The Norse Goddess Frigg: Wife of Odin, But Not the Mother of Thor

While the male gods may steal the show in most Norse myths, Asgard had its fair share of Norse goddesses. Principal among them was Frigg, or Frigga, the queen of Asgard and the wife of Thor. She is famous for his motherly instincts, but (despite what Marvel says) she was not the mother of Thor. Rather, she was the mother of the beloved but dead god Balder.

Frigg the Beloved One

Frigg means “beloved” in Old Norse. It likely refers to her role as the wife of Odin, the leader of the Aesir gods. She is often described as the most important Norse goddess. This may be reflected in the fact that she alone was able to sit in Odin’s throne, which allowed him to look out over the nine worlds and see all things. She is also often described as giving her husband counsel.

Frigg was also a sky goddess associated with the moon. But her most important role was as the goddess of the household, linked with motherhood, love, fertility, marriage, and the domestic arts.

In terms of domestic life Frigg, a mother herself, may have helped some women to have children. According to one story, a barren king and queen prayed fervently for children, and it was Frigg who heard their prayers and took the issue to Odin.

She was associated with domestic arts such as spinning, and according to some stories, Frigga wove the clothes of the gods from the wool of the cloud sheep. Frigga’s symbols were the spinning wheel, mistletoe, and silver.

But, as the queen of Asgard, Frigg’s power was more than just that of a mother and household matron. For example, she was also the lady of the hall, and it was her duty to carry the mead horn around at feasts. Considering the important role of feasting in diplomacy, Frigga was also associated with this, and was called on by leaders to ensure smooth and beneficial negotiations.

Finally, Frigg is thought to have been able to see the fate of all beings, but she chose never to speak of what she saw. It is said that Frigga saw the fate of both her son Balder and her husband Odin, but she seems to have been powerless to change the course of events.

Frigga and Freya

Considering how important Frigg was as a Norse goddess, it is a bit surprising that so little is known about her. One theory is that in pre-Viking times, Frigg and Freya were a single goddess, and that they were split into two for some reason. This would explain the many similarities between the Norse goddesses.

Freya was also a Norse goddess of love, but of a more sexual nature. Freya’s name simply means “lady” in Old Norse, which also places her as a kind of matron. She was linked with fertility, which meant that Freya, like Frigg, was connected to childbirth.

Freya was also associated with ideas of fate, as she practiced Seidr magic, which involves discerning the course of fate and working within its structure to bring about change. But interestingly enough, Freya is never described as a seer, one of the most important aspects of Seidr magic. But Frigg has this ability.

Freya was closely linked with Odin. She reportedly taught him the art of Seidr magic when she arrived in Asgard. Also, while Odin collected the souls of brave fallen warriors for his afterlife, Valhalla, Freya did the same thing, taking brave fallen warriors to her afterlife, Folkvangr.

Freya was also reportedly married to the Aesir god Odr when she arrived in Asgard. We know almost nothing about this god, except that he often left Freya to wander the mortal world. This caused Freya great distress, who tried to follow up. As she did, she cried, and where her tears touched land they became gold, and where they touched water they became amber. As well as Odr and Odin having very similar names, Odin was also famous for wandering the mortal realm in disguise. This suggests that Odin may originally have been imagined as marrying Freya, when she was still intertwined with Frigg.

Mother of Balder

As the ideal wife, Frigg was also a mother, but she was not the mother of all Odin’s children.

Notably, she was not the mother of Thor, whom Odin had with the giantess Jord. But Frigg was the mother of Balder, the god of light. He was said to be so beautiful and kind that he was the most beloved being in the Norse cosmos. Frigg was naturally preoccupied with keeping her son safe, a preoccupation that may have been fuelled by her gift of foresight.

To protect her son, Frigg went to everything that existed in the Norse cosmos and secured a promise from them that they would never hurt or assist in hurting her son. This made Balder practically invincible. This amused the gods, who made a game of throwing dangerous objects at Balder to watch them bounce off him harmlessly.

Loki, for reasons that are not explicitly explored in the story, went to Frigg one day disguised as an old woman in her entourage. He asked the Norse goddess if she had really secured promises from everything in the cosmos. Frigg, not suspecting any danger, admitted she may have overlooked the humble mistletoe plant, but it was so innocent, it did not seem necessary to press the matter.

Loki immediately made a dart out of mistletoe. He then approached Balder’s blind brother Hodr and asked him why he did not participate in the game of throwing things at Balder. Hodr said that he never took part because he is blind. Loki offered to help him join in the fun and placed the mistletoe dart in his hand. With Loki’s help, Hodr threw the dart at Balder, which pierced him through the heart, killing him.

Because Baldr did not die in battle, he could not be taken to Valhalla and instead found himself in another Norse afterlife. Unwilling to accept her son’s death, Frigg sent an emissary to the underworld Helheim to bargain with Hel, a daughter of Loki who oversaw the realm, for Balder’s soul. They argued that Balder was so universally beloved it would be a crime to keep him hidden away in the underworld.

Hel reportedly agreed to return Balder to his family on the condition that everything in existence weep for him, proving that he was as beloved as the Aesir claimed. Again, Frigg beseeched everything in existence to weep for her son, and they did so, except for one giantess, thought to have been Loki in disguise.

Consequently, Balder must spend eternity in Helheim, until Ragnarok, when many of the dead will march on Asgard, and Balder will be able to fight alongside his family.

Handmaidens of Frigg

Like many of the gods, Frigg had her own hall in Asgard called Fensalir, where she was attended by several handmaidens, who were also Norse goddesses. Primary among them were Fulla, Gna, and Hlin.

The virgin Fulla attended to Frigg’s ashen box and footwear and was a favorite of the Asgard queen and knew all her secrets. Gna was Frigg’s most trusted messenger and ran errands for her across the nine worlds. Hlin, which means protector, was sent by Frigg to protect people on her behalf.

It is also likely that she foresaw the death of her husband Odin, as according to one story she sent Hlin to protect Odin. The death of Odin is sometimes referred to as Frigg’s second sorrow, with her first sorrow being the death of her son Balder. As such, while Frigg is clearly a Norse goddess of happiness and household, her tale is also full of sorrow.

Frigg’s Silver

Frigg was associated with silver, which was the main currency in the Viking world, in her role managing the household. Viking jewelry was mostly made from silver, and it was also used as currency, with chunks hacked off as bullion.

We make many of our pieces in Sterling Silver to reflect the reality of the Viking world. You can find a curated selection of some of our favorite Norse-inspired silver pieces in the Saga of the North collection.