The Great Lunar Cycle: The Horse Twins and the Grail: Part 7 of 12
Freyr's Horse Twin Characteristics
Does Freyr then match any of these common Horse Twin elements? He is brother to the centrally important (possibly Dawn) goddess Freyja, just as Aengus is brother of the centrally important Dawn goddess Brigid. A full explication of the theory that Freyja could be the Dawn goddess is beyond our scope and was first suggested by Angriff along with Redbeard, to be elaborated in the future. Our framework does not rely on Freyja necessarily being the Dawn goddess, as it is perfectly possible for a different goddess to be in this same role in the Norse myths without disrupting the overall structure. We merely leave open the very real possibility that Freyja will be shown on a deeper level to have a connection to the mythos usually attached to the Dawn goddess. Among other things, Angriff points to the shining necklace brisingamen which is stolen from Freyja, and which would occupy the same position as the “golden glow of Dawn and Sovereignty” or “Khvarenah” that we discuss elsewhere, which in other branches is embodied by the stolen, adulterous goddess who must be retrieved by the Mitraic god or hero. Other evidence brought forward by Angriff includes the fact that the tears of Greek Dawn Goddess Eos form the morning dew, Irish Dawn Goddess Brigid first invents keening when she weeps for her dead son, and that Freyja is said to cry tears of red-gold, the color of the sunrise. She is said to have two daughters, Hnoss and Gersemi, whose names are variations on the meaning “treasure,” while Vedic Ushas is said to be she who is “rich in spoil,” “wondrously opulent,” and who “rules all wealth and treasures” (RV 7.75.5-6). It is also interesting that, in the same verse, Ushas is called “consumer of our youth,” while Freyja is known as “posessor of the slain” (Skaldskaparmal, 20). Ushas is “a skilled huntress who wastes away the lives of people” in RV 1.92, and is “a constant reminder of people's limited time on earth” (RV 7.77) (David Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses, 6-8). We see the theme of adultery and promiscuity in the figure of Helen, while it also is present in Freyja's mythos. One must wonder where the Norse cognate of this central Indo-European goddess, the Dawn goddess, would otherwise have gone if she is not Freyja, as certainly no better candidate presents herself. Freyr is close to everyday human concerns like weddings, the generation of fecundity, the harvest, and general prosperity, suggesting a third-function nature in line with that of the Horse Twins. He is a god of fertility, as can be seen from his famous ithyphallic idol from Broddenbjerg, Jutland (535-520 BCE), and Adam of Bremen's description of “Frikko,” another name for Freyr. As is typical for Horse Twins, he is associated with sailing, being the owner of the famous ship Skíðblaðnir, which always has a favorable wind and is known as the best of all ships. This ship was made for him by the alfar smiths known as The Sons of Ivaldi (Grimnismal 43), while the Asvins' vehicle was made for them by the semidivine smiths known as the Rbhus (RV.1.20.3; 1.161.6;10.39.12). The Sons of Ivaldi and the Rbhus can be confidently identified as they have been shown to share a parallel myth designated “The Contest of the Artists,” wherein they must compete with other craftsmen. In the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, Ing, a version of the original name of Freyr, is said to go “over the wave,” with his wagon following after. Freyr was also connected with a horse cult, and kept sacred horses at Thrandheim. His own horse is named Blóðughófi, meaning “bloody hoof,” and he is referred to as Atriði, meaning “rider.” In Lokasenna verse 37 he is called best of all “ball-riða,” an unclear term often translated as “brave riders.” In the Rig Veda, one of the Asvins is even addressed with the title surih, which can translate to several things including "lord" (Rig Veda, I.181), while Freyr's very name is simply a title meaning "lord."
Freyr is a warrior, known to do battle with Surtr at Ragnarok. In Skirnismal he is called folkvaldi goda, meaning 'commander of the gods in battle.’ These epithets remind us of Aengus, also a commander “of the battle squadrons,” who is “expert in arms” as Freyr is “battle-skilled,” and who is “red armed” while Freyr's horse is bloody-hoofed. As we have said in another chapter, the Horse Twins maintained a consistent connection to warrior skill, this association being brought to perhaps its highest point in Greece and Rome, with the Spartan army carrying the dόkana, symbol of the Twins, before them during war. The Dioscuri were beloved by the Roman cavalry, and were said to have lead the legions of the commonwealth in the battle of Lake Regillus as their commanders. While Freyr has the golden-bristled boar Gullinbursti, which is said to be his fylgja and which is fashioned for him by the dwarves, the proposed Greek Horse Twin incarnation Diomedes' golden armor (blessed by Athena) and sword are both said to have on them the image of a boar. So close is the boar associated with Freyr, that sacrifices to him during the harvest festival took this form. Thus Diomedes is the horse-breaker who wears the boar symbol. The Asvins, though known as horsemen, are also centrally depicted as riding “humped cattle,” as Eliade points out, referencing R. Otto (Eliade, Patterns, 97; R. Otto, Gottheit d. Arier, 76).
While the scholar Shapiro calls the Horse Twins founders of cities, and while Hengist and Horsa, for instance, actually do not found Kent but take it over and become the root of its Freyr or Ingvi-Freyr is known as the founder of various tribes and royal lines: the Ingvaeones, the Ynglings, etc. Even Freyr being given the gift of Alfheimr has a vague similarity to Aengus' inheritance (by trickery) of the great burial mound and otherworld locale Brugh na Boinne. And of course, originating as a Vanir and outsider to the society of the Aesir but eventually joining the Aesir and becoming one of the most revered gods parallels the Asvins' ascent to godhood via the attaining of the soma and the joining of the society of the higher gods with Chyavana's help. Just as the Horse Twins commonly begin as a lower rank of divinity, but gain equality with the higher gods and gain access to the sacrifice, so Freyr (with Njörðr) becomes a part of the community of the Aesir after the Aesir-Vanir war, and likewise becomes priest of the sacrifice. As we have demonstrated, this myth is perhaps the central myth of the Horse Twins generally, and the fact of Freyr's central role in it is a strong argument in itself for Freyr's identification as a Horse Twin. This structural argument combined with the many Horse Twin characteristics enumerated above makes the identification difficult to deny.
The Fathers of the Horse Twins
Both of the proposed Scandinavian and Irish Horse Twin gods, Aengus and Freyr, are similar in the particular nature of their close relationships with their fathers as well. We know that Freyr is the son of Njörðr, a god who, like the Dagda, father of the Irish Horse Twin Aengus, is associated with wind and with the fertility of the land. While Njörðr and the Dagda are not the same gods, we can see the similarities between them that caused them to be given the same roles in the wooing tales in relation to their respective sons. In the wooing tales, the Dagda and Njörðr each have the very same role of setting things in motion like a presiding paternal force. From the very beginning of Skirnismal we read, “Skirnir was the name of Freyr's servant; Njörðr bade him ask speech of Freyr” (Skirnismal). It is Njörðr who initiates the main action of the poem, in the prose introduction, involving the crucial servant Skirnir in the story and giving him the task of speaking to Freyr in his lovesickness. After that, this father figure steps out of the poem. “Dream of Oengus” likewise begins with the intervention of the father, the Dagda. After relating how Oengus saw Caer in a dream, fell lovesick and was tended to by a doctor, the tale next describes how they brought the Dagda in for help. “'No help has been found for him,' said Boand. 'Then send for the Dagdae, and let him come and speak with his son'” (Dream of Oengus). Whereas Njörðr sends the servant Skirnir to speak with and aid Freyr, the Dagda is sent by Boand to speak to and aid Oengus. Then Dagda in his turn sends Bodb Dearg to search for the girl. In each tale, Njörðr or the Dagda acts as the ruling fatherly presence, setting things in motion and helping Freyr, Aengus or Midir, usually by sending an intermediary helper but also (in Dagda’s case) by direct interventions.
As the paternalistic “old man” figure in his myth, Indian Chyavana also stands in a similar position to the Asvins as Njörðr does to Freyr. Chyavana is an aged man and the final transformation in the water renews his youth and beauty. For Njörðr, the water (of his ocean home) has only made his feet appear young and beautiful. He has not truly become like to the god Baldr, but nonetheless has been imparted a youthful appearance by the waters.
The central key to the comparison of these father-son relationships, however, is the realization that it is Aengus’ foster father who is the true direct cognate of Freyr’s father. As has been demonstrated, Midir, foster father of Aengus, has the very same mythos as Njörðr, that mythos we have designated by its Rig Vedic name “Surya’s Bridal,” the marriage of the “Soma” moon god and the daughter of the sun. Thus, although the Dagda himself overlaps with Midir and Njörðr, it is Aengus' role as foster son of Midir that shows most clearly his parallel with Freyr, son of Njörðr. Both the Norse and Irish branches have the same moon god as either father or foster father of the Horse Twin, and this fact needs to be seen clearly.
What this shows is that there was somewhat of a controversy in Northwestern Europe about who the true father of the 'Divine Son' Horse Twin was, whether Moon God or Father Sky. From an astrological perspective this may come down to the fact that, as the morning star or sunrise god, the 'Divine Son' Horse Twin could be viewed as the son of the moon (due to succeeding it in the sky or due to rising out of the sea that is its domain) or as the son of Father Sky, first appearing, as it does, lighting up the vault of heaven in early morning. Perhaps the comparison of the Irish and Norse cases can be taken as evidence that these two fathers may have been seen as sharing this parentage in a metaphysical sense, one as the Horse Twin’s foster father, one as his true father, and that the Celtic and Germanic branches ultimately came to slightly different conclusions as to which father was believed to have primacy. Aengus does not even know his true parentage until he eventually forces Midir to tell him. This means that, until he is a young man, Aengus, cognate of Freyr, believes or lives as if he is the son of Midir, cognate of Njörðr. We must also note as a matter of curiosity, without drawing any conclusions or considering it important to our overall argument, that Yngvi-Freyr is called a son of Oðinn in Snorri's Prologue to Gylfaginning, and that this parentage of Yngvi-Freyr occurs again in some manuscripts of the Skaldskaparmal. This parentage is usually simply ignored as incorrect, seen to be contradicting the many other descriptions of Freyr as son of Njörðr. However, if the Norse case were to mirror or even come from the same root as the Irish, the possibility would have to remain open that these mentions, though highly dubious for multiple reasons, could preserve a remnant of a tradition regarding Freyr that had been mostly forgotten: that he was son of both Oðinn and Njorðr, that his true father was originally Oðinn, but that, like Aengus, he was raised without this knowledge, considered officially as the son of Njorðr. This could explain why Freyr, a Horse Twin god, is not depicted as son of a Sky Father while the other instances of this god are, and why his “father” Njorðr very clearly parallels Aengus' foster father, Midir. It is not necessary that this be true, however, for these deities to be considered parallels, as the two traditions could have simply diverged in the consideration of this parentage.
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