A Womanist Interpretation of the myth behind Freyja's Brísingamen
- Kyleigh B
- Feb 27, 2024
- 6 min read
We will be sharing an abridged version of the myth of how Freyja came to own the Brísingamen necklace: a beautiful golden/amber necklace that is said to make the wearer irresistible. Other versions/tellings and interpretations can be found in the reference links below. First we will recount a nutshell-sized version of the Brísingamen myth, and then we will "break it down" in order to understand the moral of the myth. All spiritual and/or religious mythic stories, like the parables of Jesus, were designed to teach us moral and cultural lessons, and were almost never designed to be taken at "face value".
Please keep in mind that we should not (really, cannot) use our modern understanding of moral, social, and cultural norms to interpret the meaning of this (or any other) myths. Our understanding of life and social cues would not line up well with that of the ancient world, so reading a myth with little to no understanding of the historical and cultural context from which it was created will only lead to misinterpreted messages.
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One day, Freyja is minding her business, leading her cats around as they pull her chariot across the sky. At some point Freyja looks down and sees the most beautiful, brilliant, bejeweled amber necklace in the hands of a crafty dwarf (possibly from the Brísingr tribe) and his kinsmen (4 total). She had to have it! She flew down and told them she had all kinds of silver and gold, and she would pay whatever they wanted for it. Being dwarves, they already had plenty of gold and silver, and they first said it was not for sale. Freyja had to have this exquisitely divine necklace, and she questioned the dwarves; there must be something they wanted, and she had the power to get whatever it was. The 4 dwarves talked for a little while, and eventually decided on their price: they wanted Freyja to spend one night with each of them, and then should could have the necklace. Freyja was not excited about these terms, but she did want that necklace, and she decided that 4 nights with ugly dwarves was worth a lifetime of having the most alluring necklace ever created.
After this, Freyja was ALWAYS seen wearing this necklace.
(Some versions of the story go on to talk about how Loki found out about how Freyja got the necklace, and how Odin has him steal it from her, in order to force her to do his bidding -- which was basically starting never-ending wars, that can only end once Christian soldiers slay the "pagans" and so on and so forth. I will explain below why I stopped the story where I did.)
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How fun! The most beautiful necklace in the world, and all she had to do was sleep with 4 little people... Ok, ok. We grew up in a Christian church, so we know how it sounds: this chick just whored herself out for a gold chain. She thought so little of herself, that she sold her body for a piece of jewelry. These were some of our initial thoughts when we first heard this story too, but we had to take a step back and listen to a historian describe the elements of the story in order to understand the intended message.
First and foremost, sexuality and sexual freedom is not the same across cultures, so we had to accept that just because the act of un-married sex is involved in the story, that does not mean that shame is involved. From a Christian perspective, sex is always associated with shame and sin, unless it is between a married couple, period. So first, we had to remind ourselves that neither Freyja, nor the ancient Norse people, were Christians (yes, eventually Christianity came, but it was not around when this story was first created and shared). This means Freyja does not = whore.
Second (and really this could have been first) Freyja is like, the best shieldmaiden. If she feels like she is being disrespected, she can cut that person down to size, literally. She is not weak nor meek. She does not need a man to swoop in and protect her. If she had wanted to she legit legit could have killed those dwarves, taken the necklace, and kept it moving, but she chose to honor their price instead.
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Keeping these 2 things in mind, we can explore the actual message behind the myth: God's love of the earth, humans, and human creativity. We know it seems a little farfetched but stay with us.
As Freyja is flying above the earth in her chariot, she spots the most beautiful necklace: a necklace that is created by dwarves (earth dwellers, might as well say humans), and that is created with the beautiful creations of the earth (jewels/crystals and precious metals). This beauty that was created with the gifts of Mother Earth by the dedicated and talented hands of the human craftsmen, and it deserves Freyja's love and respect. This is why she offers to pay any price, and it is also why she seems to pay one of the highest of prices (according to our strict Christian sensibilities). The dwarves know that they are taking a risk by asking Freyja to "spend the night" with each of them. They know about her battel skills, but they also know about her beauty, and you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.... And in the end, Freyja knows her strength (and she knows they know her strength), but she also knows her worth: she is the most beautiful of the goddesses, so a request like this from these ugly but talented dwarves really only makes sense, and she does enjoy sex... (although technically, most sources don't literally say they had sex, they only "spent the night together"). Everybody involved is fully aware that these ugly dwarves would never have a chance at a night alone with Freyja under any other circumstances. In the end, Freyja makes the conscious and fully informed decision to accept the price named by the dwarves. She decides to show them the respect of honoring their request, and by doing so she is showing reverence for the dwarves and their talent, as well as the beauty of the gifts that Mother Earth creates.
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The title says this is a "Womanist interpretation," and it is for several reasons, most prominent of which is the authors are Womanists. It can also be considered a womanist interpretation because of the movement's desire to truly understand and cultivate a deep sense of knowing; we discussed our initial thoughts, which are still (and may always be) influenced by Christian beliefs, but we also intentionally looked deeper into the historical and cultural context of the myth, in order to try and truly understand it, as opposed to leaving it at "she just threw it back 4 times for a necklace, what a ho". Finally, we consider this a womanist interpretation because of the ultimate message that lies within this legend: God loves God's creation, and this truth is evident in the beauty produced by the earth (flowers, gemstones, etc.), and God loves when we create beautiful art from the beauty God provides us through Mother Earth (in this case, the artwork was a necklace, but art has to many forms to count).
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For those of you who are not familiar with the term "Womanist" at all, think of a Feminist who advocates for the whole family, and those of use who choose not to have families, and all genders and sexual orientations and ethnicities (as opposed to advocating for women alone, as if women exist in a vacuum, and mostly for one ethnicity... but we digress). Here is a definition as described by Alice Walker in "In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose":
1. From womanish. (Opp. of “girlish,” i.e., frivolous, irresponsible, not serious.) A black feminist or feminist of color. From the black folk expression of mothers to female children, “you acting womanish,” i.e., like a woman. Usually referring to outrageous, audacious, courageous or willful behavior. Wanting to know more and in greater depth than is considered “good” for one. Interested in grown up doings. Acting grown up. Being grown up. Interchangeable with another black folk expression: “You trying to be grown.” Responsible. In charge. Serious. 2. Also: A woman who loves other women, sexually and/or nonsexually. Appreciates and prefers women’s culture, women’s emotional flexibility (values tears as natural counterbalance of laughter), and women’s strength. Sometimes loves individual men, sexually and/or nonsexually. Committed to survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female. Not a separatist, except periodically, for health. Traditionally a universalist, as in: “Mama, why are we brown, pink, and yellow, and our cousins are white, beige and black?” Ans. “Well, you know the colored race is just like a flower garden, with every color flower represented.” Traditionally capable, as in: “Mama, I’m walking to Canada and I’m taking you and a bunch of other slaves with me.” Reply: “It wouldn’t be the first time.” 3. Loves music. Loves dance. Loves the moon. Loves the Spirit. Loves love and food and roundness. Loves struggle. Loves the Folk. Loves herself. Regardless. 4. Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender
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References/Sources:
Website & Blog links:
Deconstructing Brisingamen – Silver and Gold (wordpress.com) — (this blog describes the Christian influence/impact better than we did)
YouTube Videos about Brisingamen:
I want to invait to my site https://vikingthunder.com/