Freyja

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"Hello, friend of Freyja. What's wrong?"

―Eivor finding a cat in Northwic, 873 CE.

Freyja, also known as Freya, was an Isu who became a widely revered god in both Norse and Germanic mythology. A member of the Vanir group, she married the Æsir king Odin of Asgard in a political move to unite the Vanir and Æsir. Freyja then became the stepmother to Baldr, the son of Odin and Frigg.

The queen of a group of Scandinavian Isu called the Æsir, she was known in Norse mythology as the goddess associated with love, beauty, sex, death, war, gold, magic and fertility.

Biography

Early life

Freyja was born alongside her twin brother Freyr as the daughter of the Isu Njörðr and his wife.

Her marriage to the much older Æsir king Odin of Asgard was considered a largely political move. Over the course of their marriage, they had many disputes and infidelities, but despite all this, a fondness and mutual respect grew between the two in lieu of love. Although Freyja's status as the only Vanirian Queen of Asgard was not largely accepted by the populace, she became quite comfortable in her role as their queen and enjoyed adding more civilized touches to their otherwise war-centered lives. At some point, the Isu Þrymr stole Thor's hammer Mjölnir, to which the latter disguised himself as Freyja to steal the Piece of Eden back.

Defending Asgard

Sometime during the Isu Era, Freyja was one of the Isu planning the defense of Asgard during its attack by other Isu factions. She deployed several Æsir soldiers to defend the four corners of the city but stayed behind with Týr and Thor to defend the main gate of the city. Odin, not knowing of the incoming assault, came upon Thor and Freyja arguing about their strategies, as the former sought to bring their forces right into the opposition while the latter advocated for a more tactical approach. She pointed out that they could not afford such a loss of soldiers and that, without Thor's hammer Mjölnir, they would be overrun. She thus advised that they all stay behind and face the enemy army before it reached Asgard.

Odin supported Freyja's strategy and decided that the Asgardians would meet the enemy army on the Bifröst to prevent it from crossing the bridge. Before the Æsir went to battle, Odin asked Freyja if there was an Isu in the army with a defining mark. Not having seen one, she asked what troubled him, but just then a horn blew and the army started attacking. The Isu ran into battle, and after sealing the gateway used by the opposing side, the Æsir won the fight.

A personal gamble

After the fighting had ended, the Isu found a strange man named The Builder, who said he could help them shield Asgard from future attacks. Odin helped the Builder build a prototype shield, after which the latter revealed that he could build a shield to cover all of Asgard; however, he would only do so in exchange for Freyja's hand in marriage. Odin tried to find Freyja but she was off trying to teach Thor about organizing armies; a battle they were both losing.

Odin made his way to Freyja as she was trying to teach Thor, and she asked her husband what was troubling him. After he explained the Builder's demands, Freyja became furious that Odin had not outright rejected the man's request and that he and Týr would even consider giving her away. When Odin tried to defend his actions, claiming that he had bought them more time and that what mattered most was Asgard's safety, Freyja angrily pointed out that Odin had spent more time chasing his own survival from the Great Catastrophe. Loki chimed in and said they could give the Builder an impossible task: to build the shield tower in nine days. Persuaded by Loki, Odin agreed and sent him off to tell the Builder, angering Freyja further as she and Thor left the conversation.

During the coming days, the tower grew more and more, greatly worrying Freyja. At the structure neared its completion, she confronted Odin within Ivaldi's Forge and explained her worry. When she expressed her concern that Odin did not care that she would be married off, her husband gave a weak explanation that only angered Freyja further. Though Odin attempted to apologize, Freyja walked away after telling him that, once he was done with the Builder, he should point his spear at Loki, for he had dug them deeper into the pit they were in.

Loki, Thor, and Týr later devised a plan to trick the Builder into finishing the last piece of the tower by having the former meet him disguised as Freyja. However, the Builder discovered their bluff, at which point the real Freyja appeared, scolding the Æsir men for their stupidity, especially Odin. Seeing that Freyja was repulsed by him, the Builder stopped working on the tower and left. Odin then addressed Freyja, hoping they could speak on this matter later, and left with Loki to investigate the Builder's equipment.

Freyja stayed at the tower, waiting for Odin to return with the resources needed to complete the structure. Once he had done so, Freyja instructed her husband on what to do and left. She and the other Æsir then watched as the tower's shields activated, trapping Odin and the Builder inside, with the latter revealing that this had been his goal all along. However, the Builder ultimately failed to kill Odin, being slain by the All-Father instead. As the shields deactivated, Freyja and the others ran to check on Odin, who angrily accused Loki of bringing the Builder to Asgard. In response, Freyja called Loki dishonorable, but the trickster Isu could only insult the others before taking his leave.

While Freyja and the others were angered by Loki's deception, Odin decided to let the matter go, for there were more urgent things at stake. The Æsir still lacked a means to survive the Great Catastrophe, though Odin had fortunately heard of a possible solution located in far away lands; one which would allow them to preserve their souls even after death. As Odin departed Asgard shortly after to seek answers, he left Freyja to rule in his absence.

Hildr's imprisonment

After Odin succeeded in securing the seventh method of salvation, he intended to share it with only a select few Isu he trusted—Freyja among them—due to the limited supply. When Hildr learned about this in spite of Odin's best efforts to keep the solution a secret, she was angered by Odin's selfishness and rebelled, rallying the Valkyries to organize a revolt against the All-Father.

Freyja, having been in a relationship with Hildr prior to her marriage to Odin, learned about her former lover's plans and leaked them to Odin, who thwarted the burgeoning rebellion and vented his fury upon Hildr, chaining her in an underground cell and stripping away her immortality. Following Hildr's imprisonment, Odin locked away her armor in his vault and gave Freyja a compass that could lead to its location, instructing her to hide the device in another vault so that the rogue Valkyrie's armor would become lost to memory.

Freyja did as she was told but, feeling remorse for her role in Hildr's life imprisonment, she later smuggled an artifact into her cell as a token of their love. It was a medallion she had been gifted by Odin, which also served as an Isu key and could be used to create simulations within one's mind to allow them to train without the risk of injury. However, Hildr resented the gift and gave it away to her daughters, who swore revenge on Odin and whatever form he may take in the future.

Later life

As the Great Catastrophe approached, Freyja and the other eight leading Æsir uploaded their DNA into Yggdrasil to be later redistributed into the human gene pool, before leaving Yggdrasil's chamber to meet their fate. Millennia later, in the 9th century CE, Freyja was successfully incarnated as Svala. When Svala realized she was the rebirth of Freyja and was nearing death, she traveled to Yggdrasil in Hordafylke and connected herself to the device, leaving her body in suspended animation and her mind in a simulated form of Valhalla.

Legacy and influence

In Nordic culture, cats were considered sacred to Freyja and akin to her in character, being free spirits who tended to be aloof and haughty.

Freyja had a totem named after her in the popular dice game Orlog, played during the 9th century. The piece "Freyja's Plenty" would allow a player to roll additional dice on their turn. An Anglo-Saxon man in Donecaestre, Eurviscire, possessed the piece, which he gave to the Viking Eivor Varinsdottir of the Raven Clan after being defeated.

Personality and traits

Freyja was a cunning strategist, helping Týr organize Asgard's defenses and discussing battle tactics with her fellow Æsir. This led her to occasionally clash with Thor, who, unlike her and Týr, was not overly fond of approaching fights tactically. As Queen of Asgard, she was highly regarded and held much power within Isu society, even acting as the sole leader of the city while Odin was away in far-off lands.

Gallery

• 
  Freyja's Plenty piece for Orlog
• 
  Freyja statue during the Sigrblot festival in Ravensthorpe
• 
  A toy of Freyja based off her Sigrblot statue

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first appearance)
  • Wrath of the Druids (mentioned only)
  • Mastery Challenge (mentioned only)
  • Dawn of Ragnarök (mentioned in Database entry only)
  • The Forgotten Saga
  • Shared History (mentioned only)
• Discovery Tour: Viking Age (mentioned only)
• Echoes of History (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Forgotten Myths
• The World of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North – Logs and Files of a Hidden One (mentioned only)