but the icy north will always offer my favorites...


Freyja, (Freya, Freyia) in Norse mythology, the goddess of love and beauty and sister of Frey. (There are other spellings and variations depending on various geographical locations. ) She was the northern Venus and the most beautiful of all the Nordic goddesses.

As Valfrya, she also rode to the battlefield in her chariot, there to claim the slain. These she feasted in her great banqueting hall while Odin, chief god of the Aesir, transported all the others to Valhalla. She controlled the golden apples at the top of the world which were the secret of the immortality of the gods. When she was captured by Fafnir and Fasolt the Jötung and held hostage in demand for the Ring of the Nibelung her abscence caused the gods to begin to grow old and die; to fade into legend. "The Twilight of the gods".

She was married to Odur the god of sunshine, but he left her to roam in distant lands. She followed him, weeping teardrops that changed to gold in the rocks and amber in the sea. In later mythology, Freyja is often confused with Frigg, Odin's wife.