Frigga’s Court

[icymist]

Who are the Handmaidens of Frigga?

Norse Goddesses whose names are Fulla, Sjöfn, Snotra, Lofn, Gefjon, Vár, Hlín, Sága, Eir, Syn, Vör and Gná.

The Ásynjur court is composed of twelve Goddesses led by Frigga, just as the Aesir court is composed of twelve Gods led by Odin. Specifically, the Handmaidens are Goddesses of Asgard who have no husband, owe allegiance to no man, and hold Queen Frigga as their highest authority. According to Snorri Sturluson (author of the Prose Edda and not a feminist by any stretch of the imagination) they are every bit as holy and powerful as their male counterparts:

“I must now ask thee,” said Gangler, “who are the gods that men are bound to believe in?”

“There are twelve gods,” replied Har, “to whom divine honours ought to be rendered.” “Nor are the goddesses,” added Jafnhar, “less divine and mighty.” [Gylfaginning, Prose Edda,1906 Blackwell tr.] (1)

While the Gods have two entire books devoted to their adventures (the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda), these unmarried Goddesses only get a total of about two pages. Most have but a single sentence as the sum of their surviving lore.

http://lofnbard.wordpress.com/handmaidens/

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

1. I wish that more stories, histories, and lore of my ancestors

could have survived to still be available to us today.

Of course, that doesn't mean we can't look for the influence of these less known (not less important) Goddesses in our lives today. Perhaps we could add our own modern experiences to what remains from back then for our own descendants.

[De Leonist]

2. Take that stuff with a grain of salt

While the Eddas and the Sagas do hold a great deal of clues and possible insights into the Religious Customs of the Viking Age Norse the fact is by the time they were written down Christianity had been the official faith of the land for more than 200 years. Now that is not to say that much of the lore isn't useful or doesn't reflect Viking Age Religious beliefs. However if one is to base their understanding of Viking Age religion on the evidence, literary and archeological, than the chances of those twelve actually being Goddesses in the minds of the Viking Age Norse is rather suspect. In fact it would appear that the Pantheon of "Major Deities" was a bit smaller than the Eddas make it seem, and nowhere near as organized.

Thus far the Gods that Historians do know played a major role were Odin, Thor, Frigg, Tyr, Ullr, Skadi, Freya, Freyr, and Njord. I believe I remember reading somewhere that some suspect that the names of those twelve Goddesses were simply titles for Frigg. Also another thing remember. How the Viking Age Norse viewed them probably wasn't as strict as the Eddas make it seem. Norse Religion was far more complex and diverse than that. If anyone is interested in a few good secular titles on the subject I would recommend Rudolf Simek's Dictionary of Northern Mythology which not only covers Norse but continental Germanic and Anglo-Saxon material as well. Also I would recommend The Mead Hall. I forget the Author's name but it does give one a great deal of insight into the minds of "Dark Age" Germanic cultures. Another good title is Gods and Believers by Thor Ewing. I don't believe the man is a professional academic but his passion and knowledge of the subject does shine through and in my opinion I believe he gives a good summary of what all evidence seems to suggest about Viking Age Religious Customs and Beliefs. However if your looking for more in depth titles than this one is probably not what you want.