ODIN'S GAME |
Norse Mythology, Ragnarok, and the Mystery of the Runes |
FREYA
Sister Freya is shown in fearsome guise on the 75 ore, riding her cat-drawn chariot over a battlefield strewn with the bodies of warriors. This is in keeping with her role as Triple Goddess, the ancient mother of life who demands her share of the dead even as she enriches the earth with her cornucopia.
Wearing her falcon cloak and the famous necklace Brisingamen, which was made for her by four dwarves from Svartalfheim in exchange for her embraces, she is a goddess of magic and prophecy as well as love and sensuality. Writing in the 13th century, Snorri Sturluson tell us that "she alone among the gods is yet with us" an admission that her worship continued well into the Christian period. Like Mary, mother of Jesus, in Roman Catholicism, Freya is "assumed" into the Norse heaven for she comes to live among the Aesir in Asgard after the warring sky gods make peace with the Vanir. The significance of cats as Freya's chariot team relates to her role as a goddess of prophecy. In Norse mythology, cats are the spirit-allies of seers. This association became part of Christian superstition regarding cats, particularly black cats, as the familiars of witches (or Wiccens who served the Triple Goddess), practitioners of the "black arts."
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Dr. Highland's StampWhys feature, now in its second year, appears the first of the month in Linn's Stamps News.
