Yngvi-Freyr and His Descendants and Heathen Connection to the Natural World

Hugo Hamilton (1802–1871) - Hamilton, Hugo. Hearthside Blog. Freyr. Ing. Yngvi-Freyr. Ynglings.1830. Teckningar ur Skandinaviens Äldre Historia. Stockholm: Gjöthström & Magnusson.

I have been thinking a lot about Freyr this year, in association with the summer season, as well as with the Ar year and its connection with Fertility. Also, as part of the Aun/Unn cycle of renewal and the focus that many Heathens are taking on the resetting of things to do with our Environment.

May is the perfect time to discuss Freyr. In the Nordic Animist Year by Rune Rasmussen, St Eric’s Day in May is equated with Freyr and a ritual similar to the Procession of Nerthus, in which a statue of St Eric (Freyr) is carted around the land in order to bring fertility to it. It mentions that Freyr is the patron god of the Ynglings, but who is Freyr and who are the Ynglings?

Freyr is a complicated figure in the Lore. He is described as a Vanir god, living among the Aesir, and at times he is also called Alfar or King of the Alfs. It is even suggested that Freyr is actually a man. Freyr has many names. He is known as Freyr or Frey, but also as Ing or Yngve. Sometimes as Yngvi-Freyr. (And this is all without including any kennings!) He is also equated at times with King Frodi.

The Ynglings were a dynasty of Swedish/Norwegian kings. Their stories are recorded in the Yngling Saga and the Islendingabok, but also in Beowulf where they are referred to as the Scylfings.The Ynglings claimed to be descended from Freyr and well as Njordr. The Fairhair Dynasty is also said to be descended from the Ynglings. Snorri mentions the Ynglings as well in Skáldskaparmál as Skilfings. (Of course, Snorri also tries to make Yngvi into the son of Odin, and Odin into a man rather than a god.) Saxo too describes the Ynglings at the Battle of Bråvalla:

"These were kindred of the god Frey, and most faithful witnesses to the gods [...] they were men ready of hand, quick in counsel, and very close friends of Ring. They likewise held the god Frey to be the founder of their race."

So how did Freyr come to have so many names? The name Ing derives from the Proto-Germanic Ingwaz, so it is likely that Ing or some variation was the original name for Freyr. It is possible the meaning of this name was "ancestor" suggesting that people of that time and place (the Ingvaeone) believed to be descended from Ing, much as the Ynglings did. This West Germanic tribe lived along the coast of the North Sea, in parts of what we now know as Denmark, Germany, and The Netherlands. “Ing” has other possible meanings as well and is often associated with “spear” or even “groin” which is perhaps suggestive of the nature of Ing as a deity. It seems the name shifted from Ing to Yngve, and later Freyr. Since Freyr just means “Lord” perhaps it was meant as a title for Ing, rather than an additional name but over time as the language shifted, that was forgotten.

Tacitus tells a different and interesting story about the Ingvaeone people in which a god called Tuisto (Twin) gives birth to Mannus (possibly another god) and that Mannus gave birth to three tribes, including the Ingvaeone. Ing here is described as the Son of Man[nus] and this has interesting implications later for Freyr being equated with Christ.

Even if you are not familiar with the name Ing/Yngve for Freyr, you have likely heard Ing as the name of a rune and you will see that its associations are similar to those of Freyr. The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem mentions Ing as well:

ᛝ Ing ƿæs ærest mid Eástdenum

geseƿen secgum, oð he síððan e[á]st

ofer ƿæg geƿát. ƿæn æfter ran.

þus Heardingas þone hæle nemdon.

"ᛝ Ing was first amidst the East Danes

seen by men, until he eastward

over the sea departed; his wagon ran after.

Thus the Heardings named that hero."

Freyr is a god of peace and pleasure, as well as being connected to agriculture and sacral kingship. Words to describe what Freyr is about include virility, prosperity, protection, fertility, sunshine, rain, brightness, and fair weather. He is often depicted with phallic iconography. Many places and people have names derived from Ing or Frey. If not Son of Man, he is definitely Friend of Man, because there are several attestations of him befriending individual men, not just tribes. His associations with sunshine and his association with carts makes some speculate he might have initially been a solar deity. This is not completely unfounded as it is possible to guess that Freyr’s mother was Nerthus, an Earth goddess also associated with carts and connected to the seasons.

You may still be wondering about the connection to Frodi. There is a story that is told as Freyr in one account and as Frodi in another. In both cases Freyr/Frodi ruled over the Swedish people and during that reign the land was prosperous. Then Freyr/Frodi dies and the priests keep it secret and continue to collect gold for Freyr/Frodi as taxes after his death. They then pour the gold into his mound and prosperity continues on the land. Once it became known that Freyr/Frodi was dead they believed the land would remain prosperous so long as he remained in Sweden.

So it is difficult to draw many decisive conclusions about Freyr. I am definitely of the belief he is a god, not a man, but whether he is Aesir/Vanir/Alfar is hard to determine and maybe we try too hard to draw clean lines between categories in modern Heathenry. To me it seems likely that his name is actually Ing, and Freyr is his title. He is described as “Friend of Man” as well as “Protector of Man” and it seems like people experienced very real relationships with him in the past on a very personal level. He is very different from the many other war-like gods we have in Heathenry. What we mostly know about him is his nature, and he is definitely a god you want to build relations with since he helps with agriculture and more generally, prosperity. I don’t think that people are really descended from Freyr in a literal sense. Like those kings who claim to be descended from Odin, it is a claim to power that is being made, and it is not useful to us to claim to be descended from a god in modern times. That said, his association with the word “ancestor” should perhaps have us reexamining what we know about Freyr and how he might be connected with ancestry, and our connections with other-than-humans. Perhaps we should think about how we are descended from the Earth or how our Lore talks about us coming from the trees, and what sort of ancestor roles exist there. Instead of trying to wear Freyr or other gods as ancestor badges of honour, we can instead see ancestry as how we are connected to all things.

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Yngvi-Freyr and His Descendants and Heathen Connection to the Natural World

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