Frigg - Attributes

Attributes

The asterism Orion's Belt was known as "Frigg's Distaff/spinning wheel" (Friggerock) or "Freyja's Distaff" (Frejerock). Some have pointed out that the constellation is on the celestial equator and have suggested that the stars rotating in the night sky may have been associated with Frigg's spinning wheel. The Norse name for the planet Venus was Friggjarstjarna 'Frigg's star'.

Frigg's name means "love" or "beloved one" (Proto-Germanic *frijjō, cf. Sanskrit priyā "beloved") and was known among many northern European cultures with slight name variations over time: e.g. Friggja in Sweden, Frīg (genitive Frīge) in Old English, and Fricka in Richard Wagner's operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Modern English translations have sometimes altered Frigg to Frigga. It has been suggested that "Frau Holle" of German folklore is a survival of Frigg.

Frigg's hall in Asgard is Fensalir, which means "Marsh Halls." This may mean that marshy or boggy land was considered especially sacred to her but nothing definitive is known. The goddess Saga, who was described as drinking with Odin from golden cups in her hall "Sunken Benches," may be Frigg by a different name.

Frigg was a goddess associated with married women. She was called up by women to assist in giving birth to children, and Scandinavians used the plant Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum) as a sedative, they called it Frigg's grass).

See also Friday.