The gate of the year

Bronze statuette of the god Freyr, discovered near the Rällinge farm, in the region of Södermanland, Sweden, and now in the National History Museum, Stockholm.
Freyr was the fertility god of the Germanic pantheon, who once belonged to the gods Vanir, earth divinities distinct from the Æsir, the group to which most of the main Germanic gods belonged. After a conflict, which in primordial times opposed the two divine stocks, Freyr was surrendered as an hostage to the Æsir. His name signifies “Lord”, and he is described by Snorri as “the most famous of the Æsir. He rules over rain and sunshine, and over the fruits of the earth. It is good to call on him for harvests and peace. He also sways the wealth of men” (Gylfaginning, 24). The association of the god with fertility is clearly evidenced from the ithyphallic aspect of the statue. The ecclesiastical writer Adam of Bremen (in the X century) described the great pagan temple which was located in Uppsala, Sweden, within which were three great wooden statues of divinities, one of which (Fricco = Freyr) had an enormous phallus.
According to mythology, Freyr married a giantess, called Gerd. As his sister, Freyja, Freyr was also associated with the boar, in particular with a golden-bristle boar (Gullinborsti), sometimes described as the god’s mount, which was made by two dwarves. The horse was also an animal associated with Freyr, to whom could be offered in sacrifice bulls and oxen. The most frequent victim, however, was the boar, regarded as the most adequate to the god, especially during the period of Yule (the pre-Christian feast for the winter solstice), a critical time of the year, when the forces of fertility seemed having been removed from nature, and it was necessary to stimulate and reinforce them. It seems that anciently, in Sweden, the cult of the god was entrusted to a group of priestesses, who are described, in the Olaf Tryggvason Saga (the story of a king of Norway of the X century), carrying from farm to farm a chariot with the statue of Freyr, to invoke good harvests (Polomé-Rowe 2005).

[Image: http://ragnar.ru/biblioteka/article/48-sanctuaries.html?showall=1]




Male Symbols

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Bronze statuette of the god Freyr, discovered near the Rällinge farm, in the region of Södermanland, Sweden, and now in the National History Museum, Stockholm. Freyr was the fertility god of the Germanic pantheon, who once belonged to the gods Vanir, earth divinities distinct from the Æsir, the group to which most of the main Germanic gods belonged. After a conflict, which in primordial times opposed the two divine stocks, Freyr was surrendered as an hostage to the Æsir. His name signifies “Lord”, and he is described by Snorri as “the most famous of the Æsir. He rules over rain and sunshine, and over the fruits of the earth. It is good to call on him for harvests and peace. He also sways the wealth of men” (Gylfaginning, 24). The association of the god with fertility is clearly evidenced from the ithyphallic aspect of the statue. The ecclesiastical writer Adam of Bremen (in the X century) described the great pagan temple which was located in Uppsala, Sweden, within which were three great wooden statues of divinities, one of which (Fricco = Freyr) had an enormous phallus. According to mythology, Freyr married a giantess, called Gerd. As his sister, Freyja, Freyr was also associated with the boar, in particular with a golden-bristle boar (Gullinborsti), sometimes described as the god’s mount, which was made by two dwarves. The horse was also an animal associated with Freyr, to whom could be offered in sacrifice bulls and oxen. The most frequent victim, however, was the boar, regarded as the most adequate to the god, especially during the period of Yule (the pre-Christian feast for the winter solstice), a critical time of the year, when the forces of fertility seemed having been removed from nature, and it was necessary to stimulate and reinforce them. It seems that anciently, in Sweden, the cult of the god was entrusted to a group of priestesses, who are described, in the Olaf Tryggvason Saga (the story of a king of Norway of the X century), carrying from farm to farm a chariot with the statue of Freyr, to invoke good harvests (Polomé-Rowe 2005). [Image: http://ragnar.ru/biblioteka/article/48-sanctuaries.html?showall=1]