Happy Friday the 13th, and welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings! As it is Friday the 13th of December, I have decided that this week’s Femme Fatale Friday will be about Freya and Fólkvangr, exploring her aspect as a Death Goddess. I thought that this would be the ideal aspect of Freya’s mythology to explore for the Dark Half of the Year.
Friday the 13th was traditionally a day sacred to the Divine Feminine well before it was ever demonized as a day of ill fortune. Friday the 13th was specifically a day heralded as sacred to Freya, as all Fridays were her day (along with many other Love Goddesses and Faery Queens), with the name of the day being derived from either her name of Frigg’s name, I have seen it stated both ways, so I am not sure which Goddess was originally being referred to. The number 13 is a Divine Feminine number, representing the number of Lunar Cycles in a calendar year! I have written about this all before on multiple occasions, of course, which is why I chose a more specific aspect of Freya’s mythology to focus on for this post.
Fólkvangr is Freya’s Hall of the Dead, as it was not only to Odin’s Valhalla that Norse Warriors could go to await Ragnarok. In fact, it was Freya who got the first choice of the slain Warriors on the battlefields, taking half of them to her own Hall. There is a belief amongst scholars of Norse literature that not only male warriors were welcomed into Freya’s Hall, but instead, she would welcome true lovers of the fallen in her Hall to be there as well. This is an aspect of her nature as a Love Goddess, as she is reuniting true lovers even after death! Some even have said that love is renewed in Freya’s Hall, suggesting that anyone who has known true love in life may be gathered by Freya unto her Hall. I would also conjecture that female warriors may also be in her Hall, as we do know from archeological discoveries that Norse warriors were female as well as male. So, why would Freya not welcome female warriors into her Hall when she was so devotedly worshipped by many Norse women? That being said, this is my own observation, so I cannot say for certain what others believe in this sense.
Now, Freya’s Death aspect is not only in the form of Fólkvangr, as she is also known as a Battle Goddess. Not to mention that there are even some possible hints that some of Freya’s male worshippers would perform sacrificial death in her name because it is stated that ‘Ing-descended kings died as holy gifts to Freyja.’ Ritual deaths such as what is alluded to in that quote clearly show how important Freya’s Death Goddess nature was! Her Battle Goddess nature, as well as her choosing of the Slain Warriors for Fólkvangr, both lead many people to assume that Freya is a Valkyrie. While there is some overlap between Freya and the Valkyries, who choose the slain warriors and take them to Valhalla, some scholars debate this point. It is stated that her nature as a Battle Goddess and Death Goddess could be more connected to the Disir, female ancestral spirits, and these spirits are connected to fertility, as well as death. Furthermore, the Disir connection can be assumed through Freya’s byname, Vanadis, which some translate to mean ‘Dis of the Vanir,’ and Freya was a member of the Vanir. Finally, to connect Freya with the Disir is that her twin brother Frey (or Freyr) is known as Lord of the Alfar, the male ancestral spirits, which would make Freya being seen as Lady of the Disir a mirroring of her brother!
Clearly, Freya is a Goddess deeply connected to Death, and the Death aspect of Goddesses is deeply connected to the Dark Half of the Year, making Death aspects of Goddesses the perfect energy to work with at this time. I hope you have enjoyed this short look at Freya, Fólkvangr, the Disir, and her Battle and Death Goddess nature. What do you find to be the most interesting thing about Freya’s connection to Death? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a lovely artwork of Freya in the snow. I found the picture on https://darkpictures.fandom.com/wiki/Freyja.
LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I will be doing my first-ever Herbal Tea Blending Class on December 29, 2024! This is a live event hosted at the shop Phoenix Lane. Here is the link to the event on Facebook if you are interested in learning from me in person: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19hU6vdFm3/
Further Reading
- Freyja, Lady, Vanadis: An Introduction to the Goddess by Patricia M. Lafayllve (This is an excellent book on Freya’s many aspects and a valuable resource for this post, with a whole chapter on her nature as a Death Goddess.)
- Fire Jewel: A Devotional For Freyja, compiled by Gefion Vanirdottir
- Northern Mysteries & Magick: Runes & Feminine Powers by Freya Aswynn