Is Gullveig Freyja? - Gullveig Part 8

Gullveig is Freyja, but is she?

Previous post in this series: The Völva - Gullveig Part 7

So, I think for a complete summary, we have to address the other main theory: that Gullveig and Freyja are the same being. This theory seems to be accepted by a good amount of scholars and practitioners alike. I’ll start by saying, or rather re-iterating, that I'm not proclaiming to be right here. I could be wrong. My own UPG aside, I just don't think the evidence stacks up… but I'm also just a dude with a blog, and what do I know? If Freyja is indeed Gullveig, I'd be cool with that anyway. Freyja is a bad ass in her own right, but for me, it just doesn't make as much sense as a connection to Angrboda or the other figures I’ve talked about so far. Let’s discuss the evidence for the Gullveig/Freyja argument.

"Freyja in the Dwarfs' Cave". From: Foster, Mary, and Mabel Cummings. Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology. New York: Silver, Burdett and Co, 1901. 27. MyNDIR: My Norse Digital Image Repository. Ed. P. A. Baer. 2024. Edition 2.6. Victoria, B. C.: Humanities Computing and Media Centre, University of Victoria. 2024.

There are a few scholars, some reputable and some not so much, propose the theory that Gullveig is Freyja:

Thorrson (AKA Flowers - also known as nazi fucking idiot - hate citing this guy, but I think it's important as it's a source a lot of people get their information from, either first hand or by proxy without knowing it comes from this shitbag) from his book "Runelore":

This "thrice-born" volva (seeress) is certainly Freyja, and it is in this form that she became Odhinn's teacher in the ways of seidhr.

Compelling stuff Thorrson. Thanks. Get fucked.

In the same paragraph he says:

The Aesir tried to kill her by piercing her with spears and burning her. But each time she was reborn. The third time she transformed herself from Gullveig into Heidh (the Shining One).

So a few issues I have with this statement, and general theory: this seems nonsensical and Thorrson does not elaborate with any explanation or evidence, just "the third time she transforms from Gullveig into Heidr." Meanwhile, Freyja is... right there, like she still exists, both before and after this "transformation." So Freyja is simultaneously Gullveig and Heidr, but killed and reborn three times (assuming Thorrson means Freyja > Gullveig > Heidr), but is also still Freyja. What is this man smoking?

Strom and Clunies Ross, much more reputable scholars, seem to share the same rudimentary basis to the theory based on similarity between Freyja and Gullveig in the myths of the Vanir wars as "one skillful in seid" and the origin of the first war of people in the world. Not a lot to go on there other than "Seidr", which by that logic there are many candidates.

John Lindow from his book "Norse Mythology":

Since Ynglinga saga says that Freyja first brought seid to the Aesir, it is not impossible that Gullveig is Freyja, and that she brought seid to the Aesir in the first instance either as a strategy in the war, or that her bringing of seid started the war. Beyond this, many fanciful attempts have been made to interpret Gullveig, some based on a literal understanding of her name as "gold-drink".

I mean, this is slightly better, but it's still a bit vague and a good example of the somehow popular link with gold Because gull- means gold and Freyja's associated with gold, apparently that’s enough of a link for many people to assume Gullveig and Freya are the same. The thing that strikes me here is the lack of evidence or importance of gold to Gullveig, other than etymology, which I have already covered in the Gullveig post.

Turville-Petre, believes her to be an emissary of the Vanir. This theory seems to be based on Dumezil, as he claims, 

we do not know how the goddess Freyja came to be a member of the household of the gods, Gullveig would be an avatar of Freyja.

Let's just put that one in the bin.

Ursula Dronke shares Turville-Petre's view. To her Gullveig-Heiðr-Freyja has arrived to teach the gods the mysteries of regeneration (Dronke 1988:227)

Whatever that means.

I think there are a few obvious issues with all the above statements, mostly that they seem paper thin and based off of one thing: seidr. I would like to raise a few more questions to ponder:

• Why would the Aesir want to kill Freyja in the first place?
• The method in which Gullveig is killed suggests a killing of a witch (who also practised seidr), not solely a practitioner of seidr. If we compare this to the real world and history of witches and seeresses or volvas, there is a difference in how they were viewed within society, and how they were "dealt with" (as Motz elaborates on below.)
• Why there is no mention of this later in the myths, I don't know; It just seems like a pretty big and important detail that might come up again if true.
• There are no kennings, heiti or bynames - which there are many for Freyja, that show any indication of Freyja being tied to Gullveig, the first war or anything else associated with Gullveig.
• A majority of the cases for Freyja = Gullveig are shallow at best, one-liners that have very little substance to them but for whatever reason seem to be accepted as evidence. 

I think Lotte Motz summarised it perfectly in a paper titled "Gullveigs Ordeal - A New Interpretation" (this part is good, the rest of the paper really goes of the deep end):

1.2 The Evil Force of Gullveig

In Norse tradition the desire for gold is not usually viewed as an evil emotion. It was partially the desire for Fáfnir’s gold which inspired Sigurðr to the greatest of his achievements. Both words, heiðr and veig, possess mainly positive connotations. The phrase “to drink precious draughts” - drecca dýrar veigar - symbolizes all that is desirable in life. The form veig appears recurrently in women’s names. It is not likely that the punitive burning of a witch would be executed, repeatedly, in a sacred place - ‘the hall of the High one’ - the dwelling of a god. The Icelandic texts do not describe the burning of witches[1] The powers of gold are not related to the sorcerer’s craft - the seiðr.

1.3 Gullveig as an Avatar of Freyja

Freyja’s presence among the Aesir is, in fact explained. She was born in Nóatún to her father Njorðr (gyl 24). And this happened after the war between the Vanir and the Aesir had been settled and not at its beginning.

None of Freyja’s epithets - Gefn, Morn, Mardqll, Sýr, Skjqlf, Prungva - show any linguistic closeness to the names Heiðr or Gullveig. Though the goddess has some destructive aspects and wields powers of enchantment -seiðr - she is also a blótgyðja, the priestess of a temple (HK R I, ch. 4) who kept up the sacrificial rites (HKR I, ch. 10). As a priestess she would not be a witch. There is no record of Freyja’s visits to human houses nor of any aggression she has suffered by the gods. The burning of Gullveig, moreover, takes place repeatedly - opt, ósjaldan - while Freyja’s entry would be unique. And why would she be burned before she had committed any crimes?

There are some scholars who do align with the Gullveig-Angrboda theory: Simek suggests that Aurboda has "similarities with the chthonic beings." which is a bit vague, but lends to the idea of what we are discussing here, with Gullveig being suggested as a "chthonic being." Rydberg* also shares that Aurboda is Gullveig-Heidr-Angrboda-Hyrrokin - probably the earliest attestations i can find on this theory, however it is riddled with some bullshit.

To summarise, it really appears that a majority of scholars and academics really haven't given the Gullveig = Freyja theory much thought or provided any insights to their conclusions. I think its fairly obvious where my opinion sits with all of this, and I have done my best to provide what I think is much more compelling and comprehensive evidence to not only demonstrate that Gullveig is not Freyja, but that she is so much more.

*Rydberg is a divisive author, but there is some merit to his work. He often gets criticised for being a bit racist which was more of the social norm, than him being like explicitly hardcore racist, but he was a pseudo scholar in the Victorian period. He was peers with Grimm. This certainly indicated you should read his work with a critical eye. Some of it is a bit bat shit. But there is some gold buried in the dirt. But there is also a lot of dirt.

Next post in this series: Ragnarok

References
[1] Amira 1922:75-76. Under Swedish law the punishment of a witch whose sorcery caused death was death by the wheel or stoning. The west-Scandinavian sources only know banishment. The Gulaþings law also demanded the death penalty (without qualification). In Old English law (Aethelstan) women convicted of witchcraft through which a person had died would be banished or killed (unspecified). In continental Germanic law there was no death penalty for witches. The Icelandic sources cite only Gullveig as a burned witch. They also speak of the burning of a group of sorcerers who had been lured into a house by Óláf Tryggvason, which was then set on fire (HK R I, ch. 62). Such a procedure was also adopted in other acts of hostility. It was not until the end of the thirteenth century that the Inquisition included sorcery in its jurisdiction and it was not until the end of the fifteenth that the persecution and burning of witches started in earnest.