Editing Freyr (section)

==''Poetic Edda''==
[[Image:Detail from G 181.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.36|A detail from [[Gotland]] [[runestone]] [[Gotland Runic Inscription 181|G 181]], in the [[Swedish Museum of National Antiquities]] in [[Stockholm]]. The three men are interpreted as [[Odin]], [[Thor]], and Freyr.]]
Freyr is mentioned in several of the poems in the ''[[Poetic Edda]]''. The information there is largely consistent with that of the ''Prose Edda'' while each collection has some details not found in the other.

===''Völuspá''===
''[[Völuspá]]'', the best known of the Eddic poems, describes the final confrontation between Freyr and Surtr during Ragnarök.

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:Surtr fer sunnan
:með sviga lævi,
:skínn af sverði
:sól valtíva.
:Grjótbjörg gnata,
:en gífr rata,
:troða halir helveg,
:en himinn klofnar.

:Þá kømr Hlínar
:harmr annarr fram,
:er Óðinn ferr
:við úlf vega,
:en bani Belja
:bjartr at Surti,
:þá mun Friggjar
:falla angan. ''Völuspá'' 51–52, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090413124631/http://www3.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/vsp3.html EB's edition]
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:Surtr moves from the south
:with the scathe of branches:<ref>A ''[[kenning]]'' meaning "fire".</ref>
:there shines from his sword
:the sun of Gods of the Slain.
:Stone peaks clash,
:and troll wives take to the road.
:Warriors tread the path from [[Hel (realm)|Hel]],
:and heaven breaks apart.

:Then is fulfilled [[Hlín]]'s
:second sorrow,
:when Óðinn goes
:to fight with the [[Fenrisulfr|wolf]],
:and [[List of names of Freyr|Beli's slayer]],
:bright, against Surtr.
:Then shall [[Frigg]]'s
:sweet friend fall. ''Völuspá'' 50–51, [[Ursula Dronke|Dronke]]'s translation
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Some scholars have preferred a slightly different translation, in which the sun shines "from the sword of the gods". The idea is that the sword which Surtr slays Freyr with is the "sword of the gods" which Freyr had earlier bargained away for Gerðr. This would add a further layer of tragedy to the myth. [[Sigurður Nordal]] argued for this view but the possibility represented by [[Ursula Dronke]]'s translation above is equally possible.

===''Grímnismál''===
''[[Grímnismál]]'', a poem which largely consists of miscellaneous information about the gods, mentions Freyr's abode.

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:Alfheim Frey
:gáfu í árdaga
:tívar at tannféi. ''Grímnismál'' 5, GJ's edition{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
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:[[Alfheim]] the gods to Frey
:gave in days of yore
:for a tooth-gift. ''Grímnismál'' 5, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080106055516/http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic2/003_01.php Thorpe's translation]
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A [[tooth-gift]] was a gift given to an infant on the cutting of the first tooth. Since ''Alfheimr'' or ''Álfheimr'' means "World of [[Álfar]] (Elves)" the fact that Freyr should own it is one of the indications of a connection between the Vanir and the obscure Álfar. ''Grímnismál'' also mentions that the sons of [[Ívaldi]] made Skíðblaðnir for Freyr and that it is the best of ships.

===''Lokasenna''===
In the poem ''[[Lokasenna]]'', [[Loki]] accuses the gods of various misdeeds. He criticizes the Vanir for [[incest]], saying that [[Njörðr]] had Freyr with [[Sister-wife of Njörðr|his sister]]. He also states that the gods discovered Freyr and Freyja having sex together. The god [[Týr]] speaks up in Freyr's defense.

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:Freyr er beztr
:allra ballriða
:ása görðum í;
:mey hann né grætir
:né manns konu
:ok leysir ór höftum hvern. ''Lokasenna'' 37, GJ's edition{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
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:Frey is best
:of all the exalted gods
:in the Æsir's courts:
:no maid he makes to weep,
:no wife of man,
:and from bonds looses all. ''Lokasenna'' 37, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100330165232/http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic2/013_02.php Thorpe's translation]
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''Lokasenna'' also mentions that Freyr has servants called [[Byggvir]] and [[Beyla]]. They seem to have been associated with the making of bread.

===''Skírnismál''===
[[Image:The Lovesickness of Frey.jpg|thumb|"The Lovesickness of Frey" (1908) by W. G. Collingwood.]]
The courtship of Freyr and Gerðr is dealt with extensively in the poem ''[[Skírnismál]]''.
Freyr is depressed after seeing Gerðr. Njörðr and [[Skaði]] ask Skírnir to go and talk with him. Freyr reveals the cause of his grief and asks Skírnir to go to [[Jötunheimr]] to woo Gerðr for him. Freyr gives Skírnir a steed and [[Sword of Freyr|his magical sword]] for the journey.

{|
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:Mar ek þér þann gef,
:er þik um myrkvan berr
:vísan vafrloga,
:ok þat sverð,
:er sjalft mun vegask
:ef sá er horskr, er hefr. ''Skírnismál'' 9, [http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20070910215457/http%3A//www.heimskringla.no/original/edda/skirnismal.php GJ's edition]
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:My steed I lend thee
:to lift thee o'er the weird
:ring of flickering flame,
:the sword also
:which swings itself,
:if wise be he who wields it. ''Skírnismál'' 9, [https://web.archive.org/web/20060226015034/http://www.jackowitch.com/Skirnismal.html Hollander's translation]
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When Skírnir finds Gerðr he starts by offering her treasures if she will marry Freyr. When she declines he forces her to accept by threatening her with destructive magic.
{{Expand section|date=June 2008}}