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List of names of Freyja


In Norse mythology, Freyja (Old Norse the "Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war and death. Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot driven by two cats, owns the boar Hildisvíni, possesses a cloak of falcon feathers, and, by her husband Óðr, is the mother of two daughters; Hnoss and Gersemi.

Freyja is attested as having nine additional names; Gefn, Hörn, Mardöll, Skjálf, Sýr, Thröng, Thrungva, Valfreyja, and Vanadís. Some of these names have posed etymological problems for scholars, while others are more straightforward to translate. Most of Freyja's names point to apparent attributes and associations, and at least one, Hörn, appears in place names in what is now Sweden.

An explanation is presented for Freyja's many names in the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, where the enthroned figure of High details that Freyja is married to the god Óðr, who goes on long travels. While Óðr is absent, Freyja stays behind and, in her sorrow, weeps tears of red gold. High says that Freyja has many names because she adopted them while looking for Óðr and traveling "among strange peoples".

Scholar Richard North theorizes that Old English geofon and Old Norse Gefjun and Freyja's name Gefn may all descend from a common origin; gabia a Germanic goddess connected with the sea, whose name means "giving".


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