Part Nr 107

107 FREY PROPOSES TO GERD

One day Frey was sitting in Hlidskjalf, and saw the giant-maiden Gerd daughter of Gymir.

She seemed to him the most beautiful of all maidens, and he was filled with longing and sorrow, but dared not tell the other gods, who worried about him.

Of all the Giants Gymir was now the most terrible, and a sworn enemy of Asgard, and herefore a bond of matrimony between the Gods and Gymir would be a shameful thing indeed, and most
dangerous for all of creation.

Nevertheless Frey's passion became so overwhelming that he felt that he would die unless Gerd become his.

He opened his heart to Svipdag, and it came to pass that Svipdag went to Gerd in order to propose marriage on Frey's behalf. He took with him the ring Draupnir and eleven golden apples, but she would only accept the proposal on three conditions:

that her father Gymir receive
Völund's sword*; that Svipdag and Freyja fetch her and accompany her
into Asgard; and that she become one of the Goddesses in Asgard.

* Why this absurd suggestion has to be considered at all requires an explanation. Since Frey is the god of fertility, his sorrow directly affects all of nature. So, Frey's sorrow is not only a personal matter but a question of animals, trees and humankind's survival.
MW

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