-In both stories the Teutonic matriarchs (Frya and Erna-Drott) have a child that is declared special and is to lead the folk after their departure from the earth. In Rigsthula this is Kon-Halfdan the king, who was taught the runes of Heimdall just as his father was, though he excelled more so than Jarl-Skjold in this knowledge (str. 46). In O.L.B. it is Fasta who is given the honor of being the first Folksmother after her mother (that she is her daughter is shown on page 8 and #12 of the tex on pg. 10) and is entrusted with the caretaking of the Teutonic people and their most sacred symbol- the fire of the gods or foddik (cp. the Folksmother rank with what Tacitus tells us in Germania on Teutonic women and queens, chs. 8 and 45-6). Both of these examples exemplify the Nordic belief of overcoming humanity to become something better; they are the ideal standards of this achievement, what Nietzche called the “Ubermensch” or higher evolved person.

 It could not have been the intention of Rig to “father” the races of men, for Rigsthula and other sources clearly show that they were already in existence, nor does the lore of our heathen ancestors give any explanation as to how these different (obviously genetically as well as socio-economically) “classes”, which in some degree already existed as well, as we see in each of Rig’s visits, came to be. This is probably the most substantial proof of this story being one of racial, rather than of class origins.  We know the genetic line of Modir and Fadir developed by the creation of Ask and Embla by the Earth and Bur’s sons. We do not know (though an investigation into other theological systems may create some interesting theories on) how the other two different couples developed, which is correct form for the tales of Nordics, as these would have been born from other deities, and hence belong to the lore of other races, only to be briefly mentioned in ours because of Heimdall’s generous blessing of their progeny for the sake of world peace.

 If we pay attention to the derogatory remarks about other races in Rigsthula and in O.L.B. then we can say that Rydberg’s assumption that Rig-Heimdall and Rig-Jarl (Rig II, Borgar-Skjold) were considered to be the founders and chiefs of the entire human race’s civilization is substantiated. The Nordics would be kings over the other races who would fall before the power given to them by their gods. This theme is found in other faiths as well. It is this type of thinking, a rejection of divine law (as seen in O.L.B., see above) which eventually, per actual history, has become the downfall of the Nordic race.

 The third and final aspect of “Frya” is that which the name itself is derived from, that being of the goddess Freyja of the Scandinavian sources. In fact, on pg. 5 of O.L.B. the actual name “Freya” is used, perhaps accidentally, in place of the name seen everywhere else in the manuscript. Here are the evidences that lead us to the conclusion that the Scandinavian goddess is here meant:

-Throughout the text (though see particularly pg. 8) she is said to look down upon her people from her “watchstar” which we can compare to Odin’s Hlidskjalf mentioned in the prose introductions to both Grimnismal and Skirnismal, and elsewhere.

-We can see on pg. 77 that this is not the only instasnce where she is connected to a dwelling of Odin. Here she is discussed in reference to the barring of debauchees from Valhalla (Walhalla). This condemnation of nidings, criminals, gives us further proof of O.L.B.’s authenticity, since it has been, for a very long time, an erroneous interpretation of Odinic eschatology that the only way to Valhalla is to die in battle, no matter how honorable you were. Teutonic Mythology vol. I chs. 66-78 proves exactly how incorrect this is.

-Frya has her maids here on earth who assists the Folksmother and keep the peace by upholding the law and teaching people. These maids are similar to those dedicated to Brigit in Ireland and Vesta in Rome. Saxo mentions similar priestesses in the service of Freya’s brother Frey or Fro. All of them had the jobs of performing rites, giving advice, acting as oracles and protecting the sacred flame. In comparison to this Freyja is said to have nine maids who attend to her needs in Asgard (see Fjolsvinnsmal 37-38).

-On pg. 5 we find that she is the daughter of Wralda and Earth. We have established that Earth is identical to Frigga and Wralda is Odin. In the Eddas Freyja is closely related to the Earth mother in many respects and is in fact her daughter here as well. Njordr, who we know to be Freyja’s father, is said to have had the son Frey, Freyja and eight other daughters with his sister (see Fädernas Gudasaga pg. 31) who could be none other than Frigga, also known as Nerthus, which is the feminine form of Njordr. Therefore, Freyja is Odin’s stepdaughter and it is obvious that they have a close relationship with one another from what we can see in the records we have.

-On pg. 7 her food is said to be “honey and her drink was dew gathered in the blossoms of blooms”. This reminds us of the sacred mead which all of the gods partake in, however, it most especially reminds us of Odin, who lives only on the holy beverage while in Asgard (Gylfaginning 39). The tradition of the mead is that the horses of Nat and the other disir of the dawn and night, as well as the Valkyries, eats the leaves of Yggdrasil, which gets its sustenance from the mead fountains of the Underworld (Jormungrund). When the goddesses fly across the sky the froth in the mouths of the steeds creates the dew that falls upon Midgard’s dales. The bees extract this morning few and this is where men get their mead from. (see Teut. Myth. col. I ch. 89)

-In all of the literature Freyja is celebrated as the most beautiful of all the goddesses. This theme is echoed in O.L.B. on pg. 59. Here the beauty of Adela is being praised, “but”, it says, “what say I of beauty. Frya was indeed more beautiful.
 “Yes friends, Frya who had seven beauties, where of her daughter have inherited but one each, at most three. But although she were ugly, she would have been dear to us.”

-Simply because we separate the earthly Frya-Erna aspect from the divine Frya-Freyja aspect does not mean that the ancient Frisians did not believe that the latter was not once among them. Indeed, she is one of the few deities mentioned specifically in the lore as having travelled to Midgard, in this case to search for her husband, Od-Svipdag. It should not be overlooked that when she found him he was living on an island in the form of a dragon. The island he was living on was called Singastein or Vagaskar (in Saxo Grammaticus’ Historia Danica it is called Helsingaland). In O.L.B. Frya was born (manifested?) near the sea on Aldland (compare this to the fact that she is Njordr’s daughter, god of the sea who lives near the ocean, in Vanaheim), which sank right before her departure (pg. 8). This “Aldland” became the Frisian islands, a part of “Frya’s Land”. I have already mentioned the tradition in Europe of naming nations, territories, cities, etc. after deities, ancestors, elves, etc. Scandinavia’s original spelling “Skadinauja” probably has some connection to the goddess Skadi, as Frisia is supposed to have to Freyja.

 In the account of the sinking of Aldland there is some relation to a special, divine event of some kind, for it marks the day Frya began to watch over her people from her watchstar, as the text claims. As Singastein is also called Vagaskar, so Aldland is also called Flyland (cp. pg. 8 to pg. 31). We cannot assume that the sinking of the land on Frya’s final day could be any other than the same as that of Aldland mentioned throughout the book. It is most likely that Flyland was the name of Aldland before it sank and became “The Old Land”. This sinking becomes the basis for a calendar system used by O.L.B.’s author, meaning that it was given some sort of religious significance. However, it was also considered a terrifying event, the beginning of “the bad time” (pg. 31). If we combine the Norse tale with this one we find corresponding elements as well as heretofore unanswered questions. Let us look at them together:

Norse: Freyja goes out in search of her husband, Svipdag-Od and finds him in dragon form on the island of Singastein/Vagaskar. (Saxo)

O.L.B.: Frya is born on the island of Flyland/Aldland and has her children there whom she raises and teaches for at least seven generations.

Norse: Hadding comes along with his band of warriors. He finds the dragon bathing and kills it, not knowing that it was Svipdag whom he had slain. When Freyja points this out and demands compensation for the act he refuses, for he and Svipdag were mortal enemies. This all takes place in the summer. (see Saxo and Fädernas Gudasaga ch. 37)

O.L.B.: A bad time comes with a great many natural disasters, including vulcano eruptions, earthquakes, and the land around Frya’s feet sinks. She then leaves, disappears to her watchstar, where she looks down upon the folk. This also happens in the summer. (O.L.B. pg. 31)

Norse: Hadding experiences many misfortunes. Freyja had told him that “All the forces of nature, wind and wave, heaven and earth, were to be his enemies unless he could propitiate the angry gods” (Saxo). It is not until Hadding is alone, stranded in a strange land and shipwrecked that he performs a sacrifice to Frey to compensate for his crime.

 We know that Frya was born on Aldland because pg. 41 says that her sister Finda was born there. This strengthens the connection of Flyland and Aldland. Frya takes her children to the place where she was born so that she can give them her tex right before she leaves. The fact that Flyland is again mentioned on pg. 35 shows a mistake of some kind, for the account clearly shows that Flyland sank in the early years of Frisia’s history.

 Our story would probably come out, without being too speculative, as one dealing with the adventures of Freyja and her husband on the island of Singastein/Vagaskar, for, even though we owe much to The Oera Linda Book, we must always present our finds using the Nordic lore from other lands, which have come down to us more clearly, as the primary model for the investigation. Therefore we could come to the conclusion that after Freyja had found her husband Hadding came along with his band. Hadding kills a dragon and Freyja appears to tell him that he has killed her husband, who happens to be Hadding’s greatest foe. When she demands compensation for the act he refuses, bringing down the wrath of the gods upon him. This causes the island to sink. Hadding sets off with his fleet, but the violent sea causes him to become shipwrecked. When he finds land he performs the sacrifice to Frey, which comes an annual feast.

 Of course, there is a bit more to all of this as it fits into the larger teutonic epic, but this gives an accurate overview of how the pieces of this puzzle should fall in place. By this explanation we can see how it is that in O.L.B. there is a sinking that is viewed both with horror and with reverence. In both sources the people gain a close connection to Frey (in Saxo) and Freyja (in O.L.B.) after the disaster. This was also close to the time when “the age of mythic events” (Fädernas Gudasaga ch. 37) was coming to a close, which may explain its significance in a religious dating system.

 It is implied in this text that Frya, Finda and Lyda were all born in difference places (Frya in Flyland [pg. 8], Finda in Aldland [pg. 15], and Lyda in Lydia? [pg. 43]). Though this may be true it is most likely that they all have the same homeland, for the evidence points to Aldland and Flyland being the same place. It seems to be an error in the judgement of the chronicler (and would not be the only one) to attempt to make these separate. Throughout the text Aldland is said to be Finda’s land, but why would it then have so much significance to the Frisians? On page 31 and page 36 we find it in one instance connected to Germany and in the next to the Mediterranean. Most likely it was believed to have been in the North Sea, like Ultima Thule, and was then thought to be the birthland of the races by those not familiar with the Scandinavian tale of Ask and Embla, and became confused by the author of O.L.B. .

 Now I will compare the curse of Freyja from Saxo with the account of the sinking of Aldland:

 “Whether thou tread the fields afoot, or spread canvas overseas, thou shalt suffer the hate of the gods, and through all the world shalt behold the elements oppose thy forces. Afield thou shalt fall, on sea thou shalt be tossed, an eternal tempest shall attend the steps of thy wandering, nor shall front-bond ever quit thy sails; nor shall thy roof-tree roof thee, bit if thou seekest it, it shall fall smitten by the hurricane; thy herd shall perish of bitter chill. All things shall be tainted, and shall lament that thy lot is there. Thou shalt be shunned like a pestilent tetter, nor shall any plague be fouler than thou. Such chastisement doth the power of heaven mete out to thee, for truly thy sacrilegious hands have slain one of the dwellers above, disguised in a shape that was not his: thus art thou the slayer of a benignant god! But when the sea receives thee, the wrath of the prison of Eolus (Loki) shall be loosed upon thy head. (Earthquakes). The West and the furious North, the South wind shall beat thee down, shall league and send forth their blasts in rivalry; until with better prayers thou hast melted the sternness of heaven, and hast lifted with  with appeasement the punishment thou hast earned.” (Historia Danica Book I)

 And from O.L.B. pg. 31 we have the following, which leads one to think of the above curse and possibly some of the elements of the first Fimbulvetr:

 “The whole summer, was the sun veiled by the clouds as she would not see the earth. The wind rested in his bags through which smoke and steam, like columns, over house and pool stood. The light was thus sad and dim, and in the hearts of the people was neither blitheness nor joy. In the midst of this stillness, the earth started to shake if she were dying. Mountains split from each other to spew fire and flame, others sank down in her womb, where she (Earth) first had fields, raised she mountains thereupon. Aldland, called Atland by the seamen, sank below and the wild waves stepped so far over hill and dale, that all were overwhelmed. Many people were buried in the earth and many who escaped the fire, were killed thereafter in the water. Not only in the lands of Finda, spewed the mountains fire, but also in Germany. Forests burned after each other and when the wind came thence away, our land blew full of ash. Streams were changed and by their mouths came new islands of sand and driven animals. Three years was the Earth thus to suffer; but when she was better, one could see her wounds. Many lands were sunken, others risen out of the sea and Germany was half bereft of forest.”

 Of course, historically this probably has something to do with an actual event. There is archaeological evidence showing that at some point in antiquity a very large volcanic eruption shook most of Europe and sank many surrounding islands. However, one could easily see how the ancients could have connected such a disaster to the wrath of the gods based upon some crime committed by a human, as was usually the case. Because we have found so many parallels to Freyja and the Svipdag story here we can say that it was Hadding’s crime that had caused this so highly noticed fury of the gods. We can say that the statement: “The many who escaped the fire, were killed thereafter in the water: relates to the volcanic heat of the water, or that it is reminiscent of Hadding’s fleet being destroyed by the torrents of the sea. Saxo continues the tale:

“So, when Hadding went back, he suffered all things after this one fashion, and his coming brought disquiet upon all peaceful places. For when he was at sea a mighty storm arose and destroyed his fleet in a great tempest: and when, a shipwrecked man, he sought entertainment, he found a sudden downfall of that house. Nor was there any cure for his trouble, ere he atoned by sacrifice for his crime, and was able to return into favor with heaven” (Hist. Dan. Bk. I)

 Thus, as his father Halfdan, in the gods’ favor, had brought life to Midgard after the first Fimulwinter, Hadding brings death to every land around him after his terrible act of deicide. It is only when he sacrifices to Freyr, Svipdag’s brother-in-law and fosterbrother, that he regains the gods’ favor.

 We will return to the discussion of Aldland later.

 Freyja came to Midgard as a goddess. Of the gods it was Heimdall alone who came to our earth as a man (see Teut. Myth. ch. 21) although we mustn’t forget those deities adopted into Asgard who were humans in the first place. It may have been that Erna-Drott was included in this number, since Rydberg, ion the second book of his Teutonic Mythology (yet to be translated into English) proves that she is identical to Tamfana, mentioned in Tacitus’ Germania as a goddess. From this we can conclude that elements of Erna-Drott’s character can also be found in Fasta of O.L.B. Let us make the comparison:

 It would be most probable that if Tamfana were to have any divine relation to the folk that it would be as a culture goddess since it is she, as mother of the first Teutonic king (Halfdan-Kon) and student of Heimdalls’ runes, who would have had the duty of contuing the divine teachings in Midgard, otherwise they would have had no primary source of inheritance through the human line. We know that she was taught Heimdall’s runes, which gave our ancestors the basis of their understandings of civilization and culture, and that she was given divine honors by the ancient Teutons (cf. Fädernas Gudasaga pgs. 94 and 209). The runes themselves are said to have brought all sorts of lessons and he himself gave them the means to develop a complex society, as we see in Fädernas Gudasaga pg. 22:

 “Heimdall taught the humans how to plow and bake, to craft and forge, to spin and weave, rist runes and read. He taught them how to tame domestic animals and to ride them, to erect timber buildings and tie family and social bonds. He taught them how to use the bow, the ax and spear to hunt and to defend themselves against the primordial wild animals. He instructed them in the Norns’ decrees for an honest life and in what they should do to win the favor of the powerful, benevolent gods. From Heimdall the humans got to learnt he gods’ names and various duties. He let them raise altars and temples to the gods’ names and various duties. He let them raise altars and temples to the gods, with the fire auger he evoked the pure fire, which is the only one worthy to burn in their service, and dictated the prayer and holy songs, which ever since then ring to the praise of the powers.”

 When we compare these lessons with what is said of Fasta in O.L.B. we find that they correlate with her position and duties as the first high-priestess of the North, just as Heimdall was the first priest, Borgar became the first judge, and Halfdan became the first king. Here is what O.L.B. has to say about Fasta:

-49 years after she was chosen as Folksmother it was said that “Now Fasta should strike up the new Foddik and when that was done in the precense of the folk, then called Frya from her watchstar so that all people might hear; “Fasta take thy pen and write the things which I thus might not say”; Fasta did as she was bidden. Hence are we, Frya’s children (Nordics), come upon our first history.” (pg. 5)

-“Upon my maid, Fasta, have I (Frya) put all my hope, therefore must you take her to be honored mother”. (pg. 10)

-“When Fasta has advised us and above doors of all burghs is it written out in stone ‘protect then your neighbors, teach then your neighbors, so shall they return it.” (pg. 64)

-Pg. 98 mentions the Foddik as “The holy light of Fasta”.

 All of this also serves to confirm the separation between the Frya-Erna aspect and the Frya-Freyja aspect we are primarily focused on here. It is certain, from investigations of texts spanning all over Northern Europe, that heimdall was the first culture bringer to our primordial ancestors. Finding Drott connected to this in two different ways is certainly suspicious. There would be no need for the Teutonic epic to have two different visitations by deities to bring us the divine lessons and laws, and since Heimdall appears, though under different names, in many of the ancient texts from authors unknown to one another (such as Saxo and the author of Rigsthula), we have to assume that the Norse tale is the purest in form. Thus we should look at “Frya’s Tex” as a part of the “Runes of Eternity and Runes of Earthly Life” that Heimdall taught. We know from Voluspa, strophe 20, that it was the Norns who formulated the first laws, but what we see in other sources tells us that it was the duty of the other gods and goddesses to spread these laws about the worlds. (cp. Rigsthula 43044 with Havamal 143-144).

 What further raises our suspicions about this belief in the possible visitation by Frya-Freyja is that, upon her departure “the earth shook like Wralda’s sea. Flyland’s bottom sank down under her feet. The air was black and newleaf (yellow-green), washed by her tears (emphasis mine), and when they looked around for their mother, she was already upon her watchstar.” The text does not tell us why Frya was crying; could the underlined be a reference to the tears of gold Freyja shed for her exiled husband?

-On pg. 35 of O.L.B. Frya is mentioned next to Wralda as being or having a “ghost”, which elsewhere in connection to Wralda is made to be a signification of divinity. Earlier in the text a foreign messenger was sent to Wodin (here the “historical” sea king, “Witking” [Viking]) to join the enemies of Frisia, who states that their Magy “has seen that Frya is stronger than all of our ghosts together”.

-In the lore of the Eddas Freyja, along with Frigga, is said to be closely connected to childbirth. Both are said to aid mothers during pregnancy and usually attend the birth itself. Both of these goddesses have maidservants who help them with all sorts of things. All of Freyja’s maidservants (except for Gullveig) are also her sisters and are thus Frigga’s daughters. One of these of Gefjon, whose name is identical to the Freyja epithet Gefn “The Giver”. Here is what Rydberg has to say about Gefjon:

 “Gefjon is presumably one of Freyja’s eight sisters and daughter of Njordr, the god of the ocean and the forces of sailing, who bore the name Geofon among the Anglo-Saxons. She owns a necklace, in whose possession the sneering Loki in Lokasenna tells a history of, reminiscent of one which in the Christian time was written on how Freyja obtained Brisingamen. One swore oaths in antiquity with Gefjon’s name. The Icelanders in the Middle-Ages compared her with Diana or Minerva.” (Fädernas Gudasaga pg. 217)

 On pg. 22 we find a maiden who holds one name that is certainly found in the Roman pantheon, that of Minerva, the virgin goddess of wisdom, and another, Nyhellenia (Nehallenia), which Tacitus also mentions as a Teutonic goddess, and, in its primary form, her story, which we relate to that of Gefjon, is closer to those told in the Nordic regions than in the Mediterranean. The connections we find to her Roman appellation are her name, that on pg. 22 it is said that she was “almost as beloved by the Greeks as by our own folk”, and that an owl, symbol of Minerva, is found with her in the text. What is interesting is that it is Minerva, in the lore of the Mediterraneans, who had much of the role that is here given to Frya. She was the culture bringer, the goddess of wisdom, of virgins, and it was she who was equated to Brigit by Caesar. Most of her relations to the Northern lore will be given later, but here we find her place as Frya’s maidservant, as she explained when some princes and priests came to interrogate her: (O.L.B. pg. 22-23)

 “...what dost then with the eggs which thou always hast with thee?

Minerva answered, “these eggs are the symbols of Frya’s counsel wherein our future lies hidden and that of all mankind. Time must brood them out and we must watch that no harm comes to them.” The priests said “well said, but whereto serves the dog in thy other hand?” Hellenia answered, “has the herdsman no sheepdog to hold his flock together? What the dog is, in the service of the shepherd, am I in Frya’s service. I must watch over Frya’s herd.” :That we like, said the priests, “but what is the significance of the owl which ever sits above thy head; is that light shy animals perhaps a token of thy clairvoyance?” “Nay”, answered Hellenia, “he helps me remember that there is a sort of person dwelling in the world who, even as he, make their homes in churches and caves, who root about in the gloom, though not as he, to help us from mice and other plagues but to plan ruses, to rob other people of their wits until they the better might grab them so as to make slaves of them and to suck their blood even as vampires do.” ”

 Gefjon, whom Odin himself has praised for her wisdom (Lokasenna 21), is said by Snorri Sturluson to be a virgin goddess, like Minerva and the maids of O.L.B., and is in the service of Freyja as her sister. We cannot say much for the symbols connecting to the northern side of her character, except for the idea that the eggs mentioned may have some semblance to the Manna Mjötudr “The Fruits of Fate”, which fall from Yggdrasil and are carried to expectant mothers (see Teut. Myth. ch. 95 and Fädernas Gudasaga pg. 18-20) in ancient symbology fruits and eggs are often closely related as representatives of fertility. Also, the line which states that “these eggs are the symbols of Frya’s counsel wherein our future lies hidden and that of all mankind. Time must brood them out and we must watch that no harm comes to them” may be interpreted as giving the eggs the characteristic of dealing with matters concerning fate, as do the Manna Mjötudr.

 This would also explain why Nyhellenia-Minerva is given godlike attributes, and it is said that some “declared (Ny)Hellenia to be a goddess”, (pg. 45) even though it would seem that this honor would have naturally gone to Fasta if the German priests were to choose a folksmother (which Nyhellenia was in line to become) to elevate in such a manner. We will leave the rest of the evidence for her relation to Gefjon and to the Nordic tales to the investigation on her war with Kalta.

-When the Teutons marked the days of the week they did so using the names of the deities they honored, which is how we got the names that have come down to our time (see Teut. Myth. ch. 12). Friday is the day of Freyja, who corresponds to the Roman Venus, the goddess of love who had this day named after her in southern Europe. On Pg. 11, 67 and elsewhere in O.L.B. we find this tradition used in honor of Frya, calling it “Frya’s Day” where in Scandinavia it would have been “Freyja’s Day”.

 Frya is also said to have seven “watchmaids” of the week (pg. 39). This implies that the days of the week may have once been named after these maids, who would be identical to Freyja’s maids (though they are nine in number) in the Scandinavian lore. That these “watchmaids” were viewed as goddesses is seen on pg. 70: “When a child is there born, so come the sibs together and pray to Frya that she may let her maids come to bless the child”, and on pg. 107-108 where the maids came to Reintia in a dream to warn her of forthcoming events and to tell her how to avert them. Similar functions have been given to the divine maids, whose names, such as Hlin “The Protectress”, Hlifthrasa “She Who Desires to Protect”, and Thjodvara “She Who Warns the People”, relate to such duties.

 The aspects of “Frya” can be clarified in a simple formula: 1. All of the passages that refer to her younger years as the first Teutonic woman represent her as a character identical to Embla of the Eddas. 2. All of the passages which refer to her relationship with her “sisters” parallel, in one way or another, those in the Norse sagas about Erna-Drott, Tacitus’ Tamfana, wife of Jarl-Borgar-Skjold, the second patriarch of the Teutonic nobility (the first being Heimdall-Rig, of course). 3. All of the passages that refer to her as the bringer of culture, law, fire, etc. are connected to both Heimdall (and possibly again to Erna-Drott through him) as the Teutonic Prometheus. 4. All of the passages that refer to the time after her departure, as the one who watches over the Teutonic race, especially the Frisians, unless she has been offended by their lawlessness (which we can compare to the Scandinavian lore where it is said that the Hamingja abadons those who do great harm to others without recompense, see Teut. Myth. ch. 64), can be corresponded to those in the Norse literature about the goddess Freyja, from where the name of this character originated before the former two were blended into her persona.


Note: Within this treatise I quote several times an anonymous document known as “The Seidr Paradigms”. I would like to make it clear that I do not necessarily consider this source to be an authority, rather it is a collection of wisdom that may or may not be modern which helps me here to emphasize certain points. What is best about this is that, for the most part, it does not contradict what we know to be the true lore, which is important. My biggest problem with it is that a large amount of evidence has surfaced to prove that the Seid is the evil art of Gullveig-Heid, in contrast to the holy galdr (evidence which is found in both volumes of Rydberg’s Researches... and Fädernas Gudasaga, as well as new essays that have surfaced, as seen here.) Only modern practitioners have made Seidr into a holy, shamanic art, based on one sentence from the highly confused and Christianized Heimskringla of Snorri Sturluson which states that Frey taught the Seidr. It may have been that Freya did this under the tutelage of Gullveig, when the latter was her maidservant. If this was the case we would have to consider this one of the mistakes the gods and goddesses made in “time’s morning”, when they were still learning (see Fädernas Gudasaga ch. 30). Not that these practitioners celebrate the evil art, they simply do not practice the Seidr in its truest form.