Freya, by Arthur Rackham (public domain)
A Viking goddess’ secret naughtiness: Freya
Why Freya is the perfect namegiver for my “Tales of Freya“
There are many reasons why my collection of sensual tales had to carry the name of the goddess Freya. First and foremost, Freya was the goddess of love and war (as well as sex, lust, beauty, sorcery, fertility, gold, and death) for the Vikings. Both themes dominate my stories: love, passion, desire, battles and fights of all kinds.
The name Freya (in Old Norse “Freyja”) means “lady”. Her name can be spelled Freya, Freija, Frejya, Freyia, Fröja, Frøya, Frøjya, Freia, Freja, Frua, and Freiya. She is from the Vanir gods, but became an honorable member of the Aesir after the war between the Aesir and Vanir ended.
Freya lives in Asgard (the home of the gods, as opposed to Midgard, the home of the Vikings on earth). Her house is located by the field Fólkvangr, the “field of the host”, “people field” or “army field”. Half of the warriors who died in a battle go to her for the afterlife, while Odin will receive the other half. Freya is always given the first choice among the brave warriors after she had picked the ones she wanted, the rest were sent to Odin. I’m quite sure which of my warriors she would have found worthy to live with her …
Freya is incredibly beautiful and she has many admirers, not just among the gods and goddesses but also among the dwarves and giants. And among the humans: The magic of the goddess Freya is a constant topic in many original tales, such as the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources as well as in the Prose Edda and the Heimskringla, composed by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. She appears in several Sagas of Icelanders, in the short story “Sörla þáttr”, in the poetry of skalds, which were the storytellers of the Viking Age.
And now she also becomes the fitting title- and theme-giver and a frequent addressee for my characters in the Tales of Freya, my collection of sensual Viking romance short stories. 
But she is not only the topic of many tales — she also has a big passion for poems and stories herself, and she loves to sit and listen to songs for many hours. So Freya surely is a fitting goddess to grace the cover of these Viking Tales about human battles and passions! Freya herself loves and grieves passionately. When she was left by her lover, she cried tears that turned into amber or gold.
But did you know: Freya also has a boar named Hildisvini, “battle swine”, which she rides when she is not using her cat-drawn chariot. And here comes a very naughty tale: they say the boar is Freya’s human lover, Ottar, in disguise — so Loki consistently accuses her of being immoral by riding her lover in public…
Who would have thought the Viking mythology was quite so … naughty?
The goddess surely makes one fascinating protagonist …
Someone should definitely write her many stories down.
Skål to the goddess of love and war – wishing you a wonderful new year! 
(additional source: https://norse-mythology.net/freya-the-goddess-of-love-in-norse-mythology, accessed Nov 15, 2018)
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