#odr

Some DLH Oddreyja for @piratespacex because its good for the soul! ❤️💙

Dlh Odr

The whole reason why I like him is the mere fact is how underrated he is, we have nothing on him besides this picture and another one. Not even a personality we know about, so really, it’s up to you to depict him until more is revealed. And because of that, I treat him like my own Oc basically. Since nobody, and I mean NOBODY love this man more than I.

I want to add the disclaimer that I am not a Norse Pagan or a neopagan. If you want to treat Freya and Frigga as the same goddess in your practice then more power to you.

In the myths, by the Norse, these two goddesses are not the same. Recent misinformation (especially in neopagan circles) equates Freya and Frigga as the different names for the same goddesses. This is not supported by what we know of these figures, the myths, or how they were treated in the Norse culture.

One indicator: they have different kennings/epithets!

Freya: daughter of Njord

Frigga: Daughter of Fjorgynn

Freya: mother of Hnoss

Frigga: mother of Baldr

Njord and Fiorgynn are different gods. In order to equate Freya and Frigga you must contend with them having different fathers. While it is conceivable that if they were one goddess they could be the mothers of both Hnoss and Baldr. However, you never see Baldr attributed to Freya, nor Hnoss to Frigga. Further, Baldr is referred to as son of Frigga (never Freya) and Hnoss is daughter of Freya (never Frigga).

Frigga is Aesir, Freya is Vanir.

Frigga is referred to as the ‘Queen of the Aesir’ (another kenning never attributed to Freya).

Freya is well known as a Vanir. Her mastery and access to Sedir is often attributed to this heritage. She taught the Aesir (particularly Odin) how to use Sedir, but she is never considered to be an Aesir herself. These two tribes are distinct in the mythology. It would not make sense for one goddess to be both an Aesir and a Vanir. While the Vanir and Aesir were later assimilated into the same Pantheon this did not change the nature of their origin.

While their names may seem similar they likely have very different entomological origins.

Frigga is likely derived from the verb to love/beloved (frijōn) while Freya (and her brother Freyr) names are likely derived from the gendered forms of the word for lady/lord (frawjōn) respectively. (Source: Orel, Vladimir E. (2003). A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-12875-0.)

The lack of common derivative for their names imply a lack of connection between the two goddesses.

Odr and Odin are often considered the same deity.

Odr is Freya’s husband and Odin is Frigga’s husband. Odr is not well referenced and is only mentioned a few times in relation to Freya. He is often absent and Freya cries tears of red gold in her mourning for him. Further, Odr and Odin are entomologically connected. They come from the same root word. However, this is a word with a wide variety of meanings and translations. While some theorize that Odr and Odin were once the same deity that was then split into two distinct characters other theorize that Odr is simply another name for Odin. However, it is also possible that Odr is less of a deity and more of an abstraction. Odr is less of a name and more a word that translates directly to mind, wit, soul, sense and is related to the word wōdaz meaning inspired, delirious, raging (Source: Source: Orel, Vladimir E. (2003). A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-12875-0.). The ‘inn’ suffix that we see in Odinn’s name is a modifier than imparts an adjective’s meaning to the word (similar to ‘en’ in English i.e. gold to golden means something has the properties of gold).

Odin is the raging or frenzied one (imparted with the properties of Odr).

Now this is where the argument becomes a little more subjective. If Odr is considered a deity in the Aesir and Vanir sense then he and Odin are almost certainly the same. This likely makes Freya more a consort of Odin and Frigga his wife (they are still not the same they simply share a lover and I’ll explain later why that may be).

However, it could also be interpreted that Freya is married to the personified concept of inspiration/passion. She weeps when her passion leaves her. This would put Odr in the a similar category to the Sol (Sun) and Mani (Moon) who are less gods and more personifications of the solar bodies.

Finally and most importantly: Freya and Frigga are not treated interchangeably in the myths

The surviving myths we have treat Frigga and Freya as distinct. The myths would make less sense (sometimes even no sense) if we believe Freya and Frigga to be the same deities. I.e. the myths where Odin promises Freya’s hand in marriage to a giant in exchange for a wall make much less sense if Freya was also Frigga and Odin’s wife.

So why are these goddesses so similar?

There are a few theories as to why these goddesses overlap so much in their divine symbols and areas of worship. First and most widespread is that these two goddesses diverged from a single older proto-Germanic goddess. This would explain some of the overlap and myth/name confusion. This is however not supported by the distinct name origins of these two goddesses (common root would likely show up in naming conventions (i.e. Odr and Odin). Another possibility is simple convergent evolution of ideas that created two similar, but distinct goddesses. Finally, my preferred explanation is that Freya and Frigga were converging (instead of diverging). It may be that these two goddesses had minimal overlap and as time went on they began to be assimilated into each other. (A convergence that resumes with the recent misinformation that these goddesses are same). This is supported by Freya being a singularly Norse figure while Frigga was also seen more largely from proto-germanic culture. We see this assimilation commonly when two cultures meet, see commonalities in deities, and adoption across the cultures (Interpretatio germanica).