Wrestling with Freyr

This is the first article in this series, in which the presentation of godpoles in Old Norse litterature will be examined. Spoilers: Them Heathens be crazy. Or maybe it's the medieval Christian writers? Let's take a look! Also in this text: Swedish hillbillies being tricked (and mocked by medieval Icelanders).

14 minutes.

Ögmundar þáttr dytts ok Gunnars helmings, Flateyjarbók, 14th century.





How many Hrafnkels?





0,32.





Location:





Sweden.





Translation:





Backstory: Gunnarr Helmingr is accused of murdering Hallvarðr Háls, and is sentenced to death by hanging by Óláfr, king of Norway. His brother Sigurðr, who is the king's hirdsman and dear friend, warns Gunnarr, who then escapes to Sweden.





"Great sacrifices were made there during that time, and Freyr was worshipped the most there. So ensorcelled was the effigy of Freyr, that the Devil spoke to people through the tree-god, and Freyr had been given a young wife. It was the belief of the people there, that Freyr was alive and showed himself sometimes, and they believed he needed to have intercourse with his wife. This wife was beautiful, and ruled over the the temple and all that belonged to the god-house.





Gunnarr Helmingr arrived there at last, and asked Frey's wife to help him and let him stay there. She looked at him and asked who he was. He claimed to be a poor foreigner.





She said: "You can't in any regards be a lucky man, for Freyr do not look upon you with friendly eyes." Gunnarr said: "Your help and favour seem much better to me than Frey's".





Gunnarr was a happy and very entertaining man, and when he had been there for three nights, Gunnarr spoke with Frey's wife and asked, what was going to happen with his stay. "I don't know", she said, "you are a poor man, and still you might be of good stock, and therefore I'd rather grant you some assistance, but Freyr cares less for you, and I'm afraid to awake his wrath. You'll stay here for half a month, and then we'll se what will happen". Then Gunnarr said: "It is as I wish. Freyr hates me, but you'll help me, because I won't be with Freyr".





The longer he stayed, the better people liked Gunarr for his joy and boldness. Once again he came to Frey's wife, and asked about his arrangement. She answered: "The people here like you well, and therefore it seems wise to me that you stay here for the winter and go the feasts with Freyr and us, when he'll grant people good year and fortune, even though he likes you ill". Gunnarr thanked her very much.





Soon the time came, and they prepared to leave home. Freyr and his wife would sit in the wagon, while their servants walked in front of them. They intended to travel by a large mountainroad. Then a great snowstorm fell upon them, which made the travelling rough. Gunnarr was meant to follow the wagon, but in the end, all their companions left them. Only Gunnarr stayed behind with Freyr and his wife in the wagon. While walking and urging the old nag on, Gunnarr quickly grew tired, and after a while he gave up walking in front and sat down in the wagon, and let the nag lead the way.





Shortly after, the wife said to Gunnarr: "Get up and help again, or Freyr will attack you". Again Gunnarr lead the way through the storm, but when he grew tired, he said: "Now I'll try and stand up against Freyr, if he attacks me".













Wrestling demons can be rough when you're a heretic.





Then Freyr stood up from the wagon, and they wrestled, and Gunnarr became weak and powerless. He realized then, that his strength could not match his words. He thought to himself, that if he could overcome this devil, and it was granted to him to come back to Norway, he would return to the true faith and make peace with king Óláfr, if he would receive him. After he thought this, Freyr began to stumble before him, and then he fell. Then the demon who had concealed itself within the effigy jumped out and ran off, and the sorry husk was empty again. Then Gunnarr broke it asunder, went back to the wagon and gave the wife a choice: Either he'd either run from her and only look after himself, or when they came to the settlements, she would say that he was Freyr. She answered, that she'd rather say that.





Gunnarr now travelled in the tree-god's clothing. When the weather cleared, they finally arrived to the feast that was prepared for them. At the feast were many of the men who should have accompanied them there. The people thought much of how Freyr showed his power, by coming to the feast with his wife in such bad weather, when everybody had abandoned them, and how he now walked among them and ate and drank like other men.





In the winter, they travelled around to many feasts. Freyr spoke little to other people, except to his wife, and would not let animals be slaughtered for him, and no sacrifice would he receive, and no offerings except gold, silver, good clothing or other treasures. When some time had passed, people noticed that Frey's wife was with child. People were very happy, and thought exceedingly well of Freyr, their god".





King Óláfr then receives news of this, figures out the truth since "sacrifices are strongest when they are made to living people". He sends Sigurðr to fetch Gunnarr, and the two of them escape the wrathful Swedes. Gunnarr makes peace with the king, a jolly ol' happy Christian ending.



Interesting stuff:





Let's start off with the location. It is no coincidence that the medieval scribe places the story in Sweden. Due to their late conversion, the Swedes were viewed as especially Pagan, and therefore dumb and hickish. In general, the Pagans in the Icelandic conversion stories are dumb as rocks - their beliefs are wrong, and they are easily tricked by the smart, Christian protagonists.













Medieval Icelandic discourse, essentially.





The Swedes in this short story are a perfect example of this - mistakenly worshipping demons, they are tricked by the clever Gunnarr to an almost Life of Brian-esque degree. They think this man is their chief god - who is usually made of tree! They give him all sorts of treasures, and he knocks up the consort of their high god. Man, Swedish Pagans are dumb.





Historically though, Freyr was an important god in Sweden, which is indicated by the large amount of theophoric place names bearing his name - 38 "certain" names, concentrated around lake Mälaren and eastern Västergotland. For comparison, Norway can boast of 22 place names, while Denmark pales with a sorry single Freyr place name - Frøs Herred in Jutland. In the Old Norse texts, Freyr is called God of the Swedes ("svíagoð") and Swedes are poetically called the family of Ingvifrey. The Danish scribe Saxo Grammaticus mentions a sacrifice to Freyr in Sweden, claims the most valiant of the Swedes were the kinsmen of Freyr, and that Freyr was a Swedish king. The German chronicler Adam of Bremen in his description of the Pagan "temple" in Uppsala, mentions a well-hung Freyr with an immense/erect dick (cum ingenti priapo).





This penis-anecdote leads us to the next point. When people think of a statue of Freyr, they think of this little fella from Rällinge:









Rock out with your cock out. 9 cm figurine, found in Rällinge, Sweden.



