I love how you always emphasize that when it comes to Norse mythology, we have to accept the limitations of our knowledge and leave ourselves to speculation, as there isn't much written information from earlier myths and even the later ones are scarce and most likely influenced by other cultures at best. It makes us stop to think about how much knowledge we lost across the centuries because no one wrote it down in an informative way like Snorri and others did.
@The Owl Lady Isn't he an expert on old norse language and runes? Also maybe the old norse meaning of Opin Bera is different and Isn't to make public basically the same as to reveal? His interpretation of Folkvangr is just as valid as any other right? Just as you said we know so little about norse mythology. Still even if he is wrong about those things, he still Isn't bad.
Now that you say i found out in School that all of the days are named after the norse gods except for monday and sunday who are named after the Sun and the Moon
2:32 are we all meant to just ignore that an important part of norse lore is not just that Freyja was accused of sleeping with other gods but also that she farted when caught?
Sleeping around wasn't considered bad as long as one was discreet, as both the gods and the goddesses did it. It's worth pointing out that Freya doesn't deny the accusation, but it's worth noting that the only child Freya bore were sired by Odin (Hnoss). Despite Snorri's insistence, Freya is often remarked as weeping over her absent husband, and frequently goes searching for him. The only god among the Norse known to wander around was Odin; yes, it's circumstantial, but some scholars linquistically link Odin to Ođr. As a powerful magician and one of her spheres being fertility, Freya knew when she was fertile, and she likely helped the other women; however, it's also possible that if alternately not relying on the wisdom of Frigga, that it might be common knowledge among the women knowing which herbs to take to discourage fertility. While Loki accuses Freya, the other gods weren't impressed. Thor, for example was married to Sif and by her had a daughter, Thrud. However, he also had Magni by the giantess, Jarnsaxa, who was not his wife; the parentage of Thor's other son, Modi, is not known, but it's worth noting that the boys were raised together, and Thor's patrimony was acknowledged.
I think similar thing happened with Aphrodite/Venus because she had different origin story and was formally worshiped by the Phoenicians as Ashtarte. OSP red explained it better.
Aphrodite/Venus isnt the same as Frigg/Freyja. Frigg/Freyja are both Norse. Aphrodite/Venus are from different cultures, with different origins. (Greek/Latin)
@@gunjfur8633 You're correct, but also not exactly. Like said in the video, Norse Mythology isn't from a single culture. It's actually an umbrella term to refer to the overarching shared ties of some scandinavian, germanic, celtic and even slavic pagan traditions, pieced together from several centuries. Adding to the confusion, these people did not develop a culture of writing often, which means that a lot of the earlier written accounts and main sources are christian. So they are both Norse in the sense that there was a shared cultured in that region, but Norse itself is a broad concept. If it weren't for the far more extensive writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans, we could have very well interpreted them in the same light, with a broader Mediterranean Mythology term, trying to piece together who is who, who belongs where, and so on.
As a half Japanese guy I totally support your suggestion! Just note that Kaguya is not what is commonly referred to as "mythology", but just a stand-alone, albeit grand and otherworldly (not to mention achingly beautiful) fairytale.
That's usually what Mythology refers to, myths, fairytales and folklore that were believed at the time. The only difference is that unlike Greek or Norse mythology, these are still very much part of the culture and still a part of Shintoism. The Japanese never had a grand religious revamp, so a lot of the old Shintoism is still around. Heck, I'd refer to Catholicism as mythology, or well the bible. It's the very same wild whacky stories with a variety of characters doing wild things as any of the others. The sole difference is that people still believe in Catholocism, so it's regarded as a religion. Sorry if that take offends you. I didn't wanna come off as rude. Just what I feel like about these things.
You should do Slavik mythology (in case you haven't heard of it it's basically believing in fairies, magical creatures and in some gods like Mokosh(goddess) and Perun[Peh-roon] (The main god) A more detailed explanation of Perun: In Slavic mythology, Perun (Cyrillic: Перýн) is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. His other attributes were fire, mountains, wind, iris, eagle, firmament (in Indo-European languages, this was joined with the notion of the sky of stone) and in a variation of today's Croatian language his name means fork.
I’m Croatian and no perun isn’t used as the word “fork” in our official language, we call a fork “vilica”. “Perin” similar to perun is used only in the north and east side of Adriatic coast in dialect. Also, an extra fun fact. We believe that when Perun strikes a bolt to the ground an iris grows. In croatian, iris are called “perunika” :)
Perun's place as the highest god is questionable. He's thought of as the highest one because we simply managed to reconstruct the highest number of mythos around him and he seems to appear in most Slavic regions, so the researchers think he must have been important or popular because of this. But in general, we know very little details about Slavic mythology except that it was very fragmented and localised, simillar to the Greek one. East, west and south had different gods, names for them or even priorities as to which is more important. E.g. from early sources we've got mentions of a god named "Rod" and he seems to have been associated with fate and family. From the context it seems he also was very important. In later sources he's basicaly nonexistent and we have no idea what happened. We also know only a handful of names from the entire pantheon that were simply mentioned once and never again. In other words: we know very, very little about actual Slavic mythology and due to lack of sources most of the knowledge is forever lost.
It’s like in Greek mythology. Sometimes, epithets become their own divinity out of confusion or just time. Ichnaea, Goddess of tracking, was once simply an epithet of Themis, but became separate. The same happened with Zegreus and Dionysus.
though we will probably never know 100% if theyre the same or not, my theory is they both derived from the same/similar indo-european goddess and as time went on different tribes began to seperate this goddess into 2 goddesses. i view them now as separate deities
Same concept with me but opposite conclusion. I see them as the same deity. One while married to odin (odr ul fittr... i mean the man is called all father...) and one who isn't married him any more.
As someone pointed out in a sort of unrelated video about languages, Freyja almost sounds similar to the Hindi name Priya (प्रिया). However Frigg seems to be more related since Frigg is a goddess of love and Priya means "beloved".
This just shows how fluid believes and religions where back then and now to some extend. The more i study mythology the more i realise how little we actually know.
So my girlfriend practices paganism Freyja being her main goddess she makes offerings to and does the work of. She also makes offerings to Frigg. She explained to me that Frigg is like a different version of Freyja, like a piece of Freyja's personality given life. Some interpretations make it confusing with describing Frigg as like the shadow to Freyja. She explained Odin and Od were the same way. Of course this is just her personal practice and I just thought it was an interesting take on the goddesses.
I have a similar belief. I personally believe that they are separate individuals, but also two equal halves. Two sides of the same coin. To me, Freyja (also my primary goddess funny enough) represents the half that is blunt, fierce, passionate. She is the assertive half that prefers to act when the situation calls for it. Frigg, at least as far as my current belief goes, is the passive half, preferring to remain calm and mirroring Odin’s wisdom with her own. If I were to really put it into simple terms, Frigg is the calm, Freyja is the storm. It’s also a helpful separation when Freyja’s domain of love is that of fertility and sexuality, while Frigg’s is more representative of the home and the family. They both embody separate realms of love. That being said, I still have a lot of reading to do lol
I never understand why in general we have the gods so rigid, like, X is the god of Y. It seems to me that should gods exist that they’d be far more fluid and take on different aspects and forms - more like in Hinduism. And also that their forms would mutate on the beliefs of those who worship them - more like in American Gods. Gods and magic beings in stories shapeshift all the time, but as soon as they shift to a another humanoid form (that often doesn’t even have a name, their name is just the literal word for the thing they represent) we go “huh, must be a whole different god.” So for me there is “The Goddess” or “The Lady” as Freyja but can take the form of Frigg or Gullveig, or can act as the Triple Goddess with Jord and Hnoss. Also, we all have different aspects to our own personalities - we act differently with friends than with our parents, we act differently at work than we do with our partners, and how you view you’re parents is going to be completely different to how their parents view them. But if you’re a divine being those different groups slap a different name on you and 1000 years later you’re suddenly different people.
I mean, it still narrows it down a lot more than if someone introduced themself as 'Zeus's lover' - though no one with sense would do that since that's basically asking for Hera to smite you...
😊A mug with the sentient sewing needle saying “did someone say sentient sewing needle?” Next to Loki’s mouth being sewn shut would be funny, but like no pressure or anything also I really like your content.😊
Thank you for making this video. I have been yearning to learn more about Norse mythology but a lot of UA-cam material/ books can be somewhat of a snore Fest. No disrespect on them but I personally appreciate the use of cartoons in learning for whatever reason.
It's always been my theory that the very male-dominated cast of the eddas was due to snorri because Norris and Viking religion old women fairly high shamans for example were exclusively or almost exclusively women in their culture
This is very interesting. In god of war, they are the same. And now I can see why they combined them there. Interesting time. (Plus we get more Norse mythology.) good times. Good video.
The idea that they were originally the same goddess and diverged until they were distinct when the groups reconnected later, it's also possible that they adapted some of the same spheres and animals because these were associated with goddesses. My current opinion is they were two different goddesses. Frigga was Aesir, and those gods stressed physical prowess. The Vanir stressed the arts, crafts, and magical ability. Soon after the two tribes of gods met, they went to war and the conflict lasted a long time with no clear winner. Tired of the constant warfare, both sides became agreeable to peace if a solution could be found. Frigga was Odin's first wife, and a time-honored practice to end fighting to for the leader to take a peace pride, and thus Freya became Odin's second wife (a practice known as a peace bride; having a woman from one tribe marry a leader from the rival tribe is what happened with Brigit to end the fighting between the Fomorians and the Tuatha in Irish myth; this shows the idea of a peace bride was widely known through the various tribes that were linguistically different). While Frigga stayed home to guard the homestead, Freya accompanied Odin into battle, and after the valkyries harvested the dead, Freya got half of the dead, and she got first pick - both as her right as Odin's wife and to show the Vanir were on par with the Aesir under Odin's leadership. Crawford says we don't know if Freya's dead warriors were housed elsewhere because only Valhalla is the only residence for the Einherjar, and that's fair. The warriors wouldn't necessarily have to bivouac in separate locations; when it came to fight, one group would follow Odin's banner, and the other group would march with Freya. Snorri loved the Norse gods, and he made many comparisons to encourage conversion to Christianity. However, as a Christian, he could not stomach the idea of Odin having two wives, so he deliberately listed Freya's husband with a name known to be Óðr, vehemently insisting they were two distinct gods. Some scholars consider the name of Freya's husband to be a cognate of Odin. One trait often mentioned was that Freya's husband was often away on travels, and missing him, she followed after him, and as you point out, the fact Odin is well known to travel about, looking for adventure, beer, and women to seduce, and we hear nothing of Freya's husband. If Freya's husband was Odin, this would make perfect sense. Odin having two wives is not farfetched at all. Polygamy among pagan chiefs, kings, and ruler gods was a thing because it showed the masses they were politically and/or physically powerful men to be reckoned with. Pagan women were usually only condemned with multiple wives if the husband was unable to take care of his women and children; what mattered was that if they agreed to marry that they and their children would be taken care of. Love, while an obsession in the West (and a lot of fun!), was an invention of the Victorian Age. While a husband and wife might develop affection or even love after years together, in many cultures marriages were arranged by the parents with an eye to future in-laws; in-laws might be called upon to provide opportunities for the children and/or provide resources and help during disasters. Love, if it was considered at all, was deemed an expensive luxury. That's why most researchers consider marriage both to be both a social and an economic contract (and why states get involved in its regulation). To some women, a man who had more than one woman and children by them was attractive, because he might have enough resources to provide for one more.
What if Valhalla is the land and Folkvang is the hall? Odin's half wander the lands, searching for battles and protecting from evils. Freyja's half stay in the hall, helping protect it from within, making weapons, and cooking vasts amount of food.
@@fan_of_thing ok, so the warriors dine and party waiting for Ragnarok, and the others tend to the fields, and gather ingredients for the food and wine. Thank you!
@@Jester_Jingles well isn't that just the most polite way I've ever heard someone try to call me a moron. Wow. Cool. How about this? We don't know a lot of Norse mythology and have had to fill in a lot of gaps ourselves. We don't have a lot to go off of and there aren't a lot of things documenting Norse mythology. We may have misinterpreted the books and got it wrong, too. Maybe one takes warriors, and the other doesn't. Who tf knows? We sure can't be fucking sure cuz we didn't live back then, and we don't have a lot of info on their religious beliefs. Humans aren't perfect. Don't try to patronize me, asshole.
Long story short, yes, another name for Frigg was Friia, which is practically Freya, and considering the Slavic god Perun is literally Thor, it shouldn’t be a surprise that all pegan Northern European gods, regardless of name, symbolize the same things.
yes, this is a huge debate within the faith and sources only go so far, I'm not going to ramble about the religious aspects but in my learnings and interactions I've had they are two different beings. I love the video thanks for the thought-provoking subject.
@@gmpssahnwal834 dude took a L for the team and did a horse just so freyja didn't get married off, even after slutshaming her. They're not bad, just mischieveous.
@@ProjektTaku He killed Baldr and Heimdallr and started Ragnarök. Loki was just mischievous but after Christianity started spreading the Christians started associating Loki with the devil because of this he started becoming more and more evil in the myths. It's kinda sad that Loki was actually a good guy but became so evil.
In the germanic tribes Freyja and Frigg were actually one and the same goddess, known as Frijja wife of Wodanaz, but in the later norse cults, they separated Frijja into Freyja and Frigg
In my early schooling we were taught about the many great halls the gods had and it was explained as if the halls were geography close and the fighting done each day was between frejas and odins warriors to prepare for ragnarok. (I'm from Denmark btw)
They are different Though In the Aesir-Vanir myth Freya has the abilities of Frigg But,Freya operates Folkvanger, which is the vanir counterpart of Valhalla,so I don't think they are actually the same
@@fredlloyd-ward6141 or that these two goddesses share a lot of iconographic elements, like the feather cloak that let's you fly, a marriage to a mysterious traveller-god (Odin/Odr), and patronage over clairvoyance and aspects of womanhood (fertility and beauty for Freyja and housework like weaving for Frigg). It's been speculated for decades that these two deities might have had a shared origin.
It’s commonly accepted among Scandinavians that yes, Frigg and Freya are at the very least connected, however it’s not the same goddess, Frigg is full blooded Aesir, born and raised, whereas Freya has the backstory of being a Vanir (a different breed of god, connected to nature and magic, whereas the Aesirs are connected to war and conquest), it is also stated that Frey, Freya’s brother, does not recognise Frigg upon first meeting her, so yeah would be hard to explain why YOUR TWIN BROTHER does not recognise you. However, it’s commonly stated that Frigg and Freya shares the same husband (Od, Freya’s husband, is most likely a synonym for Odin, Frigg’s husband) who, as the god of knowledge, but also one of the most hubris gods in Norse mythology, desired Freya’s wisdom within Vanir magic, which lead to seducing, sex, secrets and dipping. Is Baldur, Freya’s son? No, absolutely not. He’s actually one of her suitors, which would make it REALLY uncomfortable for him to also be her son, even by Nordic standards.
Interesting hint that I just thought off: many Jotnar wanted Freyja's hand. Now, if she was Odin's wife, Odin would obviously have something to say about it, and as I have it, the Jotnar were slightly stupid, but not that stupid. Which give me the idea that Frigg was Odin's wife broadly speaking, while Freyja was a different goddess, with some sources referring to Frigg as Freyja.
I actually thought they were the same person at first. Since I can’t be bothered to remember names in books, I just pick out the part that’s most uncommon about the name to remember. Too bad not a lot of feminine names start with “Fr” Let’s say I had one hectic reading session, flipping my Norse mythology book back and forth.
This is so confusing. I thought Frejya was the wife of Thor? Did they divorce or something i know vikings are more advance idk. I wanna hear more on Bauldar and Anna I just love the stories.
Do I think Frigg and Freyja are the same? Yes, because a) both Frigg and Ord have damn near no information on them beyond some random story/s, and b) Frigg/Freyja and Odin/Odr are so similar in name it makes sense that they're the same, but some mess up in translation (or Christians fudging things up to screw with the myths) essentially make Frigg/Freyja the same and Odin/Odr the same (also doesn't help that Odin and Freyja have equal rights and are both responsible for the souls of fallen warriors while Frigg/Odr play nearly no role in Norse mythos.
if time travel is ever invented, I'm going back, traveling to Scandinavia, learning everything there is to learn about Norse Mythology and writing it down.
I have a little request do you think you could do a video on the Anglo-Saxon god Easter I'm very interested in Anglo-Saxon norse paganism but I can't get a lot of sources so It would be really cool if you did that
It's likely that given time without Christians they would have merged into one goddess but the fact that Frig was Asgardian and Frayja is a Vanir likely means they were part of 2 believe systems from 2 different people's who eventually wared and joined cultures, mirroring the myth of the Asir Vanir war Though it's likely before that point they shared common origins So who's to know
I wish I had a time machine and could go back to around y1000 and commision scholars around Scandinavia to write me copies of the books and stories they knew of, before that knowledge was lost 😭
@@Eric6761 Actually we're lucky enough to be able to reconstruct most of the language of the old norse, partially because of the surviving books, and in large part because of the Icelandic language not really changing for 1000 years
Frigg and Freya were two different people and were very easily explained in assassins creed. I can do it in one sentence. Frigg was Odins wife in life, then he married Freya after he died. Simple. Frigg was considered God like cos of her intelligence and strength, however Freya was apparently an actual spirit god of the realm where Asgard was, which some consider, was actually part of Jotunheim, which is why alot of God of war doesn't make sense.. Especially as even in the pros edda children's book, etc Young Odin visits Jotunheim often. And drinks with Angrbodas father Suttungr. Aka "Saturn." And.. Ode and Odin were nothing alike, cos Ode is a name. And Odin is a pronunciation.. the actual spelling of Odin is "Woden," meaning "Warden" as he is a Warden of Souls, aka "The gentle jailor," which some Asgardian called him. And it's definitely Woden, which is why we have Wednesday, aka Wodensday, and not Odins Day.. Wednesday is a Christian version of Wodensday, cos they cut Woden out of it. And instead, said it was a day for people to marry, aka Weddings Day.. instead of Wodensday. And also.. in "God of War" they called Freya the witch of the wood.. in Midgard. But, completely wrong again.. cos Angrboda, who lived in the Iron Wood in Jotunheim, was known as the witch of the wood. Especially as it was so cold, it was mostly uninhabitable and safe for a Jotun who could survive the bitter cold. Which God of War claimed was normal temperature.. and hidden by some unexplainable "spell" 😒🙄 And Angrboda was a Jotun, not a race of gaints that were called "Giants" that were different to Jotuns. God of War did a piss poor job of doing the mythology tbh. But it was entertaining none the less. And also, Angrboda "the witch of the wood" had a sister called Gunlodr who was "the witch of the mountain" which was where Suttungr lived at the bottom of, Gunnlodr, protected her father Suttungrs Magic Mead of Knowledge, which was generated from a so called "bottomless barrel" which may have been an exaggeration. And not necessarily literally an endless supply of Mead. Plus it was only a container.. so the Mead itself was probably made somewhere else.. and not generated by magic. Also the creation of the Mead was apparently a creation, made by Suttungr aka Saturn's wife Hyrrokin aka Juno. And Angrboda was also known as "Alethia." In Greek mythology.
Charles Keary in Outlines of Primitive Belief Among the Indo-European Races, deals with the question of how the Earth Mother became demoted and subjugated to the position of consort to the chief god. He argues that this this transition happened in all cultures as they evolved from agrarian to urban societies. In most societies this happened in prehistory. But the Norse were the most remote and non- urban of all the Indo-European people, so this transition was postponed for several millenia. By the time it had started, Christianity was displacing the traditional beliefs and the mythology was frozen in this confusing, half baked state.
I love how you always emphasize that when it comes to Norse mythology, we have to accept the limitations of our knowledge and leave ourselves to speculation, as there isn't much written information from earlier myths and even the later ones are scarce and most likely influenced by other cultures at best. It makes us stop to think about how much knowledge we lost across the centuries because no one wrote it down in an informative way like Snorri and others did.
@The Owl Lady What's bad about Jackson Crawford?
@The Owl Lady Isn't he an expert on old norse language and runes? Also maybe the old norse meaning of Opin Bera is different and Isn't to make public basically the same as to reveal? His interpretation of Folkvangr is just as valid as any other right? Just as you said we know so little about norse mythology. Still even if he is wrong about those things, he still Isn't bad.
I blame Loki
Too bad this video is out on Saturn's day instead of Frigg's day.
underrated comment lol
or Freya's dag in norwegian
Now that you say i found out in School that all of the days are named after the norse gods except for monday and sunday who are named after the Sun and the Moon
@@leoleonielsen8076 we need more diversity. No?
@@leoleonielsen8076 Saturday is named for a Roman figure also. Saturn is the Roman equivalent to Cronus.
2:32 are we all meant to just ignore that an important part of norse lore is not just that Freyja was accused of sleeping with other gods but also that she farted when caught?
yes
gigachad move
It isnt really importabt
Sleeping around wasn't considered bad as long as one was discreet, as both the gods and the goddesses did it. It's worth pointing out that Freya doesn't deny the accusation, but it's worth noting that the only child Freya bore were sired by Odin (Hnoss). Despite Snorri's insistence, Freya is often remarked as weeping over her absent husband, and frequently goes searching for him. The only god among the Norse known to wander around was Odin; yes, it's circumstantial, but some scholars linquistically link Odin to Ođr. As a powerful magician and one of her spheres being fertility, Freya knew when she was fertile, and she likely helped the other women; however, it's also possible that if alternately not relying on the wisdom of Frigga, that it might be common knowledge among the women knowing which herbs to take to discourage fertility. While Loki accuses Freya, the other gods weren't impressed. Thor, for example was married to Sif and by her had a daughter, Thrud. However, he also had Magni by the giantess, Jarnsaxa, who was not his wife; the parentage of Thor's other son, Modi, is not known, but it's worth noting that the boys were raised together, and Thor's patrimony was acknowledged.
genderswap norse Zeus?
Atreus: “Hey, Mimir, why’s Freya so popular with the dwarves?”
Mimir: “uhhhhhh…”
Ha 😂
I had a nostalgic moment when you talked about how Freya got her necklace as it was the first Norse Mythology related thing a read as a kid
I really love your Norse Mythology videos, and I would love to see one on the Aesir-Vanir war
Well, we know nothing about it.
Yes. They're both Odin in disguise
Do you think this is a friggin joke?
@@Durandal734yes.
@@Durandal734yes
@@Durandal734you can’t just throw that into the frey
@@theonewhoknocks6950 but its loki kind funny
I think similar thing happened with Aphrodite/Venus because she had different origin story and was formally worshiped by the Phoenicians as Ashtarte. OSP red explained it better.
Osp red also explained the seal fight better
Aphrodite/Venus isnt the same as Frigg/Freyja.
Frigg/Freyja are both Norse.
Aphrodite/Venus are from different cultures, with different origins. (Greek/Latin)
@@gunjfur8633 You're correct, but also not exactly.
Like said in the video, Norse Mythology isn't from a single culture. It's actually an umbrella term to refer to the overarching shared ties of some scandinavian, germanic, celtic and even slavic pagan traditions, pieced together from several centuries. Adding to the confusion, these people did not develop a culture of writing often, which means that a lot of the earlier written accounts and main sources are christian.
So they are both Norse in the sense that there was a shared cultured in that region, but Norse itself is a broad concept. If it weren't for the far more extensive writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans, we could have very well interpreted them in the same light, with a broader Mediterranean Mythology term, trying to piece together who is who, who belongs where, and so on.
@@ggwp638BC not even close. Norse is a subset of Germanic culture. Only norse has Freya every other germanic cultute has Frige
Can we do Japanese Mythology? I wanna hear the tales of Kaguya and such. Plus I'm sure your designs would be wild
As a half Japanese guy I totally support your suggestion!
Just note that Kaguya is not what is commonly referred to as "mythology", but just a stand-alone, albeit grand and otherworldly (not to mention achingly beautiful) fairytale.
That's usually what Mythology refers to, myths, fairytales and folklore that were believed at the time. The only difference is that unlike Greek or Norse mythology, these are still very much part of the culture and still a part of Shintoism. The Japanese never had a grand religious revamp, so a lot of the old Shintoism is still around.
Heck, I'd refer to Catholicism as mythology, or well the bible. It's the very same wild whacky stories with a variety of characters doing wild things as any of the others. The sole difference is that people still believe in Catholocism, so it's regarded as a religion.
Sorry if that take offends you. I didn't wanna come off as rude. Just what I feel like about these things.
raijin seems pretty tight.
Kaguya is more a fairytale character rather than a mythical figure.
Shinto god's
I know because I read moonlit fantasy web novel more than 2 times
You should do Slavik mythology (in case you haven't heard of it it's basically believing in fairies, magical creatures and in some gods like Mokosh(goddess) and Perun[Peh-roon] (The main god)
A more detailed explanation of Perun:
In Slavic mythology, Perun (Cyrillic: Перýн) is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. His other attributes were fire, mountains, wind, iris, eagle, firmament (in Indo-European languages, this was joined with the notion of the sky of stone) and in a variation of today's Croatian language his name means fork.
I’m Croatian and no perun isn’t used as the word “fork” in our official language, we call a fork “vilica”. “Perin” similar to perun is used only in the north and east side of Adriatic coast in dialect.
Also, an extra fun fact. We believe that when Perun strikes a bolt to the ground an iris grows. In croatian, iris are called “perunika” :)
@@Pollicina_db Na otoku mi kazemo perun
Perun's place as the highest god is questionable. He's thought of as the highest one because we simply managed to reconstruct the highest number of mythos around him and he seems to appear in most Slavic regions, so the researchers think he must have been important or popular because of this. But in general, we know very little details about Slavic mythology except that it was very fragmented and localised, simillar to the Greek one. East, west and south had different gods, names for them or even priorities as to which is more important. E.g. from early sources we've got mentions of a god named "Rod" and he seems to have been associated with fate and family. From the context it seems he also was very important. In later sources he's basicaly nonexistent and we have no idea what happened. We also know only a handful of names from the entire pantheon that were simply mentioned once and never again. In other words: we know very, very little about actual Slavic mythology and due to lack of sources most of the knowledge is forever lost.
@@the_linden interesting
Isn't that where the lady Baba Jaga or Baba Yaga, comes from? 😆
1:21 i love how odin gets angry eyebrows on top of his normal eyebrows 😆
It’s great that Jake can actually make learning fun
It’s like in Greek mythology. Sometimes, epithets become their own divinity out of confusion or just time. Ichnaea, Goddess of tracking, was once simply an epithet of Themis, but became separate. The same happened with Zegreus and Dionysus.
though we will probably never know 100% if theyre the same or not, my theory is they both derived from the same/similar indo-european goddess and as time went on different tribes began to seperate this goddess into 2 goddesses. i view them now as separate deities
That sounds like the most sensible possibility.
My personal theory is Nerthus.
Same concept with me but opposite conclusion.
I see them as the same deity. One while married to odin (odr ul fittr... i mean the man is called all father...) and one who isn't married him any more.
7:17 I love how the image to depict the writer of the Edas seems to be soo desinterested and done with everything happening
The latter half of the myth with the two brothers is suspiciously like another myth I've heard with Zeus and Hera. Interesting
I actually haven’t heard that one, what is it?
They descended from a common (though distant) culture.
Jake: Frigg and Freya.
My brain: friggin' Freya!
As someone pointed out in a sort of unrelated video about languages, Freyja almost sounds similar to the Hindi name Priya (प्रिया). However Frigg seems to be more related since Frigg is a goddess of love and Priya means "beloved".
Freyja is also a goddess of love, though in her case more in relation to sexuality, while Frigg oversees family relations and marriage.
The "gg" in Frigg was originaly a "y" like sound. Frigg = Priya
Freyja is the goddess of love beauty and sex whereas Frigg is the goddess of marriage. They’re essentially the Aphrodite and Hera of their pantheon
This just shows how fluid believes and religions where back then and now to some extend. The more i study mythology the more i realise how little we actually know.
YES! The second video I've seen that shows the Heimdall/Loki seal slapfight!
So my girlfriend practices paganism Freyja being her main goddess she makes offerings to and does the work of. She also makes offerings to Frigg. She explained to me that Frigg is like a different version of Freyja, like a piece of Freyja's personality given life. Some interpretations make it confusing with describing Frigg as like the shadow to Freyja. She explained Odin and Od were the same way.
Of course this is just her personal practice and I just thought it was an interesting take on the goddesses.
I have a similar belief. I personally believe that they are separate individuals, but also two equal halves. Two sides of the same coin. To me, Freyja (also my primary goddess funny enough) represents the half that is blunt, fierce, passionate. She is the assertive half that prefers to act when the situation calls for it. Frigg, at least as far as my current belief goes, is the passive half, preferring to remain calm and mirroring Odin’s wisdom with her own. If I were to really put it into simple terms, Frigg is the calm, Freyja is the storm.
It’s also a helpful separation when Freyja’s domain of love is that of fertility and sexuality, while Frigg’s is more representative of the home and the family. They both embody separate realms of love.
That being said, I still have a lot of reading to do lol
I never understand why in general we have the gods so rigid, like, X is the god of Y. It seems to me that should gods exist that they’d be far more fluid and take on different aspects and forms - more like in Hinduism. And also that their forms would mutate on the beliefs of those who worship them - more like in American Gods.
Gods and magic beings in stories shapeshift all the time, but as soon as they shift to a another humanoid form (that often doesn’t even have a name, their name is just the literal word for the thing they represent) we go “huh, must be a whole different god.”
So for me there is “The Goddess” or “The Lady” as Freyja but can take the form of Frigg or Gullveig, or can act as the Triple Goddess with Jord and Hnoss.
Also, we all have different aspects to our own personalities - we act differently with friends than with our parents, we act differently at work than we do with our partners, and how you view you’re parents is going to be completely different to how their parents view them. But if you’re a divine being those different groups slap a different name on you and 1000 years later you’re suddenly different people.
Random person: Who are you?
Frigg or Freyja: I'm Odin's wife
Random person: Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down
Like being Zeus's (or Posidan's) son.
I never said that but ok.
I mean, it still narrows it down a lot more than if someone introduced themself as 'Zeus's lover' - though no one with sense would do that since that's basically asking for Hera to smite you...
😊A mug with the sentient sewing needle saying “did someone say sentient sewing needle?” Next to Loki’s mouth being sewn shut would be funny, but like no pressure or anything also I really like your content.😊
Really liked how detailed the video is, nice work. Could you do a video on Thor's and Loki's adventure to meet Utgard-Loki?
Thank you for making this video. I have been yearning to learn more about Norse mythology but a lot of UA-cam material/ books can be somewhat of a snore Fest. No disrespect on them but I personally appreciate the use of cartoons in learning for whatever reason.
i unironically needed this
It's always been my theory that the very male-dominated cast of the eddas was due to snorri because Norris and Viking religion old women fairly high shamans for example were exclusively or almost exclusively women in their culture
Women were even seen as divine, even more so in older Germanic beliefs. Tacitus wrote about it.
This is very interesting. In god of war, they are the same. And now I can see why they combined them there. Interesting time. (Plus we get more Norse mythology.) good times. Good video.
The idea that they were originally the same goddess and diverged until they were distinct when the groups reconnected later, it's also possible that they adapted some of the same spheres and animals because these were associated with goddesses. My current opinion is they were two different goddesses.
Frigga was Aesir, and those gods stressed physical prowess. The Vanir stressed the arts, crafts, and magical ability. Soon after the two tribes of gods met, they went to war and the conflict lasted a long time with no clear winner. Tired of the constant warfare, both sides became agreeable to peace if a solution could be found. Frigga was Odin's first wife, and a time-honored practice to end fighting to for the leader to take a peace pride, and thus Freya became Odin's second wife (a practice known as a peace bride; having a woman from one tribe marry a leader from the rival tribe is what happened with Brigit to end the fighting between the Fomorians and the Tuatha in Irish myth; this shows the idea of a peace bride was widely known through the various tribes that were linguistically different). While Frigga stayed home to guard the homestead, Freya accompanied Odin into battle, and after the valkyries harvested the dead, Freya got half of the dead, and she got first pick - both as her right as Odin's wife and to show the Vanir were on par with the Aesir under Odin's leadership. Crawford says we don't know if Freya's dead warriors were housed elsewhere because only Valhalla is the only residence for the Einherjar, and that's fair. The warriors wouldn't necessarily have to bivouac in separate locations; when it came to fight, one group would follow Odin's banner, and the other group would march with Freya.
Snorri loved the Norse gods, and he made many comparisons to encourage conversion to Christianity. However, as a Christian, he could not stomach the idea of Odin having two wives, so he deliberately listed Freya's husband with a name known to be Óðr, vehemently insisting they were two distinct gods. Some scholars consider the name of Freya's husband to be a cognate of Odin. One trait often mentioned was that Freya's husband was often away on travels, and missing him, she followed after him, and as you point out, the fact Odin is well known to travel about, looking for adventure, beer, and women to seduce, and we hear nothing of Freya's husband. If Freya's husband was Odin, this would make perfect sense.
Odin having two wives is not farfetched at all. Polygamy among pagan chiefs, kings, and ruler gods was a thing because it showed the masses they were politically and/or physically powerful men to be reckoned with. Pagan women were usually only condemned with multiple wives if the husband was unable to take care of his women and children; what mattered was that if they agreed to marry that they and their children would be taken care of. Love, while an obsession in the West (and a lot of fun!), was an invention of the Victorian Age. While a husband and wife might develop affection or even love after years together, in many cultures marriages were arranged by the parents with an eye to future in-laws; in-laws might be called upon to provide opportunities for the children and/or provide resources and help during disasters. Love, if it was considered at all, was deemed an expensive luxury. That's why most researchers consider marriage both to be both a social and an economic contract (and why states get involved in its regulation). To some women, a man who had more than one woman and children by them was attractive, because he might have enough resources to provide for one more.
What if Valhalla is the land and Folkvang is the hall? Odin's half wander the lands, searching for battles and protecting from evils. Freyja's half stay in the hall, helping protect it from within, making weapons, and cooking vasts amount of food.
@@fan_of_thing ok, so the warriors dine and party waiting for Ragnarok, and the others tend to the fields, and gather ingredients for the food and wine. Thank you!
@@ZGKIVno. Fólkvangr is also explicitly people who died in combat. They were just chosen by Freyja then Odin.
@@Jester_Jingles I'm just saying, misinterpretations happen all the time
@@ZGKIV yes. Your second comment was very much a misinterpretation. Both get warriors.
@@Jester_Jingles well isn't that just the most polite way I've ever heard someone try to call me a moron. Wow. Cool. How about this? We don't know a lot of Norse mythology and have had to fill in a lot of gaps ourselves. We don't have a lot to go off of and there aren't a lot of things documenting Norse mythology. We may have misinterpreted the books and got it wrong, too. Maybe one takes warriors, and the other doesn't. Who tf knows? We sure can't be fucking sure cuz we didn't live back then, and we don't have a lot of info on their religious beliefs. Humans aren't perfect. Don't try to patronize me, asshole.
I love your videos also I was wondering if there were any super weird artifacts kinda related to Greek mythology
You had no right (yes you do) to make Frigg and Frejya so cute!
this was actually quite insightful. thankyou
Favourite mythology channel on this platform.
Fun video. I would consider them different as Frigg is of Aesir and Freyja and Frey were Vanir.
I just love the people angrying in the foreground when you talk about Valhalla.
5:11 it sounds like he is saying “frickin Freyja”
Long story short, yes, another name for Frigg was Friia, which is practically Freya, and considering the Slavic god Perun is literally Thor, it shouldn’t be a surprise that all pegan Northern European gods, regardless of name, symbolize the same things.
yes, this is a huge debate within the faith and sources only go so far, I'm not going to ramble about the religious aspects but in my learnings and interactions I've had they are two different beings. I love the video thanks for the thought-provoking subject.
I'm looking forward to when Jake does Ragnarok
Both having the Falcon cape sold me.
Right??? I've never heard of two gods so alike too one another them this!
Commenting to let you know that TikTok brought me to you. And holy shit am I thankful. Great fun content!!!!
I love how Loki isnt a bad guy like in the mcu, he is just concerned bout how Freya sleeps with every god
Loki in norse mythology is sometimes a bad guy and sometimes a good guy.
@@gmpssahnwal834 dude took a L for the team and did a horse just so freyja didn't get married off, even after slutshaming her. They're not bad, just mischieveous.
Including her bro.
@@ProjektTaku He killed Baldr and Heimdallr and started Ragnarök. Loki was just mischievous but after Christianity started spreading the Christians started associating Loki with the devil because of this he started becoming more and more evil in the myths. It's kinda sad that Loki was actually a good guy but became so evil.
@@gmpssahnwal834 yeah, its pretty interesting how he devolved into a bad guy in the real myth and in the movies.
In the germanic tribes Freyja and Frigg were actually one and the same goddess, known as Frijja wife of Wodanaz, but in the later norse cults, they separated Frijja into Freyja and Frigg
In my early schooling we were taught about the many great halls the gods had and it was explained as if the halls were geography close and the fighting done each day was between frejas and odins warriors to prepare for ragnarok.
(I'm from Denmark btw)
2:33 loki accuses freyja of committing incest and then farting?? these are very specific tricks from the trickster god
YES JAKE HAS ANSWERED MY PRAYERS AND TALKED ABOUT LOKI AND HEIMDALL SEALS FIGHTING OVER A NECKLACE!!!
Can you cover Aztec mythology?
now I'm interested about Frigga in Old English mythological beliefs which I believe shares etymological roots
I wonder how much the Magnus Chase series would have changed if we had as good as a understanding of Norse mythology as we do with Greek.
The word “frick” was actually derived from when Odin would yell out “frigg!” when she’d messed something up.
really
yeah thats my question that said i think its God Of War 2018 & Raganrok and The MCU Merged them into the same person
It doesn't help that their names both begin with Fr
They are different
Though In the Aesir-Vanir myth Freya has the abilities of Frigg
But,Freya operates Folkvanger, which is the vanir counterpart of Valhalla,so I don't think they are actually the same
@@fredlloyd-ward6141 or that these two goddesses share a lot of iconographic elements, like the feather cloak that let's you fly, a marriage to a mysterious traveller-god (Odin/Odr), and patronage over clairvoyance and aspects of womanhood (fertility and beauty for Freyja and housework like weaving for Frigg). It's been speculated for decades that these two deities might have had a shared origin.
I also like the theory that Loki and Odin may have been the same god at some point
It’s commonly accepted among Scandinavians that yes, Frigg and Freya are at the very least connected, however it’s not the same goddess, Frigg is full blooded Aesir, born and raised, whereas Freya has the backstory of being a Vanir (a different breed of god, connected to nature and magic, whereas the Aesirs are connected to war and conquest), it is also stated that Frey, Freya’s brother, does not recognise Frigg upon first meeting her, so yeah would be hard to explain why YOUR TWIN BROTHER does not recognise you.
However, it’s commonly stated that Frigg and Freya shares the same husband (Od, Freya’s husband, is most likely a synonym for Odin, Frigg’s husband) who, as the god of knowledge, but also one of the most hubris gods in Norse mythology, desired Freya’s wisdom within Vanir magic, which lead to seducing, sex, secrets and dipping. Is Baldur, Freya’s son? No, absolutely not. He’s actually one of her suitors, which would make it REALLY uncomfortable for him to also be her son, even by Nordic standards.
What if the only reason Valhalla and Folkvang are separate is so that we have two teams for the practice battles?
Gná..
Reminds me of a boss fight in a game that took me 4 hours
Just 4?
I would love it if you covered Australian Indigenous mythology
When's the next Egyptian mythology video
Referring to them as Frigg and Freyja sounds like you're saying "Friggin' Freyja" the whole time.
Love you videos god bless
Interesting hint that I just thought off: many Jotnar wanted Freyja's hand. Now, if she was Odin's wife, Odin would obviously have something to say about it, and as I have it, the Jotnar were slightly stupid, but not that stupid. Which give me the idea that Frigg was Odin's wife broadly speaking, while Freyja was a different goddess, with some sources referring to Frigg as Freyja.
Can you cover Aztec mythology
I actually thought they were the same person at first. Since I can’t be bothered to remember names in books, I just pick out the part that’s most uncommon about the name to remember. Too bad not a lot of feminine names start with “Fr” Let’s say I had one hectic reading session, flipping my Norse mythology book back and forth.
Can you do Khonsu? I gotta do a project about him
There's a really informative video on him on the channel Religion for Breakfast
Thank you just saved me an hour of research
"Odin shows up in his usual Gandalf cosplay"
More like Gandalf cosplayed as Odin.
This is so confusing. I thought Frejya was the wife of Thor? Did they divorce or something i know vikings are more advance idk. I wanna hear more on Bauldar and Anna I just love the stories.
Thor's wife is Sif
@@JakeDoubleyoo Thank you for clearing that up, Jake. I'm also shell-shocked that you saw this.
So god of war was right?
Do you think you’ll explain the different pantheons of Norse myth
Loki calling Freyja a hoe when he had more horse in him than NHentai search results
I’ve named most of my leopard geckos after north mythology so this is super fun for me
I love both interpretations
Heimdall fighting loki as a Seal would Be an awesome fight why was IT changed
How about gullveig?
You should do Japanese mythology next
In the Ring Cycle they are sisters, but Wagner kinda just took various myths and wrote his own fanfic XD
Do I think Frigg and Freyja are the same? Yes, because a) both Frigg and Ord have damn near no information on them beyond some random story/s, and b) Frigg/Freyja and Odin/Odr are so similar in name it makes sense that they're the same, but some mess up in translation (or Christians fudging things up to screw with the myths) essentially make Frigg/Freyja the same and Odin/Odr the same (also doesn't help that Odin and Freyja have equal rights and are both responsible for the souls of fallen warriors while Frigg/Odr play nearly no role in Norse mythos.
Why is Od so cool looking hes emowizardrifc
2:16 jake I don’t think that’s a mythologically accurate I don’t think that Yngvi was packing that much in the original myth you’ve broken my trust
if time travel is ever invented, I'm going back, traveling to Scandinavia, learning everything there is to learn about Norse Mythology and writing it down.
I'll help we need *every* *myth*
I have gained so many brain cells from your videos
Its also thought that freya and frigg or their equivalent, in mainland germanic mythology are the same person.
I do wonder if something happened similar with odin and loki given they also have similarites like frigg and freya.
Is getting into Valhalla and folkvang like getting accepted into college for Vikings
i love the raging warrior animation
I have a little request do you think you could do a video on the Anglo-Saxon god Easter I'm very interested in Anglo-Saxon norse paganism but I can't get a lot of sources so It would be really cool if you did that
I've been ab Anglo-Saxon heathen for 7 years
Hey jake how do you make these animations?
I use Blender.
@@JakeDoubleyoo thanks
It's likely that given time without Christians they would have merged into one goddess but the fact that Frig was Asgardian and Frayja is a Vanir likely means they were part of 2 believe systems from 2 different people's who eventually wared and joined cultures, mirroring the myth of the Asir Vanir war
Though it's likely before that point they shared common origins
So who's to know
Can do done dtories about Kali being a total badass
I wish I had a time machine and could go back to around y1000 and commision scholars around Scandinavia to write me copies of the books and stories they knew of, before that knowledge was lost 😭
Too bad, you would have to know Ancient languages most likely lost through time
@@Eric6761 Actually we're lucky enough to be able to reconstruct most of the language of the old norse, partially because of the surviving books, and in large part because of the Icelandic language not really changing for 1000 years
Loki really said Freyja farted
Frigg and Freya were two different people and were very easily explained in assassins creed.
I can do it in one sentence.
Frigg was Odins wife in life, then he married Freya after he died.
Simple.
Frigg was considered God like cos of her intelligence and strength, however Freya was apparently an actual spirit god of the realm where Asgard was, which some consider, was actually part of Jotunheim, which is why alot of God of war doesn't make sense..
Especially as even in the pros edda children's book, etc
Young Odin visits Jotunheim often. And drinks with Angrbodas father Suttungr. Aka "Saturn."
And.. Ode and Odin were nothing alike, cos Ode is a name. And Odin is a pronunciation.. the actual spelling of Odin is "Woden," meaning "Warden" as he is a Warden of Souls, aka "The gentle jailor," which some Asgardian called him.
And it's definitely Woden, which is why we have Wednesday, aka Wodensday, and not Odins Day..
Wednesday is a Christian version of Wodensday, cos they cut Woden out of it. And instead, said it was a day for people to marry, aka Weddings Day.. instead of Wodensday.
And also.. in "God of War" they called Freya the witch of the wood.. in Midgard.
But, completely wrong again.. cos Angrboda, who lived in the Iron Wood in Jotunheim, was known as the witch of the wood. Especially as it was so cold, it was mostly uninhabitable and safe for a Jotun who could survive the bitter cold. Which God of War claimed was normal temperature.. and hidden by some unexplainable "spell" 😒🙄
And Angrboda was a Jotun, not a race of gaints that were called "Giants" that were different to Jotuns.
God of War did a piss poor job of doing the mythology tbh.
But it was entertaining none the less.
And also, Angrboda "the witch of the wood" had a sister called Gunlodr who was "the witch of the mountain" which was where Suttungr lived at the bottom of, Gunnlodr, protected her father Suttungrs Magic Mead of Knowledge, which was generated from a so called "bottomless barrel" which may have been an exaggeration. And not necessarily literally an endless supply of Mead. Plus it was only a container.. so the Mead itself was probably made somewhere else.. and not generated by magic.
Also the creation of the Mead was apparently a creation, made by Suttungr aka Saturn's wife Hyrrokin aka Juno.
And Angrboda was also known as "Alethia." In Greek mythology.
Frigg is her name Freyja is the title much like Yngvi and Freyr Are the same person. Idk I'm just spitballin.
Charles Keary in Outlines of Primitive Belief Among the Indo-European Races, deals with the question of how the Earth Mother became demoted and subjugated to the position of consort to the chief god. He argues that this this transition happened in all cultures as they evolved from agrarian to urban societies. In most societies this happened in prehistory. But the Norse were the most remote and non- urban of all the Indo-European people, so this transition was postponed for several millenia. By the time it had started, Christianity was displacing the traditional beliefs and the mythology was frozen in this confusing, half baked state.
I was wondering.. will there ever be asian mythology videos from you? 👀
Freyja has numerous names, including Gefn, Hörn, Mardöll, Sýr, Vanadís, and Valfreyja
Odin DOES NOT cosplay as Gandalf! Gandalf... cosplays as Odin! Damn this education-by-pop-culture
Only one way to find out. (Pulls out ancient summoning runes.)
There is a guy using your videos on tiktok and acting like its his
I've seen him too I think, is it the one with the paper transition?
I think that Freyas real name would start with n like nyigvi and nyourd sorry for the miss spelling
Why does Freyja look like she is perpetualy cursed with Pogging