Freya and many godesses of other mythologies had cats pulling her chariot. Rhea, Cybelle to name a few. These were nearly all fertillity godesses. To my knowledge the cat symbolise two aspects of the goddess. As a protector of the harvest and as capable man/beast handler. Cats came to humankind when agriculture started to develop. Wild cats came into the barns to eat the rodents feasting on the harested grains. Cats were seen as harvest protectors. and its quite hard to make cats pull your chariot. Cats instead like Dogs can hardly be commanded to do anything they do not want to do. The godess who can tame that wild feline animal is a great tamer of the beast itself. Man is in his youth wild and rambunctious. Marriage to a good woman can tame him. and meow some cats are just purfection. There is something sensual in tiger prints and many girls wair them when they are on the prowl.
Something talked about a lot on this channel, that's really interesting, is that the Norse Gods were more personalities than "God of X". This video made me realise I'd love to better understand Freya's personality (on any of them really, but she's the example here). For example, from a storytelling/character pov I feel like I funderstand say, the difference in personality between Hathor and Isis or Athena and Hekate, Hera and Persephone, etc. and yet despite really enjoying this series I don't feel I have a good sense of which of those Freya would be more akin to in personality, and actually for most of the Norse Gods, with notable exceptions, I'm not sure I could write them well as characters in a novel. That would be a really interesting series of videos to see. (Yes I could go just read the poems but how does that create future video content for our lord and saviour, JC?! 😛)
I chose to equate her to Parvati with the obsession of Shiva from Indian myth, mainly due to the characterization she has with Odr and the falling in love with divine madness/disappation. If you haven't looked into the Land of A Thousand God's stories, Parvati often changes appearance based on the role in a story. Such as becoming her fearsome counterparts Durga or Kali (Both of whom ride giant cats if I remember rightly.) With Indo-European migration, there is a chance that pieces of Freyja and the Vanir came from India, much like the Roma peoples did later in the timeline. Especially if you look up Kunlan jewelry pieces. It's where jewels are made to pop by putting thin layers of gold behind the gem. They are often layered in patterns of teardrop shapes to circle the entire neck and are gorgeous. Yes. I was trying to write Freyja and find an adequate Brisigamen. A torc was my first choice given the time period but considering how often I read it described as the chain breaking and being so fascinating that it can hide Thor, I searched through Indian bridal jewelry. Anyway, considering travelling motifs, looking to Hinduism is a good place to go for certain personality parallels.
I wonder how much of that is an accident of preservation. There might have been a Freya Cycle and maybe Snorri wasn’t interested in it or maybe it didn’t come to Iceland. Maybe it says something that Freya is not named it runes from the mediaeval period though.
@Phantom86d I mean it seems undeniably true that stories spread across the Indo-European world (although I would assume out from the stepp to both N. Europe and India rather than from India, which doesn't seem to be the migration pattern!) So I think she includes a bunch of different motifs, sort of like how memes on the Internet spread. For example, it's fun and notable that Isis has a falcon thing going on and Freya has a falcon suit but whether that's just a coincidence seems unknowable. You could equally say that the Dawn goddess character of Indo-European mythology is sort of Freyalike but that's, if anyone from Egyptian myth at all, Hathor, not Isis. My point being it probably isn't possible to say, in a neat and tidy way, which bits of Freya's mythos come from where, who she equates to and what is just a coincidence, etc.
What does archeology show re the presence of the domestic cat in Scandinavia? At what date _could_ domestic cats have been associated with 'anything Norse'?
Freyja would be pronounced with a /øy/ diphthong. And no, I don't think they are. Freyja goes back to a Proto-Germanic word *frawjǭ which becomes Frau in German.
People from Iceland wouldn't know what a lynx looks like. If the story was passed down verbally and Lynx(lo) was described as a type of large cat, I can see it turn in to just cat when told the short story. I don't know how far west the Siberian tiger's reign use to reach. Could it be an old bronze-age story passed down with a real cat in mind. The size of a horse no less! Another story made up from the last 200 minutes. your welcome ;)
Dr Crawford’s speculations on how Freyja rode two cats sounds a lot like how according to one of the gospels, Jesus rode in to Jerusalem riding 2 donkeys, which has become a hot topic recently in the biblical scholar/apologetics corner of RUclips here the past couple weeks. Apologists can’t accept that either Jesus was doing circus tricks or the author made a mistake/made something up, so they’ve been doing their best to try and say he only rode one of the donkeys, despite the text saying otherwise.
Here's where background knowledge fills in the gaps. One of the Jewish laws governed the specifics for what kind of animal could be permitted to enter through the gate considered to be the most holy. Jesus only rode one beast at a time, but he first rode one that would be denied entry through that gate, then switched animals to ride the second through the gate. It was common knowledge, and it's been preserved in other cultures, but this Western one is self-centered, where people think everything, everywhere, at every time, is exactly as we see it in our culture today, except they wore robes and relieved themselves in trenches.
@@kimfleury got any sounds on that one? I spent a few minutes searching and can’t find anything at all that mentions such a law. It makes much more sense that the author didn’t understand the usage of parallelism and thought two donkeys were necessary and it didn’t occur or didn’t matter to him that it was impossible. Also doesn’t explain why the other gospels only show a single donkey. And considering how much I’ve heard apologists talk about this recently, I find it hard to believe such a law existed because if they knew about it, they would be mentioning it.
@@ParsUmbra He said, stupidly, under a video that explains the lynx idea is silly and random. They were probably meant to be domestic cats. Twenty seconds of googling suggests Norwegian forest cats probably hadn't been bred until later in the middle ages. Why on Earth anyone would think "lynx" is beyond me.
@@fartsofdoom6491 Despite all the evidence that they couldn't have been lynxes, no one can be 100% sure when it comes to myths that are over a thousand years old. And I didn't watch the whole video when I commented this.
@@ParsUmbra Sure, but no one can be sure they weren't meant to be jaguars, either (a far-fetched comparison, but you get what I'm saying, I hope). Why make a random assumption like "They were lynxes" when there's nothing at all to suggest as much? I'm sorry for my harsh tone earlier, however.
@@fartsofdoom6491 I think this is actually not such a random assumption, since the people who created these myths, before the Viking Age, probably thought that lynxes were the largest cats there are, because they were the largest cats in Europe at that time (and still are). These cats are also described as pulling Freyja's carriage, so larger cats make a little more sense to me.
What is the difference between people making up details of the myth today, versus people making up the myth back then? From what I understand, the eddas are describing the myth from just that point in time. It could've been different before but details were lost, and it could've become different after the writing, but they didn't get documented as thoroughly again. It seems that the very nature of myth is a story of human imagination and perspective on life and the universe, and this perspective is always changing. I think taking the written sources as the only proper myth seems similar to taking old English as the only proper English. We all know that's not true, because the very nature of language is to be constantly changing. I understand that people claiming they know how the myth back then was is very questionable. But at the same time, I don't think we should dismiss people's interpretations of it today, since that's just the continuation of the myth, ever changing alongside out collective consciousness.
What about this? "KÖTTR, m., kattar, ketti, pl. kettir, acc. köttu, mod. ketti; [A. S. and Engl. cat; O. H. G. chatza; Germ. katze; Dan. kat; Swed. katt]:-a cat, originally the martin cat or weasel". What if she rides not cats but martens or weasels or stoats? And what about word "fress" in kennings of Freyja meaning not only cat but also bear? I also heard theory that Snorri just equate Freyja with Cybele who rides lions.
There are two kind of names that people claim is the names of the cats: Þófnir and Högni - However, the name Högni seems to appear in different variants in, among other things, the poetic edda, Snorre's edda and in the Flatö book. However, it is used as a name for different people and not for a cat. The cats are sometimes also called Bygul (Big gold i.e. honey) and Tjregul (Tree gold, i.e. amber). Those names come from Diana Paxson's book Brisingamen from 1984.
You should really write a book like Simek's Dictionary of Norse Mythology, you are entirely up to date and have novel views. A lot to contribute to the literature. Besides, citing videos just doesn't seem right.
As Freya is my name its intriguing to know more of its origins. My other question is your intro music. I know the band but not the track. Could you inform me of it? Thank you.
Freyja's cats being lynxes makes intuitive sense to a modern audience, I suppose. What other kind of wild cat lives in that part of the world? But of course, Snorri Sturluson knew the difference between a cat and a lynx.
I'm going to assume the Snorri comment is sarcasm. It can be hard to tell in written text. I don't think it matters if Snorri knew about Linx personally or not, because there was (and still is) a word for Linx in his language. The one that Dr.C commented on. Gaupa. If the original story had been Gaupa I think Snorri would have used that word. If he knew the meaning he would have assumed the reader does to and used it. If he didn't know the meaning he would not know to translate it to cat.
I have a question: I've seen on different websites that people claim that Tyrfing is actually Tyr's sword and its name means "Tyr's finger." I haven't found any credible sources to validate these claims and I was curious to know your opinion.
Mmm, lovely vid! Only recently saw a meme with a gorgeous Norweigian Forest cat talking about Freyja and her cats. I do like that you addressed the pronunciation differences between 'Fray-yah' and 'Froy-yah' - I wondered why you'd switched. I think I prefer the former :)
I can't beleive it. This man looks a lot like Matthew Macfadyen. Even the voice. The hat looks great but not very Icelandic. Warm even hot wishes from Iceland
Dr. Crawford - i've been watching your videos for a long time, and other than you i only watch Arith Harger who is an archeologist. My thoughts about Freya fall more toward the valkyrie and also the ideas of understanding contact with death as well as ancestors; so what i mean is the animistic idea of connection to spirit etc. i hope that made sense - not intending to make anything up but just a feeling of perhaps why it wouldn't be something popular in comparison to the 'viking image' and stories of gore that people like and embellish so much. Also keeping in mind that most people are more wary of death than they would like to admit. . . . and how about norwegian forest cats (ha ha)
I wonder if the stories associated with Western Greek astrology moved North and were reinterpreted to match Germanic mythology. The constellation of Virgo rises in the East at sunset (the beginning of a new day) during spring/ March. It is preceded by Leo, sometimes depicted as 2 lions. Lions might transfer as 2 male cats or tomcats, with no local cultural knowledge of lions. Then there is the idea that Aquarius is ‘drawn’ by Capricorn, maybe Thor drawn by goats. This would be a July constellation rising at sunset. The association might be very old, and ‘faded’ by the period of the Eddas.
@@kimfleury My understanding is that Greek astrology is an amalgam of Mesopotamian Astrology mixed with the Herculean (or Heraklesian) mythology. I don’t know the exact time line of the blending. Claudius Ptolemy wrote, ‘Tetrabiblos’ from the Greek perspective about 100CE, it was by then an established system. Depending on your dominant theory for the migration of the symbols that inspired the runes, it may be there was mythological /astrological lore that migrated as well, and was similarly integrated.
Freyja (which means "Lady" or "female ruler") has some some very interesting similarities with the goddess archetype from the Near East that goddesses like Inanna, Astare, Ishtar and several others belongs to. Not only the character it self but also function and symbols. Especially Astare was in Anatolia, Crete, Cypress and Greece at the same time as we know people from Scandinavia traded with this very region. The Nordic Bronze Age share surprisingly many cultural charecteristics with this area (some have even joked about it being an offshoot of Greek culture due to the many similarities, which are not found in central Europe). One common symbol of this "goddess archetype" is that she in the south is often depicted as flanked by two lionesses (which looks like two big cats).
My understanding is that domestic cats were not present in Norway and Sweden until the around the year 800. There is evidence they were in Denmark in the early centuries AD but rare until the Viking age. It's quite possible, then, that Freyja's cats were a relatively recent addition.
@@johanneswerner1140 I didn't know that was a thing, it looks awesome! I was more thinking of her doing the splits between the cats(somewhat jokingly) but the hungarian post seems may be more likely.
2:36 I am reminded of a similar passage in Matthew 21:1-10, where Jesus is described as riding both a donkey & a colt into Jerusalem. (I like to imaging it as some kind of a rodeo style of riding the two animals at once.)
As I understand it, that was just an old Hebrew literary device (though the gospels are in Greek) of referring to something twice in slightly different words.
@@janach1305 "When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied AND a colt with her [emphasis mine]; untie them [conjugated as plural] and bring them [the verb "lū́ō" is conjugated in a plural form as "lū́santes", referring to multiple things being untied, in this case both donkey & colt] to me....The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey AND the colt [emphaiss mine] and put their cloaks on them [the donkey and the colt], and he sat on them [the donkey and the colt]."
@@robertborland5083 Matthew describes it as a donkey AND colt, as you say, but he is probably basing this on the language in the Old Testament Book of Zachariah (9:9). "Behold your king...riding on a donkey, even on [Hebrew: ve 'al] a colt, the foal of a donkey." This is a literary device in the Old Testament, which either refers to the same thing twice using different words, or intensifies something by referring to it again with a more specific word. The author of Matthew probably misunderstood the literary device, either because their Hebrew was poor or because they read it in the Greek Septuagint. So Matthew was not using the literary device @janach1305 describes, but he likely based his two animal account on a passage that does use it.
It's a way of displaying her power. She can make two cats go in the same direction at the same time.
O Freyja, guide of the Rat's Enemy. Herder of the Mouse-Catcher.
Truth.
Thus began the rumor Freya was a witch... 🙄
Have you ever seen someone try to walk a cat? That's what I picture when I imagine Freya, her chariot, and her cats
I live with two norwegian forestcats. It is easy ... They are following you like dogs if they love you.
Please don't fall to your death Dr. Crawford. All the cougars watching you may pounce!
Dr. Crawford looking sharp
Freya and many godesses of other mythologies had cats pulling her chariot. Rhea, Cybelle to name a few. These were nearly all fertillity godesses. To my knowledge the cat symbolise two aspects of the goddess. As a protector of the harvest and as capable man/beast handler. Cats came to humankind when agriculture started to develop. Wild cats came into the barns to eat the rodents feasting on the harested grains. Cats were seen as harvest protectors. and its quite hard to make cats pull your chariot. Cats instead like Dogs can hardly be commanded to do anything they do not want to do. The godess who can tame that wild feline animal is a great tamer of the beast itself. Man is in his youth wild and rambunctious. Marriage to a good woman can tame him. and meow some cats are just purfection. There is something sensual in tiger prints and many girls wair them when they are on the prowl.
The figurine of a bare breasted , snake holding goddess was found in Crete (the island) . Atop her head, there sits a cat
Google as spirit advisor 😂. Dr Jackson is on fire
My daughter Freyja approves of this video.
the breed of cats are Norwegian forest cats, those are huge. umm how do you record a name that is ignored, cats rarely come to their names.
As a devoted follower of Freya i love this
Yes, Hail Freya
Same
It's kinda sad that I don't learn much from the comments.
They were Norwegian Forest Cats! The noblest of felines! ;-)
Something talked about a lot on this channel, that's really interesting, is that the Norse Gods were more personalities than "God of X". This video made me realise I'd love to better understand Freya's personality (on any of them really, but she's the example here). For example, from a storytelling/character pov I feel like I funderstand say, the difference in personality between Hathor and Isis or Athena and Hekate, Hera and Persephone, etc. and yet despite really enjoying this series I don't feel I have a good sense of which of those Freya would be more akin to in personality, and actually for most of the Norse Gods, with notable exceptions, I'm not sure I could write them well as characters in a novel. That would be a really interesting series of videos to see. (Yes I could go just read the poems but how does that create future video content for our lord and saviour, JC?! 😛)
I chose to equate her to Parvati with the obsession of Shiva from Indian myth, mainly due to the characterization she has with Odr and the falling in love with divine madness/disappation. If you haven't looked into the Land of A Thousand God's stories, Parvati often changes appearance based on the role in a story. Such as becoming her fearsome counterparts Durga or Kali (Both of whom ride giant cats if I remember rightly.) With Indo-European migration, there is a chance that pieces of Freyja and the Vanir came from India, much like the Roma peoples did later in the timeline.
Especially if you look up Kunlan jewelry pieces. It's where jewels are made to pop by putting thin layers of gold behind the gem. They are often layered in patterns of teardrop shapes to circle the entire neck and are gorgeous.
Yes. I was trying to write Freyja and find an adequate Brisigamen. A torc was my first choice given the time period but considering how often I read it described as the chain breaking and being so fascinating that it can hide Thor, I searched through Indian bridal jewelry.
Anyway, considering travelling motifs, looking to Hinduism is a good place to go for certain personality parallels.
I wonder how much of that is an accident of preservation. There might have been a Freya Cycle and maybe Snorri wasn’t interested in it or maybe it didn’t come to Iceland. Maybe it says something that Freya is not named it runes from the mediaeval period though.
@Phantom86d I mean it seems undeniably true that stories spread across the Indo-European world (although I would assume out from the stepp to both N. Europe and India rather than from India, which doesn't seem to be the migration pattern!) So I think she includes a bunch of different motifs, sort of like how memes on the Internet spread. For example, it's fun and notable that Isis has a falcon thing going on and Freya has a falcon suit but whether that's just a coincidence seems unknowable. You could equally say that the Dawn goddess character of Indo-European mythology is sort of Freyalike but that's, if anyone from Egyptian myth at all, Hathor, not Isis. My point being it probably isn't possible to say, in a neat and tidy way, which bits of Freya's mythos come from where, who she equates to and what is just a coincidence, etc.
Thank you thank you for confirming that I have been saying my cat Heimdall’s name correctly 🎉🎉
Thank you Dr, Crawford. I love your insights and your book is an inspiration.
I always imagined 2 Norwegian Forest Cats. I've had one of those. They are huge and have serious attitude.😊
Where did the names Bygul and Trjegul come from if not Norse sources? I heard these names when I was quite young and I’m 65 now.
What a lovely day, this is
Love this video ❤😆
Thanks for sharing
7:00 On the tail end of the eclipse you say?🐈⬛
I have a cat figurine on my altar for Freyja.
Snorry was islandic, wasn't he? So he wouldn't have known about lynxes, would he?
he went to norway a couple of times
Все отлично,господа.
What does archeology show re the presence of the domestic cat in Scandinavia? At what date _could_ domestic cats have been associated with 'anything Norse'?
I need a cat! 😩
My cat Frejya (her own spelling) seems to think this video is about her and is purring her approval.
Something I've been wondering about: Is the pronunciation of "ey" as something like /oi/ related to the German pronunciation of "eu"?
Freyja would be pronounced with a /øy/ diphthong. And no, I don't think they are. Freyja goes back to a Proto-Germanic word *frawjǭ which becomes Frau in German.
So Beegold and Treegold are 19th century imaginings? Oh well, I still like them as names.
People from Iceland wouldn't know what a lynx looks like.
If the story was passed down verbally and Lynx(lo) was described as a type of large cat, I can see it turn in to just cat when told the short story.
I don't know how far west the Siberian tiger's reign use to reach. Could it be an old bronze-age story passed down with a real cat in mind. The size of a horse no less!
Another story made up from the last 200 minutes. your welcome ;)
Interesting that old Norse for lynx ends in a prrrrr.
Dr Crawford’s speculations on how Freyja rode two cats sounds a lot like how according to one of the gospels, Jesus rode in to Jerusalem riding 2 donkeys, which has become a hot topic recently in the biblical scholar/apologetics corner of RUclips here the past couple weeks. Apologists can’t accept that either Jesus was doing circus tricks or the author made a mistake/made something up, so they’ve been doing their best to try and say he only rode one of the donkeys, despite the text saying otherwise.
Here's where background knowledge fills in the gaps. One of the Jewish laws governed the specifics for what kind of animal could be permitted to enter through the gate considered to be the most holy. Jesus only rode one beast at a time, but he first rode one that would be denied entry through that gate, then switched animals to ride the second through the gate. It was common knowledge, and it's been preserved in other cultures, but this Western one is self-centered, where people think everything, everywhere, at every time, is exactly as we see it in our culture today, except they wore robes and relieved themselves in trenches.
@@kimfleury got any sounds on that one? I spent a few minutes searching and can’t find anything at all that mentions such a law. It makes much more sense that the author didn’t understand the usage of parallelism and thought two donkeys were necessary and it didn’t occur or didn’t matter to him that it was impossible. Also doesn’t explain why the other gospels only show a single donkey. And considering how much I’ve heard apologists talk about this recently, I find it hard to believe such a law existed because if they knew about it, they would be mentioning it.
Tall tiger 24
Old Norse ASMAR
Kuchli tun 62
HEIL FREYJA
Coincidentally, the ad of this video for me was for cat food
I wonder if her cats were what the Norwegian Forest Cats are today?
That or lynx
@@ParsUmbra He said, stupidly, under a video that explains the lynx idea is silly and random. They were probably meant to be domestic cats. Twenty seconds of googling suggests Norwegian forest cats probably hadn't been bred until later in the middle ages. Why on Earth anyone would think "lynx" is beyond me.
@@fartsofdoom6491 Despite all the evidence that they couldn't have been lynxes, no one can be 100% sure when it comes to myths that are over a thousand years old. And I didn't watch the whole video when I commented this.
@@ParsUmbra Sure, but no one can be sure they weren't meant to be jaguars, either (a far-fetched comparison, but you get what I'm saying, I hope). Why make a random assumption like "They were lynxes" when there's nothing at all to suggest as much? I'm sorry for my harsh tone earlier, however.
@@fartsofdoom6491 I think this is actually not such a random assumption, since the people who created these myths, before the Viking Age, probably thought that lynxes were the largest cats there are, because they were the largest cats in Europe at that time (and still are). These cats are also described as pulling Freyja's carriage, so larger cats make a little more sense to me.
What is the difference between people making up details of the myth today, versus people making up the myth back then?
From what I understand, the eddas are describing the myth from just that point in time. It could've been different before but details were lost, and it could've become different after the writing, but they didn't get documented as thoroughly again.
It seems that the very nature of myth is a story of human imagination and perspective on life and the universe, and this perspective is always changing.
I think taking the written sources as the only proper myth seems similar to taking old English as the only proper English. We all know that's not true, because the very nature of language is to be constantly changing.
I understand that people claiming they know how the myth back then was is very questionable. But at the same time, I don't think we should dismiss people's interpretations of it today, since that's just the continuation of the myth, ever changing alongside out collective consciousness.
Freya was only 28 centimeters tall.
I've seen a bunch of art of her having giant cats but this is much funnier
Hahahahha
What about this? "KÖTTR, m., kattar, ketti, pl. kettir, acc. köttu, mod. ketti; [A. S. and Engl. cat; O. H. G. chatza; Germ. katze; Dan. kat; Swed. katt]:-a cat, originally the martin cat or weasel". What if she rides not cats but martens or weasels or stoats?
And what about word "fress" in kennings of Freyja meaning not only cat but also bear? I also heard theory that Snorri just equate Freyja with Cybele who rides lions.
There are two kind of names that people claim is the names of the cats:
Þófnir and Högni - However, the name Högni seems to appear in different variants in, among other things, the poetic edda, Snorre's edda and in the Flatö book. However, it is used as a name for different people and not for a cat.
The cats are sometimes also called Bygul (Big gold i.e. honey) and Tjregul (Tree gold, i.e. amber). Those names come from Diana Paxson's book Brisingamen from 1984.
You should really write a book like Simek's Dictionary of Norse Mythology, you are entirely up to date and have novel views. A lot to contribute to the literature. Besides, citing videos just doesn't seem right.
I have often wondered the juxtaposition of Freyja riding her cats vs. her battle boar (lover). Do you have a theory about this @ Dr. Crawford?
I’ve seen images where they’re gigantic Russian Blues.
I thought the cat where depicted as well on the Oseberg sledge ?
As Freya is my name its intriguing to know more of its origins.
My other question is your intro music. I know the band but not the track. Could you inform me of it?
Thank you.
Now I want to find an excuse to use Freyja's cats in my urban fantasy series (though I'm certain I'd be far from the first - it sounds fun).
Freyja's cats being lynxes makes intuitive sense to a modern audience, I suppose. What other kind of wild cat lives in that part of the world? But of course, Snorri Sturluson knew the difference between a cat and a lynx.
I'm going to assume the Snorri comment is sarcasm. It can be hard to tell in written text. I don't think it matters if Snorri knew about Linx personally or not, because there was (and still is) a word for Linx in his language. The one that Dr.C commented on. Gaupa. If the original story had been Gaupa I think Snorri would have used that word. If he knew the meaning he would have assumed the reader does to and used it. If he didn't know the meaning he would not know to translate it to cat.
Always thought that Freya’s chariot was drawn by cats , like giant himalayans
I have a question: I've seen on different websites that people claim that Tyrfing is actually Tyr's sword and its name means "Tyr's finger." I haven't found any credible sources to validate these claims and I was curious to know your opinion.
Tyrfing actually means something like “From the turf”. It might also be related to Tervingi, which was the name of a Gothic tribe
@@louismarlow53 In Nafnaþulur, it is translated as "Tarry", though that might just be the Icelandic translation.
Mmm, lovely vid! Only recently saw a meme with a gorgeous Norweigian Forest cat talking about Freyja and her cats. I do like that you addressed the pronunciation differences between 'Fray-yah' and 'Froy-yah' - I wondered why you'd switched. I think I prefer the former :)
I can't beleive it. This man looks a lot like Matthew Macfadyen. Even the voice. The hat looks great but not very Icelandic. Warm even hot wishes from Iceland
Dr. Crawford - i've been watching your videos for a long time, and other than you i only watch Arith Harger who is an archeologist. My thoughts about Freya fall more toward the valkyrie and also the ideas of understanding contact with death as well as ancestors; so what i mean is the animistic idea of connection to spirit etc. i hope that made sense - not intending to make anything up but just a feeling of perhaps why it wouldn't be something popular in comparison to the 'viking image' and stories of gore that people like and embellish so much. Also keeping in mind that most people are more wary of death than they would like to admit. . . . and how about norwegian forest cats (ha ha)
Reminds me of the argument about whether Jesus rides two donkeys into Jerusalem at the same time in the book of Matthew
Might there be a link with Shashthi , a Hindu godess , riding a cat and worshiped on a 6th day?
What's old Norse for "Death Mittens" and "Sabre Tooth"? 🤔🤣
Sabre-tooth is "sverðköttur" in icelandic ("swordcat"") 😊
❤I just bought two of your books...can't wait until they here...Definitely going to read them outloud.
I read somewhere that her cats are called "gib-cats" - what is that and what is its source?
I wonder if the stories associated with Western Greek astrology moved North and were reinterpreted to match Germanic mythology. The constellation of Virgo rises in the East at sunset (the beginning of a new day) during spring/ March. It is preceded by Leo, sometimes depicted as 2 lions. Lions might transfer as 2 male cats or tomcats, with no local cultural knowledge of lions. Then there is the idea that Aquarius is ‘drawn’ by Capricorn, maybe Thor drawn by goats. This would be a July constellation rising at sunset. The association might be very old, and ‘faded’ by the period of the Eddas.
When did Greek astrology arise?
@@kimfleury My understanding is that Greek astrology is an amalgam of Mesopotamian Astrology mixed with the Herculean (or Heraklesian) mythology. I don’t know the exact time line of the blending. Claudius Ptolemy wrote, ‘Tetrabiblos’ from the Greek perspective about 100CE, it was by then an established system. Depending on your dominant theory for the migration of the symbols that inspired the runes, it may be there was mythological /astrological lore that migrated as well, and was similarly integrated.
What? You've never surfed on two cats before?
I don''t think there is a still in this video where his forehead is not wrinkled while looking up.
Cat surfing, no doubt about it
Crazy snake 40
Wondering eagle 16
Freyja (which means "Lady" or "female ruler") has some some very interesting similarities with the goddess archetype from the Near East that goddesses like Inanna, Astare, Ishtar and several others belongs to. Not only the character it self but also function and symbols. Especially Astare was in Anatolia, Crete, Cypress and Greece at the same time as we know people from Scandinavia traded with this very region. The Nordic Bronze Age share surprisingly many cultural charecteristics with this area (some have even joked about it being an offshoot of Greek culture due to the many similarities, which are not found in central Europe).
One common symbol of this "goddess archetype" is that she in the south is often depicted as flanked by two lionesses (which looks like two big cats).
My understanding is that domestic cats were not present in Norway and Sweden until the around the year 800. There is evidence they were in Denmark in the early centuries AD but rare until the Viking age.
It's quite possible, then, that Freyja's cats were a relatively recent addition.
Excellent video, appreciate the real info over the woo stuff. Thanks
Bruv! lol. She is totally surfing them. In my head anyway. Sköl
😈
2:43 Obviously, she does a Van Damme.
Hungarian post riding? That's what it's called here (with horses...)
@@johanneswerner1140 I didn't know that was a thing, it looks awesome! I was more thinking of her doing the splits between the cats(somewhat jokingly) but the hungarian post seems may be more likely.
@@BlackReaper0 yeah the van Damme would indeed look TFA (totally f'ing awesome)!
2:36 I am reminded of a similar passage in Matthew 21:1-10, where Jesus is described as riding both a donkey & a colt into Jerusalem. (I like to imaging it as some kind of a rodeo style of riding the two animals at once.)
As I understand it, that was just an old Hebrew literary device (though the gospels are in Greek) of referring to something twice in slightly different words.
Or Jean Claude van Damme-style
@@janach1305 "When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied AND a colt with her [emphasis mine]; untie them [conjugated as plural] and bring them [the verb "lū́ō" is conjugated in a plural form as "lū́santes", referring to multiple things being untied, in this case both donkey & colt] to me....The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey AND the colt [emphaiss mine] and put their cloaks on them [the donkey and the colt], and he sat on them [the donkey and the colt]."
@@ACruelPicture Exactly.
@@robertborland5083 Matthew describes it as a donkey AND colt, as you say, but he is probably basing this on the language in the Old Testament Book of Zachariah (9:9). "Behold your king...riding on a donkey, even on [Hebrew: ve 'al] a colt, the foal of a donkey." This is a literary device in the Old Testament, which either refers to the same thing twice using different words, or intensifies something by referring to it again with a more specific word. The author of Matthew probably misunderstood the literary device, either because their Hebrew was poor or because they read it in the Greek Septuagint. So Matthew was not using the literary device @janach1305 describes, but he likely based his two animal account on a passage that does use it.