God of War: discovering Freya, goddess of seduction and beauty

God of War

Norse mythology calls us together again, this time to lead us to the discovery of Freya, the goddess of seduction and beauty from God of War, a divinity with a thousand facets and uncertain origins. While waiting to see her return more furious than ever in God of War Ragnarok, let's see how Santa Monica Studio adapted this character to its narrative universe.

The Evemeric Origins

God of War : Freya illustrated by John Bauer in an oil on canvas dated 1905 Various theoretical lines have focused on the possible link between history and mythology. It does not seem too remote the possibility that, with the passing of years (if not centuries), from an event or from a charismatic and well-known personality, a mythicization of these figures and events.

As a result, many have looked at Norse mythology from a historical point of view, finding links between the deities and peoples who trampled European soil in ancient times.

One of the main territories of analysis of the evemeristic vision are the wars between Æsir and Vanir, two pantheons at the antipodes which, at the end of the second conflict, merged into a single group of divinities.

Some scholars argue that this mythological clash arose from an actual meeting between two different clans. A recurring idea is that the Vanir represent a very ancient Scandinavian people, dedicated to the veneration of the natural world (it is no coincidence that the Vanir are mainly associated with fertility, love and beauty), while the Æsir are nothing more than a group of Belligerent "invaders" from East, perhaps Middle East Asia (Snorri Sturluson, renowned scholar of Norse mythology, and author of the Edda in prose, one of the very few sources we can draw from to analyze these myths, has identified Asgard, the home of the gods, in Troy. A theory even traces Thor back to the lineage of King Priam. The scarce presence of the Vanir deities outside the Scandinavian peninsula confirms the thesis of this meeting / clash between peoples.

Freya belongs of the Vanir. As for other divinities with an uncertain past, the name Freya derives from the Proto-Germanic and literally means "Lady" (note that the name of the twin brother, Freyr, means "Man"). Therefore, it is highly probable that, before becoming a theonym, this term was used as an epithet associated with one or more deities now lost in time.

Mythological origins

God of War: Freya in detail from another oil on canvas, made by James Doyle Penrose in 1890 Freya (in Old Norse, Freyja) is the goddess of fertility, love (especially carnal), seduction, but also of war, death, 'gold and divination (especially associated with the shamanic magic of seiðr, a form of clairvoyance that allows us to predict the future, but also to curse individuals through disease or even death). She is the daughter of Njörðr and his sister (whose name is unknown), she has a twin brother named Freyr, a god of innumerable qualities (including peace, fertility and virility). Taken hostage during the war between Æsir and Vanir, the two brothers become bargaining chips for the completion of peace treaties.

Various sources stress how she is married to the little present Óðr, for whom she often finds herself crying "red gold" and making long journeys in search of it, but on several occasions she is referred to as one of Odin's concubines (perhaps these ties have followed one another at different times, but polygamy was not rare within the Norse culture).

God of War: an illustration by Carl Emil Doepler from 1882, published in Wilhelm Wägner's "Nordisch-germanische Götter und Helden". Freya and Frigg (wife of Odin in the Norse tradition) were not the same divine entity, perhaps split over time, as is supposed to have happened to Thor and Tyr. Some have even associated it with the Valkyries, or those who choose who of the fallen in battle deserves to sit alongside the gods. This is because not only half of the killed are welcomed into the halls of her palace, Sessrúmnir (located in the vast field over which she dominates, Fólkvangr), but also because it is reported how Freya herself descends on the battlefield and decides who to take with her and who, instead, to direct on the road to Valhalla, to dwell with Odin, just as a Valkyrie would do.

Freya in mythological sources

God of War: Heimdall brings the precious Brísingamen necklace back to Freya in this work by Nils Blommér, dated 1845 The information concerning Norse mythology that has come down to us is few, fragmentary and mostly confused. However, Freya often appears in the writings that report the divine deeds of the Germanic pantheon, representing one of the leading figures of these suggestive episodes. We find it both in Snorri's prose Edda and in the poetic Edda (the collection of Norse poems contained in the Icelandic Codex Regius), but also in various "sagas".

In the poem Þrymskviða, Thor wakes up not finding his trusty hammer. After reporting the unfortunate discovery to Loki, the two head to Freya, where Freya borrows the goddess's feather cloak, which allows anyone wearing it to soar. Loki flies to Jötunheim, where he finds the giant Þrymr, who reveals to him that he has hidden Thor's hammer in the depths of the earth and that he will return it only if he has Freya in exchange as he marries him. After telling their stepbrother everything, the two gods return to Freya. Here Thor tells her to put on her wedding dress, because they must immediately go to the giant to complete the exchange.

However, at Thor's proposal, Freya becomes angry, making all the halls of her palace tremble. Before creating unpleasant inconvenience, the deities gather in an assembly, where Heimdall suggests dressing Thor as a bride, so as to deceive the giant and take back the hammer without compromising poor Freya. Thor tries to argue, but the thought (suggested by Loki) that the same giant may soon sit on the throne of the gods, due to the lack of the portentous Mjöllnir in the hands of the most daring of Asgard's defenders, convinces him to follow this plan. Thus, Thor and Loki disguise themselves as Freya and handmaid respectively, ready to reach Jötunheim.

God of War: Thor disguises himself as Freya to trick the giant Þrymr and get his hammer back in an illustration by Elmer Boyd Smith of 1902 Here everything is ready for the arrival of the "bride", but some doubts begin to creep into Þrymr's mind. In fact, he did not expect the goddess to eat and drink with such voracity. Also, he gets scared when, pulling back the veil to give her a kiss, the giant is struck by the terrifying gaze that lies beneath her. Fortunately, Loki manages to calm Þrymr, claiming that the goddess hasn't eaten and slept for eight days from excitement. Despite Loki's readiness, Thor's impatient impatience prevails when his hammer is returned to him, blowing cover and killing all the giants, including Þrymr.

Now listen to me, Loki / that that I tell you nobody knows / neither on Earth nor in the divine realm: / they have stolen the hammer from the god.

In the Edda in prose, on the other hand, one of Freya's most iconic apparitions concerns a new bond in marriage not reciprocated. After the completion of Valhalla, a mysterious builder arrived at Odin's court declaring that in just three seasons he could build a fortification so strong that it was impenetrable to any giant eager to overthrow the current rulers. In return, he demanded "only" Freya's hand, in addition to the more than reasonable demands of the sun and the moon. The gods agreed, but on the condition that everything was completed in one winter and by the first day of summer, otherwise the agreement would be skipped. In addition, the builder had to complete everything himself. He accepted, but asked if he could at least use his horse. The gods, encouraged by Loki, agreed, convinced that it was an impossible undertaking.

However, a few days before the summer, the builder and his portentous steed were nearing completion of the project. . So the gods got together to find a solution. Having reached by mutual agreement the attribution of the blame to Loki, who had pushed them to accept the contract, they decided to leave the latter the task of resolving the situation, otherwise they would have brutally killed him.

Then the gods they sat on the judgment seats and held councils, and each asked the other who he advised to marry Freya in Jötunheim or strip the air and the sky so as to take away the sun and the moon and give them to the giants. And they all agreed that this must have advised the one who advises most evils, Loki [...].

Frightened by threats, the god of deception turned into a mare, so to lure the horse away from its master and delay construction. Arriving on the first morning of summer with his unfinished work, the builder let himself be taken by the fury of the giants, revealing his true identity. Broken both the agreement to complete the fortress in a single winter, and the promise of the impossibility for any giant to cross it, the gods summoned Thor, engaged in a war in the east. Arriving in no time, the god of thunder slashed his fury on the giant, sending him with a single blow to Niflhel. As for Loki, after a few months, due to his "behavior" with the builder's steed, she gave birth to the legendary eight-legged horse Sleipnir.

Freya in Sörla þáttr

God of War: In this illustration by Louis Huard from c.1891, Freya watches the dwarves as they complete Brísingamen We find a more libertine Freya in the short story Sörla þáttr, dating back to the 14th century, where she is referred to as the favorite of Odin's concubines. Passing in front of a cave inhabited by some dwarves, the goddess saw four of them intent on forging a magnificent necklace, Brísingamen. Freya offered them plenty of gold and silver in exchange for the jewel, but the dwarves did not need material wealth. However, they were willing to give up the pendant as long as the goddess lay with each of them. Not too happy, she accepted the conditions and spent a night with each of them.

Loki learned of what had happened and promptly went to report everything to Odin. He ordered him to retrieve the necklace: not an easy task, since it was not possible to access the goddess' rooms without his consent, especially if she was inside. Annoyed, Loki headed for Freya's quarters, which he found closed. He decided, therefore, to transform himself into a fly and, with difficulty, managed to pass through a small crack in the tympanum that overlooked the doors. Once inside her, he noticed that the goddess was sleeping with the pendant around her neck. To get it off the hook without waking her up, he had to turn it around. So he turned into a flea and pinched her cheek. Freya turned and Loki, returned to her human form, removed her necklace and walked out the main entrance.

God of War: Freya is lying on her trusty boar Hildisvíni as she is about to reach Hyndla, a shaman giantess, in this illustration by Lorenz Frølich, dated 1895 Once awakened, the goddess realized that Brísingamen had disappeared and that the doors to her room were not locked. Without any doubt as to who might have taken the necklace from her, she went to Odin, ordering him to return her necklace to her. He retorted by telling her that given the way she got it, he would never get her back. However, there was a but. In fact, Odin would have given it back to her, as long as she was able to make two kings, rulers of twenty kings each, fight each other, also casting a spell that would bring back to life the fallen of both armies. The fight was supposed to be eternal, but the spell would no longer take effect if a particular Christian man began to take down enemy soldiers. Reluctantly, Freya accepted.

Freya in God of War Ragnarok

God of War: the Freya of Santa Monica Studio Santa Monica Studio followed the idea of ​​a congruence between the figures of Freya and Frigg, making them converge into a single character within God of War. Anyone who has played the first chapter of the new Norse saga will know, in fact, that the witch in the woods named Freya turned out to be Frigg, Baldur's mother and formerly Odin's wife, as well as she was queen of the Valkyries. Forced to marry Odin to end the war between Æsir and Vanir, Freya decides to distance herself from Odin because of her cruelty and the mean way in which she used the magic she taught him to defeat the forces of her "enemies" . Furious, the god snatches her wings, banishes her to Midgard and condemns her to no longer being able to injure any living being in any way.

The only joy for her that comes from this union is Baldur, the son who has always adored. After learning of a prophecy that she wanted her son destined to die a needless death, she casts a protection spell on him that makes him invulnerable. However, this leads to him being physically numb to everything. Unable to hear anything, Baldur pleads with his mother to break the spell, but she lies to him, telling him she doesn't know how. In a fit of anger, the god is about to kill her mother, but failing to do so, he decides to repudiate her and swears that he will never forgive her. The events recounted in the game then lead to the final confrontation between Kratos and Baldur, which ends with the death of the second and the desperation of the latter's mother who, despite being again about to be killed by her own son, was still convinced that she can reason with him.

God of War: Freya will seek revenge for her son in Ragnarok From the trailer for God of War Ragnarok it is evident that Freya will return in search of revenge for the death of her son, free from his imprisonment that prevents her from leaving Midgard and hurting other living beings. We are eager to find out how events will unfold, given that the tangle of discordant emotions and the tension that binds these characters left us with bated breath in 2018. We hope we don't have to wait long before we can finally get our hands on. new adventure in Norse mythology according to Santa Monica Studio.

We hope this adventure to discover Freya has been of interest to you. We take this opportunity to remind you that this is not the first journey we take within Norse mythology to uncover the links between it and the new God of War saga. We've already explored the stories behind Thor, Mímir, Angrboda, Jormungandr and Týr, as well as delving into the events of Ragnarok. Let us know in the comments what you think and stay on our pages, because the journey into the depths of Norse mythology has not yet come to an end.

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