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Showing posts with label Freyr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freyr. Show all posts

THOR'S DAY TRIVIA: FREYR

0 comments Posted by KT at 5/08/2014 08:34:00 AM

Freyr is one of the most important gods of Norse paganism.  He is associated with prosperity, fair weather, and fertility.  He is also the ruler of the Alfar (light elves).

 
  • Freyr is the son of Njord and his twin sister is Freya (thus he also belongs to the older class of gods known as the Vanir).
  • The sword he carries is a magical sword that can fight on its own.
  • The dwarfs gave him a golden-bristled boar.  The radiant bristles are considered symbolic either of the solar rays or of golden grain because the boar taught mankind how to plow.
 
 
Freyr also possessed a magical ship named Skidbladnir.  This vessel was so elastic that it was large enough to transport the gods, yet could also be folded up like a napkin and carried in one's pocket.
 
This small bronze statuette of Freyr is from the Viking era.  He is sitting cross-legged and holding his long beard.  From this angle, his arm is obscuring his rather large phallus (he is a fertility god).
 
 
He is also wearing a typical conical Viking helmet.  Most people think that Vikings wore helmets like this:
 
 
However according to the History Channel's website, the popular image of the strapping Viking in a horned helmet dates back to the 1800s, when Scandinavian artists included the horned headgear in their portrayals of the raiders.....and an enduring stereotype was born.


 
Next Thor's Day: Tyr, the one-handed god of courage

**facts sourced from Myths of the Norsemen by H.A. Guerber
 

 

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THOR'S DAY TRIVIA: NJORD

0 comments Posted by KT at 5/01/2014 09:10:00 AM

Njord (pronounced NYORD) is the god of the sea and wind.

Image by Cleighton Presutti http://www.pinterest.com/pin/302022718730753581/

Njord belongs to the Vanir (an older class of Norse gods associated with wisdom and fertility) and is father to the goddess Freya and her twin brother, Freyr. 

Njord is a very handsome god, in the prime of his life, clad in a short green tunic with a crown of shells and seaweed upon his head.

http://www.angelfire.com/ks/larrycarter/LC/Web.html

  • Njord was the personification of summer because he extended his protection over commerce and fishing, which could only be pursued during the short summer months.
  • Njord lived in a palace near the seashore where he stilled the terrible tempests stirred up by Aegir, god of the deep sea.
  • Njord is one of the few gods who will survive Ragnarok (the predicted Norse end of the world).
  • As all aquatic plants belonged to Njord, the marine sponge was known in the north as "Njord's glove."


Next Thor's Day: Njord's son, Freyr

**facts sourced from Myths of the Norsemen by H.A. Guerber
 

 

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