Editing Gerðr (section)

{{Short description|Norse deity}}
[[File:Skirnir's message to Gerd.jpg|thumb|''Skirnir's Message to Gerd'' (1908) by [[W. G. Collingwood]].]]

In [[Norse mythology]], '''Gerðr''' ([[Old Norse]]: {{IPA|non|ˈɡerðz̠|}}; "fenced-in"<ref name=ORCHARD54>Orchard (1997:54).</ref>) is a [[jötunn]], [[Æsir|goddess]], and the wife of the god [[Freyr]]. Gerðr is attested in the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the ''[[Prose Edda]]'' and ''[[Heimskringla]]'', written in the 13th century by [[Snorri Sturluson]]; and in the poetry of [[skald]]s. ''Gerðr'' is sometimes modernly anglicized as '''Gerd''' or '''Gerth'''.

In both the ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'', Freyr sees Gerðr from a distance, becomes deeply lovesick at the sight of her shimmering beauty, and has his servant [[Skírnir]] go to [[Jötunheimr]] (where Gerðr and her father [[Gymir (father of Gerðr)|Gymir]] reside) to gain her love. In the ''Poetic Edda'' Gerðr initially refuses, yet after a series of threats by Skírnir she is forced to yield. In the ''Prose Edda'', no mention of threats is made. In both sources, Gerðr agrees to meet Freyr at a fixed time at the location of [[Barri]] and, after Skírnir returns with Gerðr's response, Freyr laments that the meeting could not occur sooner. In both the ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'', Gerðr is described as the daughter of Gymir and the jötunn [[Aurboða]].

In ''[[Heimskringla]]'', Gerðr is recorded as the wife of Freyr, [[euhemerized]] as having been a beloved  [[Mythical kings of Sweden|king of Sweden]]. In the same source, the couple are the founders of the [[Yngling]] dynasty and produced a son, [[Fjölnir]], who rose to kinghood after Freyr's passing and continued their line. Gerðr is commonly theorized to be a goddess [[Chthonic|associated with the earth]]. Gerðr inspired works of art and literature.