bare with me here I’m gonna ramble about Christmas trees.
Well, the first piece of evidence comes from the writings of Adam of Bremen. According to his work, there was once a grand temple specifically for Freyr, Thor, and Odin. In front of it was an evergreen. The significance of this tree was that it was always green, in snow or spring. Freyr as a god of growth and life was seen in evergreens.
In a cold climate like Germany and Scandinavia, all the other trees would be totally dead by late October-November, but Evergreens would still be lively. The ancient people believed that this was a sign that these trees were holy. Depending on where you were, it was a sign of Baldr. In other places, it was Freyr.
It is worth noting that Baldr & Freyr share a lot of the same symbols: sunlight, pine, gold, peace etc etc.
Freyr’s festival was at or around Christmastime, over the course of several days. The practices of decorating evergreen trees for Yule was fairly common in Europe for various deities: Baldr, Freyr, and others. The Bible even talks about the pagans and trees:
Jeremiah 10:2-4: “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. Faces of heathen idols are then carved into the trees.” (King James Version).
His statement’s backed up by a lot of accounts of the Anglo-Saxons and Nordic people worshiping specific types of trees. Pine, in particular, was believed to be a defense against evil. Some modern Asatruar put pine sprigs into water as a purification/holy water type ritual.
There’s a ton of little passages I’ve read over the years that call Freyr the pine torch, but hell if I can find them now. Specifically, when it came to rune books, Freyr was often associated with the positive aspects of Kennaz.
At last, a page for Freyr! As was the case for Thor, there are actually quite a few Íslendingasögur (Sagas of Icelanders) that contain fascinating chapters involving Freyr, especially Gísla saga Súrssonar, Víga-Glúms saga, and Ögmundar þáttur dytts! I highly recommend checking out those sources in particular, if you have already read the Eddas and are able to get a hold of a copy of each text (check here, if you’d like).
Verið vel, vinir! (Be well, friends!) – Fjorn the Skald
You’re in luck because I have so much information!💗
🌿 Freyr, son of Njorð, brother to Freyja, is one of the Vanir. The Vanir are a group of gods that deal with nature, fertility, sexuality, happiness, and peace
🌿 He rules the land of Alfheim, a world of vast forests, and the elves, especially the light elves Ljosalfar. There are many theories on why he rules Alfheim, one of them being it was a gift from the other gods for losing his tooth.
🌿 Freyr possesses the ship Skíðblaðnir, is said to always have a favorable breeze and it can be folded together like a napkin and carried in a pouch
🌿 He is also accompanied by the boar, Gullinbursti, whose mane glows to illuminate the way for his owner. Gullinbursti, pulls Freyr’s chariot on land.
🌿 Freyr forbid weapons in Alfheim, violence was forbidden and no steel/iron was allowed.
🌿 Freyr is god of boars, deer, cattle, peace, sunlight, masculinity, sex, ships, fertility, life, trees, and nature in general. He is a wonderful god for the common man considering his role in providing health and bountiful crops.
🌿 Traditional offerings for Freyr include beer, mead, milk, meats, honey, wood crafts, and carrots. When I make vegetable stew I often leave some as an offering to Freyr and Freyja.
freyr is like waking up to rain; it’s a blanket comfort where he whispers how things are still moving even if i just lay in bed – trees don’t move either but still they grow. he is the gentle reassurance of cycles; of the growth from the ashes
These are ways I personally honor Freyr and my personal associations with offerings. If you have something negative to say keep it to yourself, these are personal and work for me.
Take care of yourself mentally and emotionally. He’s a fertile nature god, whatever negative thoughts you have about yourself will grow but so will the good. Practice self love, please.
Drink floral teas or teas made from herbs/flowers you’ve harvested or grown yourself.
Buy your honey and beeswax from local bee keepers or farms.
Support local and small business.
If time/money permits it try to get some produce from your local farmers market.
Volunteer at your local LGBTQ+ center or shelter.
Make him a hearty stew or meal.
Go for a walk at the botanical cards, green house, or even your local flower shops.
Gather seeds, nuts, wheat, and antlers you find in nature and leave them as an offering to him.
Be thankful for the harvest and the food you have.
Get a house plant or grow a little herb garden in your kitchen!
Or grow a garden outside!
Light incense or candles that smell of jasmine, pine, patchouli, honey, or really anything that makes you feel safe and calm.
You can use crystals like moss agate, rose quartz, ruby zoisite, unakite, peridot, or hematite in your practice or day to day life.
Include Algiz, Ingwaz, or Fehu in your altar or worship.
Plant a tree.
Collect coins or start a change jar for extra savings.
Bake him bread or share some with your loved ones.
Leave out sugar water for bees or a hummingbird feeder.
Plant bee friendly flowers like lavender, geranium, beebalm, catmint, foxgloves, pansies, and more!
Listening to calming and soft music.
Decorate your home(or wear) tree, deer, or bee related items!
I’ve seen a lot of non-Scandinavian heathen women say they feel like they can’t worship Freyr because of how he treated Gerd which I always thought was a strange thing to say. Freyr never wanted to hurt Gerd. He gave Skrinir gold and apples to give to her. It was Skrinir who insisted on bringing the sword and later used it to threaten her. Besides it would be straight up illegal by Norse standards to force a woman to marry. Odin got kicked out of Asgard for 10 years for raping a jotun woman once, so if Gerd didn’t like Freyr she could easily divorce him. In some versions of the text Skrinir doesn’t even threaten Gerd.
Anyway, Norse mythology is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, like most other religions that had to make way for Christianity. The few stories we have left were written down by monks who didn’t care that much, so a lot of information is given that we don’t know the backstory to. Gerd is worried about “the man who killed her brother” but we never hear about her brother dying, who did it or even who he is. Freyr kills a jotun named Beli with an antler because he no longer has his sword so some speculate that Beli is Gerd’s brother, but the timeline doesn’t match unless it happened between Skinir leaving Freyr and getting to Gerd’s house.
The reason why Freyr is sometimes considered protector of queer people is because in one story he is worshipped by men who move like women, dance and ring bells in his honor. His house might even be filled with such people depending on how you read the text.
All in all, this is just one theory about what exactly is going on with Freyr and Gerd. We know Freyr was super important and probably had hundreds of stories told about him because so many places are named after him and worship of him is mentioned in texts from other countries, but the story of how he fell in love with Gerd is the only one we have left where he is the main character.
teakepp 