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Fensalir
The post about Asgard and its places continue, this one is exclusively about Fensalir the hall of Frigga.
Like many of the Halls of Asgard, Fensalir also has a golden roof, it is a beautiful hall surrounded by birch trees, because this is the tree of the goddess Frigga. It is delightful to look upon this hall especially during autumn, while the leaves of the birch trees are yellow and the white bark of these really match the colors of the hall. The lawns around the hall are filled with chamomile. Behind the hall lies a vast fens with a real mystical athmosphere.
Fensalir is like a small village but with a huge hall standing there with many small houses around it. After reaching the great white door of the hall, inside of it a cosy and homely feeling fills all that set their feet on the floor of the hall. It is a bright hall with good food and the smell of dried herbs. n the area around Frigga's hall there are other halls, smaller ones, barns where livestock is kept and also workshops.
Frigga is the most powerful goddess of Asgard and she is one of the members of the council of Asgard. Frigga is a peace-maker and a peace-keeper. She is also a great seer and the patron of marriage as well as the patron of all the home works such as crafts, cooking, weaving and so on.
Frigga can be usually found at her home, her hall, always busy along with her helpers.
As I have written before, there are smaller halls around Fensalir which belong to Frigga's handmaidens, however, not hall of Frigga's handmaidens have their hall near Fensalir, some live in different parts of Asgard far from Fensalir, others don't even have a hall because they prefer a smaller house or to live inside Fensalir itself, but most of the time the helpers of Frigga can be found inside Fensalir, most are women and it is impossible to mention all of them.
I can name a few though, I could say I will mention the most important, but all of them have their importance as you might imagine.
One of Frigga's handmaiden is her own sister Fulla, the goddess of abundance. She is the keeper of Frigga's wealth, all of it and whatever it is.
Fulla lives in Fensalir and lets put it in these terms, she is the second in command when Frigga is busy or not in Fensalir.
There are also human servents in Fensalir.
One of the most important handmaidens of Frigga and highly sought by many is Eir the healer of the Aesir. She keps her own hall around Fensalir, like a hospital.
There is also Gna, Frigga's messenger who lives in Frigga's hall, however she seldom is in it. Gna is always working and running on horseback in the errands that Frigga sends her to. Her horse is named Hofvarpnir whose parents are Gardrofa and Harmskerpir.
There is another handmaiden called Gefjon, a strong farmworker. She is the patron of manuel laborers, either men or women, and she is also the patron of unmarried girls. She has four sons and not a single daughter.
Snotra, another handmaiden, the goddess of virtue and hard working.
Lofn is the protector of lovers and romance and also love. She protects and helps all of those whom relationships are disapproved by someone, or a group of people or even society. She might be one of Frigga's handmaidens but she spends a lot of time in Sessrumnir working with the goddess Freyja.
Sjofn is another, also frequently seen at Sessrumnir, she is the handmaiden of peacemaking between couples. She is the relationship counselor. She has her own cottage and there is a very important rule, before anyone attempts to enter, all weapons must be laid outside. Interesting enough, she also works with the god Forseti.
Var, the goddess who witnesses oaths, is a mostly silent witness, rarely seen even at Fensalir unless someone is doing something that she needs to witness.
Hlin, the handmaiden of mourning, gives comfort and consolation to those who are grieving. She is also a battle Goddess. Hlin is a weaponsmaster, and for those few whom Frigga finds worthy, will teach both Her skill and wisdom in warcraft. (Not the game as you might think)
Syn is the doorkeeper of Fensalir, and another goddess of oath taking. She lives in Fensalir.
Vor is another rarely-seen handmaiden. She is a seer and wisewoman.
Huldra, the hardworking handmaiden of flocks and herds, is often conflated with Holda. However, some say that they are the same, and some say that they are completly different. Huldra is the patron of the Huldre-folk, small earth wights of Midgard.
Asgard is possibly the most famous of all the nine realms of the Norse cosmology. It is to be expected, it is the place where the most famous deities live and it is also the place where Valhalla is, the great hall of the fallen warriors, which is the source of many epic sagas and wonderful tales.
Asgard is the most well guarded realm of all the nine, a realm on top of the great world tree Yggdrasil. Geographically speaking, it is the northernmost realm.
This realm wasn't at first what we know about it from the myths, shamanic/spiritual work nor from the written sources given to us. Asgard was only created or inhabited after the war of the Aesir against the Vanir. Prior to that, the Aesir lived in a place called Manheimur or Mannheim. No one knows were exactly that is, some say it is out of Asgard, others say it was a place inside Asgard, a tiny kingdom poorly fortified, or it might have been the name given to Midgard, not ours, but the very Midgard in existance in the spiritual world. This indicates that the Aesir once lived among the human folk. Suffice to say that the first dwellings of the Aesir is shrouded in mystery.
Mythology tells us of how Asgard was created, from the neckbones of Ymir the great Jotun. Odin, Vili and Vé created it in their great labors of worldmaking. It had a great wall around it, but it was demolished by the Vanir during the great war between the two races. However, it was repaired bu a frost Jotun called Hrimthurs with the aid of his magical horse Svaldilfari. The price for the work if it was done before summer's end, was the hand of the Vanir goddess Freyja. However, Odin sent Loki to disturb Hrimthurs' work and delay it, so he could never be paid. The giant discovered the scheme and burst in rage, the perfect excuse for Thor to kill him, and so he did. It isn't clear if the body of this giant was turned into stone or if a great stone was erected in homage to the giant and his great work, for the stone remains to this day outside the great white walls.
Asgard is much similar to Midgard, in terms of weather, seasons, the times of the day etc. but longer. During the summer the days are very long and bright, the realm of Asgard is filled with light. It has a warm weather, this might be because of the fact that Asgard is the favorite place of Sunna.
The winters there are still dark and chilly but with little snow, and long winter nights, too long.
Asgard is the smallest realm of all the nine, but even so, it is an immense land which seems endless, a vast continent, but comparing to the others, it is the smallest indeed. Asgard is filled with hills, valleys and a few flat plains as far as the eye can see. To the north of it, and immense mountain chain that goes all the way into the east closer to the end of this realm by the sea. To the west lies the coast which is the border between te ocean of Vanaheim. In this western coast there is great bay where Njörd's Halls and Ships lie. The greatThund Thvitr river which is large and deep, comes from the Northern mountains of Jotunheim to the east and serves as a border between Jotunheim and Asgard. The river flows to the south and meets with the borders of Alfheim and then it finds its way into the ocean.
The white walls of Asgard can be seen in the distance once already inland. It's main gate made of iron is called Valgrind. Asgard isn't a realm filled with cities, instead, there are many great Halls with their respective courts with houses, much like big villages. Valhalla, Valaskjalf and Fensalir follow the same pathern pattern. It is known to us that there are at least sixteen geat Halls belonging to major deities and a few minor ones scattered, which belong to other deities.
There is a great plain called Vigrid, it is the largest of all the plains of Asgard. No one lives there, and much like most parts of Asgard, because of the weathern being warm and long bright summer days, there aren't many plants and the lack of flowers because of the fast passing spring time doesn't give the natural beauty that the land deserved. It is said, that it is in this vast brown-dust plain, that Ragnarök will take place, this will be the battlefield.
Near Asgard there are two small realms called Andlang and Vidblain. Little is known about these places, but they are part of Asgard.
Asgard may not have many flowers or other plants and trees that might enhance the beauty of this realm, but in terms of fauna, it is filled with birds of all sorts that crowd the roofs of the trees.
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Along the coasts of Vanaheim, lives the sea god, ruler of the Norse oceans, Aegir. His wife is Ran, and they both live in their great halls, filled with the ghosts of dead sailors, it is there where they go to rest before they are sent to Helheim or any other part of the Nine realms. Aegir and Ran have nine daughters, beautiful and terrible as the sea, they are so named from the eldest to the youngest, Kolga, Duva, Blodughadda, Bara, Bylgja, Hronn, Hevring, Unn and Himinglava. The nine sisters are very protective and have great love for each one of them.
It is said that the Aesir god Odin once laid with one of the nine sisters and she bore him a child, no one knows with which one the god did this because it was an event against the will of Aegir, and each of the sisters made a pact, never to tell anyone, not even their parents, especially their mother, because they feared their wrath would fall upon them, since the Sea gods have no love for the One-eyed one. As such, the nine sister hid in the darkest depths of the ocean, never to be found by anyone until the baby was born, when such thing happened, they brought the baby to Aegirheim, and told their parents what had happened, but never told which one of them had the baby. Aegir and Ran tried again and again to know the truth, which one of them was the mother of the baby, but none of them turned against each other, and the only truth that came out, was that the baby was the child of Odin and the nine of them, this is why that in some tales it is said that Odin laid with all the nine sisters. Regardless of the truth, Ran had no love for this child and as such, the child would not be raised under their Halls, and as the nine sisters had no love for this child either, they agreed with Ran and the child was set on a boat towards the Island of Vanaheim in the hopes that some kind fold there would adopt the child.
Odin had been waiting to see the child, and to see what would happen next, and from Valaskjalf he saw that the child was going towards the coasts of Vanaheim, as soon as he could, he intercepted the child and brought her to Frigga's Halls at Fensalir. Frigga was used to deal with his husband's children from other affairs, and so she took care of the child and named him Heimdal. Frigga wanted to raise the child as her own, but Odin had in mind other plans for his newborn son, he wanted one of his children to come do Midgard and love the Humanfolk, and Odin decided that Heimdal would live two lives, one as a mortal and one as a god. Heimdal was placed on the boat again and sent to Midgard, where a poor fisherman found him and took the child with him. In Midgard he was named Rig, and he grew as fast as a mortal child does. Rig grew happy, but he always felt that there should be more than just that life in the farm of by the fishing boat, and he had a great fear in him, an inexplicable fear for the sea. His mothers watched him from afar, from the ocean, every time he walked on the beach, but the fear of the ocean held him back, and by his mothers he never knew his true origins.
When Rig was old enough, he left the farm and wandered off to many places in Midgard, he had many women and gave many children to those women, this was part of Odin's plan, to spread his blood with the mortals and thus enrich their bloodlines.
After many adventures and battles, Rig was made King, and Odin who was always watching him, was very proud of his son. When Rig came to old age and was lying on his deathbed, he closed his eyes for the last time as a mortal man, and all that stood beside him, weeping, felt into amazement when a great cloud of birds took him a flew off with his body. Rig was taken to Asgard, where he was restored to his immortal self, and he too was in amazement, to wake up in his bed, young and in the land of the gods, and he too shared him them the same high title and it was given to him the job of gatekeeper of Asgard. Frigga told him about his true name, Heimdall, and took him as a son and he called her mother. In time the real tale of his birth was told to him, and in anger, he holds an hatred agaisnt all the Jotun folk, for coming from one of those wombs, but not knowing which one and being abandoned to the mercy of the waves, and to this day he avoids the ocean, but he keeps a great love for the mortal folk and he is very protective to them, but his heart is hardened because of all the things he knows about his birth and his life, and every time the day of his birthday comes, a great storm is formed on the oceans near Vanaheim, created by their Grandfathers and his nine mothers, to honor him.
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Today was Mother's Day and i wish a very happy day to all mothers! I was with my own mother and with my father, what a great day it was, our family is always of great importance nad we must give to them the proper value, this is why in this post i will be also talking about Frigga, one goddess i haven't give an entire post dedicated to her and a great figure perfect for this day, a deity with the true mother's spirit.
Frigga is the Norse goddess queen of Asgard, the All-mother of the sky gods in the Norse pantheon, wife of Odin, she is also the leader of many goddesses and handmaidens. She is the goddess of marriage, family, home, keeping the peace, and all the home affairs. In her wisdom, she sees many things, but see keeps in silence, however, when it is needed, she will always give a valuable piece of advice, she is always watchful and protective. She is a very famous goddess among so many, and she deserves to be praised and honored. She lives in Asgard, and she carries the mead cup in the hall. Her own halls are called Fensalir.
As you know, or will soon know if you are new at this and seek knowledge, there are multiple pantheons in the Norse/Germanic cosmology, one of those are called the Aesir, the sky gods, more warlike and their realm is called Asgard. Frigga is their queen and the wife of the most famous god, Odin, the King of the Aesir. She is the mother of Baldur and probably of Hodur and Hermod also, and she is the stepmother of many of Odin's children with other goddesses such as Thor. She is also the daughter of Jord the mother of Thor, so this makes Frigga his older half sister.
Frigga is the goddess of marriage and also the protector of home and families, keeping the peace between the members of the family, in friendship and love, for those are the first bonds people have when they are young, the first connections with other human beings, the family members are the first people we meet, and thus it is from them that we learn all sort of things, with a good, strong, united family, with love, care, discipline and friendship, we add to our own personalities good values, good traditions. Frigga is also the goddess who gives aid in childbirth, as you might know, the links with birth to the home was a very strong and important one, people use to born at home, only today the births outside the home of the family is something recent, more or less with 200 years old, but only really adopted by society in the 50's and 60's of the XX century, but this doesn't mean that Frigga isn't still a goddess that gives aid to childbirth. She was also called upon to help in all the domestic arts especially the spinning of wool, which took much of the time of women in ancient times, but today there are so many other afairs at home, shared by both men and women, but Frigga will always help in any kind of homely work. To the Northern peoples of Europe, this goddess was also known as the goddess of frith, the Old-Norse word for peace/freedom/order, not only at home and between families as i have said, but also for diplomacy matters, even among leaders of different tribes.
The tale most often connected with her, is the tale when she does everything to protect her child Baldr, she went to every creature and begged them to swear an oath, that they wouldn't harm her child. However, the only thing she didn't ask, was the mistletoe, and the trickster god Loki, made a dart out of it. The Aesir used to make a game, throwing all kind of weapons and other things to Baldr, because nothing could harm him, and so they could practice a bit and have fun at the same time, so Loki put the dart in the hands of Hodur, the blind brother of Baldr, and so Loki offered to aim it for him so that he could join in the game. The dart killed Baldr, and Frigga was disheartened, and fell into a deep grief. After this tragic event, Hermond, another brother of Baldr, offered to ride to Helheim to ask Hela the Queen of the dead, to release Baldur. Hela agreed but only under the condition that all creatures had to mounr for his death. Again Frigga traveled to all the realms asking everyone to weep for her son, but one giantess called Thokk refused to weep, and so Baldr stood in Helheim. Actually Thokk was Loki in disguise.
There is another story about Frigga and Odin, the two of them favored two different tribes, who were about to have battle, so Frigga begs to Odin to grant victory to those she favored, but instead he tells her that the only ones that shall be granted victory will be those he sees from his window upon awakening in the next morning. Frigga knew well that Odin's favorites were camped within sight, while her favorites were too far away and they would never arrive before it was dawn. While odin slept, Frigga brought the women of her favorite tribe, and told them they should gathered near Odin's window, and they should dress up with men's clothing and their long hair should be drawn around their faces like long beards. When Odin awoke, he was very much surprised to see the long-bearded men. So these were the ones to win the battle and this tribe became known as the Langobards (long-beards). In here we see that Odin knew fully well who those were, but he treats Frigga with great respect and sees her as a valuable and wise companion.
In Frigga and all her stories, we see the true spirit of women, or at least how they should be, strong, independed, wise, with much care, love and concern for those they love and very protective when it comes to children, multi-tasked human beings with great heart. I dedicate this post to my mother because she is such a woman, with all these talents, very skillful, so wise, and after all the work she gives to the society and at home, she has always love to give, she has always been a great mother to me and even a great advisor to friends and other family members.
I am well aware that not all women are that protective with their children, some women even kill their own children.. but those aren't blessed with a mother's touch, nor have ever been prepared to have children, or never wanted to, but the circumstances are many.... the thing is, there are still women who are so much closer to perfection, so i dedicate this post also to my girlfriend, one day she will also be a mother and what a mother she will make, she has all the qualities of a great woman.
I also add to this post the fact that today women are seen as mere sexual objects, we are so used to see them naked, in movies, art, all over the internet etc. that it has become a cliche, and we don't see them as woman anymore. I feel pity for women like that, who can't be heard, no one gives them credit for anything, no one stops to look upon them and feel the need to hear their wisdom, their thoughts, their concerns, and the only thing that makes anyone notice them, is when they are undressed, only speaking with the body and not with their wisdom. I feel pity for women who lack of self-confidence, personality, strength, wisdom, and vigor. The world may have change and women took a better place in society as the one they used to have before the the two great world wars, they may have gained equality of rights, but society nowadays made them an object, under certain standards of beauty, and the world needs more women with a different kind of thought, to stop this madness, so people may see what they truly are, great beings with great qualities who have much more to give than just a pretty face and a pair of breasts.
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