Mystic South

Far too often in the study of ancient Germanic paganism it is presumed that the late Icelandic Eddas should form the baseline of our understandings of Germanic myth and religion. Yet, this paper will seek to show through the example of the goddess Frig, that reliance on the Norse understandings can hinder exploration of earlier branches of heathenry. It is ironic to admit, but the Norse Frigg obscures more than she informs about the more ancient roots of this goddess. The goddess that was Friia in Old High German, Frig in Old English, and Frea in Lombardic has seemingly little in common with the Norse Frigg. This paper seeks to explore and uncover some of the older origins of the goddess Frig in order to better be able to provide a reconstruction of what she would have been seen as in the other non-Norse branches of Germanic paganism.