2014/09/01 by Ethan Doyle White · 3 citations
Arts and Humanities · #Medieval Literature and History #Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices #Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies #Divinity #Anglo saxon #Mythology #Certainty #History #Toponymy #Literature #Classics #Philosophy #Art #Archaeology #Epistemology #Theology
paper · doi:10.5325/preternature.3.2.0284
openalex publication_date 2014/09/01 · openalex created_date 2017/09/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
ABSTRACT This article critically examines the evidence for the existence of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Frig, exploring toponyms, day names, Old English textual sources, archaeology, and comparisons with continental Germanic mythologies. Challenging previous assertions that she was the consort of the god Woden and was associated with love and motherhood, it furthermore contends that this scholarly misinterpretation of the deity has had wider repercussions, affecting the way that contemporary Pagans interpret this particular divinity. Ultimately, it argues that far less can be said about Frig with any certainty than has been previously supposed, suggesting that a case can even be made that she had never existed as a deity in Anglo-Saxon England at all.