend ..

I'm loving reading about your Gods and Goddesses ..and their meanings from Scandinavia .. thanks - cheers Hilary

KM Nalle said...

Happy Anniversary!

Anonymous said...

You turkey! You didn't tell me it was your anniversary! Happy Anniversary to you and the Saw Man! Hope you had a delightful day with him.
Great post on a little known story! Well done!

Stephanie M said...

Happy Anniversary. Love the story about Frigg.

Michael Di Gesu said...

Happy 22 years sis! I seems we have something else in common. My partner and I celebrated 22 years last month. Ah, I knew we were related.


your bro

Mrs. Tuna said...

Happy day to you and your husband. My husband, the Big Tuna and I just celebrated 29 years of swapping wedded spit. Congrats to you!

Ellie Garratt said...

Happy anniversary! I hope you and hubby are doing something nice.

Ellie Garratt

Linda H. said...

I hope you enjoyed your anniversary, Siv.

Sue said...

I loved that story Siv, the jewelled spinning wheel is a beautiful symbol. Happy anniversary. Sue

Michelle in a shell said...

Holy guacamole! 22 years?! Congrats!!