HKB
himself nine wounds in the form of the head of a spear, or Thor’s hammer; that is, he marked himself with the sign of the cross, an ancient heathen custom.]
Njord of Noatun was then the sole sovereign of the Swedes; and he continued the sacrifices, and was called the drot, or sovereign, by the Swedes, and he received scatt and gifts from them. In his days were peace and plenty, and such good years in all respects that the Swedes believed Njord ruled over the growth of seasons and the prosperity of the people. In his time all the diars, or gods, died, and blood-sacrifices were made for them. Njord died on a bed of sickness, and before he died made himself be marked for Odin with the spear-point. The Swedes burned him, and all wept over his grave-mound.
Frey took the kingdom after Njord, and was called drot by the Swedes, and they paid taxes to him. He was like his father, fortunate in friends and in good seasons. Frey built a great temple at Upsala, made it his chief seat, and gave it all his taxes, his land and goods. Then began the Upsala domains, which have remained ever since. Then began in his day the Frode-peace; and then there were good seasons in all the land, which the Swedes ascribed to Frey, so that he was more worshiped than the other gods, as the people became much richer in his days by reason of the peace and good seasons. His wife was called Gerd, daughter of Gymer, and their son was called Fjolner. Frey was called by another name, Yngve; and this name Yngve was considered long after in his race as a name of honor, so that his descendants have since been called Ynglings (i.e. Yngve-lings). Frey fell into a sickness, and as his illness took the upper hand, his men took the plan of letting few approach him. In the meantime they raised a great mound, in which they placed a door with three holes in it. Now when Frey died they bore him secretly into the mound, but told the Swedes he was alive, and they kept watch over him for three years. They brought all the taxes into the mound, and through the one hole they put in the gold, through the other the silver, and through the third the copper money that was paid. Peace and good seasons continued.
Freyja alone remained of the gods, and she became on this account so celebrated that all women of distinction were called by her name, whence they now have the title Frue (Germ. Frau), so that every woman is called frue (that is, mistress) over her property, and the wife is called the house-frue. Freyja continued the blood-sacrifices. Freyja had also many other names. Her husband was called Oder, and her daughters Hnos and Gersame. They were so very beautiful that afterward the most precious jewels were called by their names.
When it became known to the Swedes that Frey was dead, and yet peace and good seasons continued, they believed that it must be so as long as Frey remained in Sweden, and therefore they would not burn his remains, but called him the god of this world, and afterward offered continually blood-sacrifices to him, principally for peace and good seasons.[133]
[Footnote 133: Here ends Snorre’s account of the asas in Heimskringla. The reader will, of course, compare the account here given of Odin, Njord, Frey, Freyja, etc., with the purely mythological description of them in the Younger Edda, and with that in Norse Mythology. Upon the whole, Snorre has striven to accommodate his sketch to the Eddas, while he has had to clothe mythical beings with the characteristics of human kings. Like Saxo-Grammaticus, Snorre has striven to show that the deities, which we now recognize as personified forces and phenomena of nature, were extraordinary and enterprising persons, who formerly ruled in the North, and inaugurated the customs, government and religion of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, England, and the other Teutonic lands.]