Editing Frigg and Freyja common origin hypothesis

{{Short description|Old Norse Mythology}}
The '''Frigg and Freyja common origin hypothesis''' holds that the [[Norse mythology|Old Norse]] goddesses [[Frigg]] and [[Freyja]] descend from a common [[Proto-Germanic]] figure, as suggested by the numerous similarities found between the two deities.{{sfnp|Grundy|1998|pp=56{{ndash}}66}} Scholar [[Stephan Grundy]] comments that "the problem of whether Frigg or Freyja may have been a single goddess originally is a difficult one, made more so by the scantiness of pre-[[Viking Age]] references to [[List of Germanic deities and heroes|Germanic goddesses]], and the diverse quality of the sources. The best that can be done is to survey the arguments for and against their identity, and to see how well each can be supported."{{sfnp|Grundy|1998|p=57}}

The names ''Freyja'' and ''[[Vanir]]'' (the group of gods to which Freyja belongs) are not attested outside of [[Scandinavia]], as opposed to the name of the goddess ''[[Frigg]]'', who is mentioned as ''Frīg'' in [[Old English]] and as ''Frīja'' in [[Old High German]], all stemming from [[Proto-Germanic]] [[Asterisk#Historical linguistics|*]]''[[Frijjō]]''. Although there is no similar evidence for the existence of a common Germanic goddess from which ''Freyja'' descends, some scholars have argued that this may simply be due to the scarcity of records outside of the North Germanic tradition.{{sfnp|Grundy|1998|pp=56{{ndash}}66}}

==Etymology==
It has also been suggested that the names ''Freyja'' and ''Frigg'' may stem from a common linguistic source.<ref>Wagner, Norbert. "Frea Und Fulcfree: Zu Lateinisch-langobardisch ē̆/ī̆ Und ō̆/ū̆." Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics 112, no. 2 (1999): 299–304.  {{JSTOR|41289012}}.</ref> This theory, however, is rejected by most linguists in the field, who interpret the name ''Frigg'' as related to the [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] verb ''*frijōn'' ('to love') and stemming from a [[Nominalization|substantivized]] feminine of the adjective [[Asterisk#Historical linguistics|*]]''frijaz'' ('free'),{{sfnp|de Vries|1962|p=143}}{{sfnp|Orel|2003|p=114}} whereas ''Freyja'' is regarded as descending from a feminine form of [[Asterisk#Historical linguistics|*]]''frawjōn'' ('lord').{{sfnp|de Vries|1962|p=142}}{{sfnp|Orel|2003|p=112}} On the other hand, the names ''Freyja'' ('lady, mistress') and ''[[Freyr]]'' ('lord') are [[Cognate|cognates]] stemming from the common root [[Asterisk#Historical linguistics|*]]''frawjōn'', which does not necessarily imply further relation.{{sfnp|de Vries|1962|p=142}}{{sfnp|Orel|2003|p=112}}

==Common mythological traits==
Both Frigg and Freyja are associated with [[weaving]], combining the aspects of a love goddess and a [[Hearth goddess|domestic goddess]].<ref>Mythological Women: Studies in Memory of Lotte Motz, 1922-1997, Fassbaender, 2002, {{ISBN|978-3-900538-73-6}}, p. 70; M. J. Enright, ''The Goddess Who Weaves. Some Iconographic Aspects of Bracteates of the Fürstenberg Type''. In: FMSt 24, 1990, 54-70.</ref> In Sweden and some parts of Germany, the [[asterism (astronomy)|asterism]] of [[Orion (constellation)|Orion's Belt]] is known as her [[distaff]] or [[Spindle (textiles)|spindle]].<ref>Edwardes and Spence (1913);  in Swedish both  ''Friggerock'' "Frigg's distaff" and ''Frejerock'' "Freyja's Distaff", see Schön, Ebbe. (2004). ''Asa-Tors hammare, Gudar och jättar i tro och tradition''. Fält & Hässler, Värnamo. p. 228.</ref>

==In popular culture==
In the 2018 Santa Monica Studio game ''God of War'', and in its 2022 sequel ''God of War Ragnarök'' the character Freyja is frequently referred to as Frigg. The stated reason in game is whenever she accomplished something, Odin would attribute it to Frigg in an attempt to shroud her accomplishments under the Aesir banner. <ref>{{cite web |title =Mimir explains why Freya is called "Frigg" in Asgard |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b1EB7Tv3JQ |website=youtube.com |publisher=Blair |language=en |format=video |date=Nov 17, 2021}}</ref>

In the universe of [[Marvel Comics]], Frigga the adopted mother of [[Thor (Marvel Comics)|Thor]] and the Asgardian goddess Freya were initially written as different characters. Beginning with ''Loki: Agent of Asgard'' in 2015, Frigga has exclusively used the name Freyja, although a separate character with the name "Freya" has also made scarce appearance.

==Notes==
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==References==
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* {{Cite book|last=de Vries|first=Jan|title=Altnordisches Etymologisches Worterbuch|date=1962|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-05436-3|edition=1977|author-link=Jan de Vries (linguist)}}
* {{Cite book |last=Grundy |first=Stephan |editor-last=Billington |editor-first=Sandra |editor2-last=Green |editor2-first=Miranda |contribution=Freyja and Frigg |title=The Concept of the Goddess |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IoW9yhkrFJoC |isbn=0-415-19789-9}}
* {{Cite book|last=Orel|first=Vladimir E.|url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofgerman0000orel|title=A Handbook of Germanic Etymology|date=2003|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-12875-0|language=en|author-link=Vladimir Orel|url-access=registration}}
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==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* Ásdísardóttir, Ingunn. ''Frigg og Freyja: kvenleg goðmögn í heiðnum sið''. Íslensk menning, Vol. 4. Reykjavík: Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag. 2007. (in Icelandic)
*{{Cite journal|last=Doyle White|first=Ethan|date=2014|title=The Goddess Frig: Reassessing an Anglo-Saxon Deity|journal=Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural|volume=3|issue=2|pages=284–310|doi=10.5325/preternature.3.2.0284|jstor=10.5325/preternature.3.2.0284|issn=2161-2196}}
* {{ill|Näsström, Britt-Mari|sv|Britt-Mari Näsström}}. "Freyja and Frigg – two aspects of the Great Goddess". In: ''Shamanism and Northern Ecology''. Edited by Juha Pentikäinen. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter, 2011 [1996]. pp. 81-96. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110811674.81
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Frigg and Freyja origin hypothesis}}
[[Category:Germanic mythology]]
[[Category:Germanic goddesses]]
[[Category:Etymologies]]
[[Category:Ásynjur]]
[[Category:Frigg]]
[[Category:Freyja]]
[[Category:Germanic deities]]