Odin's wife Frigg can be understood as ruling Goddess of the Aesir Pantheon
Odin’s wife Frigg can be understood as ruling Goddess of the Aesir Pantheon. Frigg’s role and sphere of influence concerns aspects of motherhood, love and fertility. Just like Odin, Frigg is able to see into the future, she possesses prophetic and shaman-like qualities and skills.
The marriage of Frigg and Odin resulted in the birth of the solar deity Baldur and Hermod. Scholars have thought of Frigg as another female aspect of Freya, particularly concerning motherhood and giving birth. As a Völva, Frigg practices a type of magic called Seidr which bestows her the power to see the future and to alter, as well as influence it. (e.g., Hilda Davidson, 1996).
Frigg’s role becomes apparent in the Griminsmál in the Poetic Edda, as well as the Gylfaginning in the first part of the Prose Edda which primarily deals with the creation and the destruction of the world of the Aesir tribe. The female aspect of Frigg, however, is clearly associated with the passing of time and the future. Insight could be gained via the practice of Seidr.
Odin himself was taught this type of magic by Freya (e.g. Judy Quinn, 2015) which seems to have been a feminine dominated practice (Neil Price, 2002, Strom, 1973).
Frija and Wotan appear together in the Second Merseburg Charm from the 10th Century, among other written sources such as the 8th Century ‘History of the Lombards’ (see e.g. Reaves, 2018), which is why many scholars have supposed that Odin’s wife Frigg is another aspect of the woman who taught him Seidr, Freya.
