by Claire Palermo

In Norse mythology, the Aesir are the warrior gods, and the principal deities of the pantheon. The queen of the Aesir is Frigg, wife of Odin and “foremost among the goddesses.” She is said to have the power of prophecy – but although she can reveal the future, she cannot change it. Frigg is also credited with the development of runes as a tool of divination.

The English word for “Friday”, one of our weekdays, comes from her name. Her name comes from an even older Sanskrit word meaning “earth,” but its root also means “marriage proposal” in Swedish and “to love” in Icelandic. Marshy or smoggy land, where earth and water meet or mix, are considered sacred to her.

Frigg is the patron goddess of love, marriage, motherhood and fertility, and most myths about her focus on her roles as a wife and mother of many children. She was often invoked by women who needed help with conception and childbirth. When the Scandinavians used the plant “Lady’s Bedstraw” (gallium verum, which produces dense clusters of yellow flowers) as a sedative, they called it “Frigg’s grass.” The same plant is also used for other domestic purposes, to flavor cheese, infuse spirits and make yellow or red dye.

Frigg is the patron goddess of spinners and weavers. The constellation of Orion’s Belt used to be known as “Frigg’s Distaff”; and the word “distaff” means “spinning wheel.” At the Winter Solstice, she sits at her wheel weaving the fates of the new year. Her son Baldr is the young Sun God, and when she gives birth to him at this time of year, fertility returns to the fields. Since she is associated with the passage from the old year into the new, she was also sometimes invoked to help dying people pass into the afterlife.

Several stories portray Frigg as the sorrowful, mourning mother who was unable to keep her children safe. In one myth, she tried to protect her son Baldr from death by asking for oaths from every object in nature. However, she forgot the mistletoe plant, which the trickster god Loki poisoned him and killed him with. In some versions of the tale, Baldr is brought back to life and as a sign of thankfulness, Frigg makes mistletoe a sign of peace and love, promising a kiss to all who stand under it.

Sources:

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/friggmyth/Frigg.htm
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/f/frigg.html
http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/goddess-frigga.htm
http://www.goddessaday.com/norse/frigg