Freyja, the Great Goddess of the North

by Britt-Mari Näsström

Second edition, revised and updated. Slate-blue cloth binding, silver titles. Printed on acid-free paper, 202 pp. Originally printed in 1995 as Lund Studies in the History of Religions, Volume 5. Freyja is a careful exploration into the nature of the Great Goddess and the Old Norse pantheon, using the tools of literature, archaeology, linguistics, and the works of historians of religion. Through a comparative analysis, Britt-Mari Näsström produces a multi-faceted image of Freyja, the enigmatic Goddess, that is both complex and compelling.

Genres: Nonfiction, Paganism

202 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Jaina Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an academic book, but not too unbearably stiff or dry or opaque. Seems well researched and presented. Excellent source for info on Freyja, that's for sure.

[V+V MERCURII · Rating 4 out of 5]

A scholastic study of the many sides of the great Northern Goddess Freyja.

Not much can be known for sure, but this book and its sources can be of great help in reconstructing Her worship.

[Astor Teller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although too academic and to steeped into detail for my taste it’s still a throve of information for anyone who wants to get to know Frøya and female Norse goddesses better, linking her to Frigg (Odin’s wife), dis (unnamed female gods), valkyries (cool-named female war goddesses) and the Norns.

Frøya is mostly known as a goddess of love and fertility, but this book also show how she is linked to war and death: she got half of the slain warriors on the battlefield (Odin got the other half)