Freyja - Etymology

Etymology

The name Freyja is in fact a title meaning "lady", from Proto-Germanic *frawjōn, cognate with West Frisian frou, Dutch vrouw, Low German Fro, Fru, German Frau. The theonym Freyja was thus an epithet in origin, replacing a personal name that is now unattested. The connection with and possible earlier identification of Freyja with Frigg in the Proto-Germanic period (Frigg and Freyja origin hypothesis) is a matter of scholarly debate.

Like the name of the group of gods to which Freyja belongs, the Vanir, the name Freyja is not attested outside of Scandinavia, as opposed to the name of the goddess Frigg, who is attested as a goddess common among all Germanic peoples, and whose name is reconstructed as Proto-Germanic *Frijjō. Proof for the existence of a common Germanic goddess once known as *Fraujon does not exist, but scholars have commented that this may simply be due to lack of evidence.

Regarding a Freyja-Frigg origin hypothesis, scholar Stephan Grundy comments that "the problem of whether Frigg or Freyja may have been a single goddess originally is a difficult one, made more so by the scantiness of pre-Viking Age references to Germanic goddesses, and the diverse quality of the sources. The best that can be done is to survey the arguments for and against their identity, and to see how well each can be supported."

See also: List of names of Freyja

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