What do you think?
Goddess of the North
A thorough, academic look at the past, present, and future of Norse polytheism. Welch highlights many Norse goddesses as well as other divine females of the Norse pantheon - Valkyries, Norns, Giantesses, Disir - and in a straightforward manner, makes a definitive case for the primordial goddess.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 24, 2022
I'm not sold on the idea that all female goddesses are the same goddess. This has a lot of good information on Norse nyths and interpretations in general, I just think the conclusions were a little more influenced by Wicca than I would have liked.
December 20, 2014
It was interesting to read about the mythology, but I am doubtful to claims the author makes about the ancient Norse culture. There are no real references when she talks about how they raised kids, what status women had etc - it's rather idealised and I'm quite doubtful that's how it was. Or if it was, I want to know where she got that information.
May 2, 2025
Yet another book I wanted to like. The concept is great. It is about the importance that women play in Norse mythology. And yet Lynda Welsh did not execute her thesis well.
Welsh believes that Freya is Frigga's daughter. That makes no sense to me. I don't like how Welsh assumes like in Egyptian and Greek mythology everyone was related to each other and had sex with each other. Yet says the Asatru forbid incest.
I'm not buying that all Norse Goddesses come from Frigga. They're all very different in their own way.
Welsh then contradicts herself by saying that Yggdrasill is feminine. And that all 9 realms are the Goddess of the North's children. Yet she still disparages Jotunheim.
Destruction is necessary to bring life. I do believe that Freya has different aspects. But that's because Njord is Vanir. And her Mom is a Jotun. Only Jotuns can shapeshift.
There is no "proof" that Frigga is Freya's Mother. Because Welsh is just taking Goddess names and associating them without even checking if it is logical. If Jord/Fjörgyn is Frigga's Mother why would Odin have a son with both Jord and Frigga? That is Thor and Balðr. It's well documented that Jord is Thor's Mother. Not Frigga's Mother. Welsh is saying that Frigga is Thor's sister and Step-Mom.
No. That is wrong. The Scandinavians believed that Family is the most important. It is disrespectful for Odin to have a child with a Mother (Jord) and her daughter (Frigga). Now if both women are not related and in a polyamorous relationship. That makes more sense to me.
But to say that Freya is the daughter of Frigga with Njord is ridiculous. It is obvious that Freya's Mother is a jotun because only jotuns have access to the future like the Norns. The Norns are Jotunar. And Jotuns can shapeshift. Loki is a shapeshifter and a Jotun. Therefore Freya's abilities to shapeshift come from her Mother's side.
Welsh likes to demonize Jotuns yet honors them if they're part of the Aesir. That is hypocrisy.
Jotunheim is next to Vanaheim. Logically, most Vanir will be half Jotuns. Jotuns represent nature. Nature has polarity. Polarity has aspects. Logically, a Goddess with many aspects would be half Jotun. And since Freya is not only a fertility Goddess, she is a death Goddess it's safe to say that Freya gets her death powers from being half Jotun. And who else has red hair, loves gold, has a temper, and loves wolves? Angraboða. Therefore it is far more logical to assume that Freya's other aspect is Angraboða who became ruler of the Ironwood because she inherited the role from her Mother. I haven't written a book and it makes sense to me. Where else could Hel get her powers from?
But my biggest gripe of this whole book is why does every Asatru or Heathen author always demonize Loki?
So much for not using Christianity in your belief system. Claiming he's not a God. None of them are. They're literally born from a frost giant! It's mythology. And jotuns are fae or elemental beings. "Main cause of wrong doing". Again, using Chrisitan morality does not work. That's like comparing apples to oranges.
Welch says in her book, " Evil is not an idea widely accepted by the majority of heathen or pagan traditions" yet still has no problems claiming Loki is the "wrong doer".
Or that my ancestors had guilt. Guilt is a Christian creation. The Norse were animists. They knew that death was necessary in order for life to be created.
Welsh is trying to hard to appeal to Wiccans. Blegh.
In conclusion, this book had great potential only for it's creator to ruin it.
Welsh believes that Freya is Frigga's daughter. That makes no sense to me. I don't like how Welsh assumes like in Egyptian and Greek mythology everyone was related to each other and had sex with each other. Yet says the Asatru forbid incest.
I'm not buying that all Norse Goddesses come from Frigga. They're all very different in their own way.
Welsh then contradicts herself by saying that Yggdrasill is feminine. And that all 9 realms are the Goddess of the North's children. Yet she still disparages Jotunheim.
Destruction is necessary to bring life. I do believe that Freya has different aspects. But that's because Njord is Vanir. And her Mom is a Jotun. Only Jotuns can shapeshift.
There is no "proof" that Frigga is Freya's Mother. Because Welsh is just taking Goddess names and associating them without even checking if it is logical. If Jord/Fjörgyn is Frigga's Mother why would Odin have a son with both Jord and Frigga? That is Thor and Balðr. It's well documented that Jord is Thor's Mother. Not Frigga's Mother. Welsh is saying that Frigga is Thor's sister and Step-Mom.
No. That is wrong. The Scandinavians believed that Family is the most important. It is disrespectful for Odin to have a child with a Mother (Jord) and her daughter (Frigga). Now if both women are not related and in a polyamorous relationship. That makes more sense to me.
But to say that Freya is the daughter of Frigga with Njord is ridiculous. It is obvious that Freya's Mother is a jotun because only jotuns have access to the future like the Norns. The Norns are Jotunar. And Jotuns can shapeshift. Loki is a shapeshifter and a Jotun. Therefore Freya's abilities to shapeshift come from her Mother's side.
Welsh likes to demonize Jotuns yet honors them if they're part of the Aesir. That is hypocrisy.
Jotunheim is next to Vanaheim. Logically, most Vanir will be half Jotuns. Jotuns represent nature. Nature has polarity. Polarity has aspects. Logically, a Goddess with many aspects would be half Jotun. And since Freya is not only a fertility Goddess, she is a death Goddess it's safe to say that Freya gets her death powers from being half Jotun. And who else has red hair, loves gold, has a temper, and loves wolves? Angraboða. Therefore it is far more logical to assume that Freya's other aspect is Angraboða who became ruler of the Ironwood because she inherited the role from her Mother. I haven't written a book and it makes sense to me. Where else could Hel get her powers from?
But my biggest gripe of this whole book is why does every Asatru or Heathen author always demonize Loki?
So much for not using Christianity in your belief system. Claiming he's not a God. None of them are. They're literally born from a frost giant! It's mythology. And jotuns are fae or elemental beings. "Main cause of wrong doing". Again, using Chrisitan morality does not work. That's like comparing apples to oranges.
Welch says in her book, " Evil is not an idea widely accepted by the majority of heathen or pagan traditions" yet still has no problems claiming Loki is the "wrong doer".
Or that my ancestors had guilt. Guilt is a Christian creation. The Norse were animists. They knew that death was necessary in order for life to be created.
Welsh is trying to hard to appeal to Wiccans. Blegh.
In conclusion, this book had great potential only for it's creator to ruin it.
March 24, 2019
Very misleading -- this was not in any fashion academic or scholarly, but rather speculative analysis based on the author's personal gnosis after thoroughly familiarizing herself with Norse-Germanic mythology and research. Terrific lack of citations and no reference bibliography, though I will grant the author provided a reasonably thorough subject matter bibliography at the end of the book.
The author did offer some interesting, albeit highly speculative, ideas about approaching a mythical primordial goddess concept; but as it is highly archetypal in the tradition of Jung and Graves, her hypothesis exists outside of specific time and existent archaeological evidence. This makes it perhaps useful as a thought exercise for the intermediate to advanced practicing heathen, but it is troublingly fallacious to label and market this as "scholarly."
The author did offer some interesting, albeit highly speculative, ideas about approaching a mythical primordial goddess concept; but as it is highly archetypal in the tradition of Jung and Graves, her hypothesis exists outside of specific time and existent archaeological evidence. This makes it perhaps useful as a thought exercise for the intermediate to advanced practicing heathen, but it is troublingly fallacious to label and market this as "scholarly."
April 10, 2023
I was pretty disappointed with this book. Not so much comprehensive exploration, more fairly poorly written guesswork and twisting into the author’s world view.
A shame.
A shame.
September 12, 2017
Re-reading, so will update this review then.
From what I recall from my first read of this in 2017, this is an inspiring and creative book. BUT I immediately take issue with calling it a 'thorough, academic look at' Norse Paganism' or 'A Comprehensive Exploration of the Norse Goddesses'. It is absolutely not those things.
From what I recall from my first read of this in 2017, this is an inspiring and creative book. BUT I immediately take issue with calling it a 'thorough, academic look at' Norse Paganism' or 'A Comprehensive Exploration of the Norse Goddesses'. It is absolutely not those things.
April 16, 2011
An interesting attempt to stereotype (or stuff, rather) the Goddesses of the North into the Wiccan maiden, mother, and crone archetypes. Unfortunately for the author, our Goddesses refuse to fit neatly into these 3 somewhat limiting categories.
May 24, 2012
Ill-conceived and unconvincing attempt to prove that vikings were hippies.
January 28, 2016
Stellar! Informative while delightful yet riveting! The author has made each Goddess stand up in all her personality skirts to dance off the page to come alive for you.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews