Frey, whose name (fittingly) means "the Lord," is the twin brother of the fertility deity Freya, children of the deities Njord and possibly Nerthus, and he shares many of his sister's attributes, with some unique qualities of his own thrown into the mix. Also one of the Vanir tribe, Frey is a god whose purview over matters of love and sex are well known, which is why he has sometimes been known as the Lover. His power over agriculture as part of the fertility of the land is an attribute that he possesses apart from his sister, and he has a powerful natural rapport with all aspects of nature, including all the flora and fauna extant throughout the Nine Worlds. He possesses a strong warrior aspect to him (also similar to his sister), and he was said to once own a highly prized enchanted sword that fought by itself, thus making its wielder all but invincible in combat. Legend has it that this was the only weapon capable of allowing him to defeat the uber-powerful fire demon Surtur in combat, whom he was fated to battle at Ragnarok, the prophesized cataclysmic end of the Nine Worlds of the Asgardian cosmology.
However, Frey gave up this priceless sword as a dowry in exchange for the hand of the giantess Gerd, whom he was infatuated with. This forced him to replace it with a weapon forged of deer antlers, which he successfully used to defeat the giant Beli in combat. However, that newer weapon proved a very poor substitute for his previously used enchanted sword at Ragnarok, and Frey was thus unable to withstand Surtur's attack during the deities' last stand against their enemies. Frey's faithful servant was the light elf Skirnir (the "bright one"), whom he asked to travel to Jotunheim, the realm of the giants, to secure the hand of Gerd for himself. Skirnir's loyalty was such that he even threatened the giantess with his magick wand at one point before the payment of the sword was agreed upon as a dowry.
Frey had a host of other enchanted items at his beck and call, including the golden boar Gullinbursti, who could run across the skies of all the Nine Worlds at extraordinary speed, and whom Frey rode in place of any stallion for transporation across the ground or skies. The boar was an artificial life form, created for him out of golden metal by the master smiths of the Nine Worlds, the dwarves. Also at his disposal for transporation across the seas was the enchanted boat Skipladdnir. This boat could be conveniently shrunken down to a size small enough to fit in his pocket, thus enabling Frey to carry it with him wherever he went and to utilize it whenever he happened to encounter the need for aquatic transportation. In his youth, Frey served as the ruler of Alfheim, the realm of the light elves (i.e., the faery folk in Celtic folklore), though he was born in Vanaheim, the original home of the Vanir tribe of deities before they moved to Asgard after merging with the Aesir tribe to form the single tribe of Asgardian deities.
Frey is often used as the official god-form to represent the God for Norse Wiccans (though others prefer using Odin for this purpose). He can likewise be considered the Norse version of the ancient Horned God archetype, the ruler of nature, whose equivalent in the Greek pantheon is Pan (along with the race of satyrs) and whose counterpart in the Celtic pantheon is Cernunnos (though Frey has never been depicted in art as having horns on his head, nor hooves in place of feet).
Along with his twin sister Freya, both being the progeny of the great and wise sea god Njord, Frey well exemplifies the best traits comprising the Vanir. For this reason, they were both given to the Aesir as willing hostages (in exchange for the two Aesir deities Mimir and Hoenir) when the two formerly warring tribes of deities reached a stalemate to secure their mutually declared truce, this enabling the two tribes to peacefully merge together soon afterwards as a single tribe of deities in Asgard. The Vanir had many artistic qualities in addition to their famous traits related to fertility and love, but they were certainly no slouches in the areas of warfare (though only when necessary as a means of self-defense), nor in the arena of magickal prowess. Along with his great sibling Freya, Frey was considered the epitomy of these traits. I am hoping to build a greater spiritual connection with the Lord in the future, since he has much to offer any mortal who calls upon him for aid during their journey through life.
