The Saga of Vanadís, Völva and Valkyrja

V-shaped flock, and in Island they arrive in spring, give birth and leave in the fall, could
well support the notion, that here in the north also the goose was sacred to the Goddess.
Just as Kybele and Inanna’s lions changed to cats, or were always represented by
cats further north, the vultures of Catal Hüyük are represented further north as owls,
ravens and falcons. We find very little reference to owls in Islandic mythology, in
contrast to e.g. Celtic myths and old artifacts. It is of interest that although the owl is well
settled in Island today, it only immigrated in the 20 th century, as far as can be seen. The
birds of the goddess in Islandic myths are the swan, the raven and the falcon.
The falcon is the bird of Freyja. She has a falcon cloak, a hamur (shape, cloak)
that she can wear. Frigg seems to have one as well. The stories tell us little about how
they use their bird -cloaks, we hear more of the times Loki borrows them, to be able to fly
to Jötunheimar (Þrymskviða and Skáldskaparmál, ch. 3 and 27). Loki can shape shift into
almost anything as we have seen, but nevertheless, when he needs to fly swiftly, he
borrows Freyja or Frigg’s valshamur (falcon-cloak). So from the clues we can guess, find
pieces from the puzzle and put them together. We know that Freyja receives the fallen
warriors.
Fólkvangur – Freyja’s hall
In the poem Grímnismál 111 , Óðinn, in the disguise of a man called Grímnir,
describes the homes of all the goð and the nature of the mythic world, Goðheimar. He
describes his own Glaðheimur and the great Valhöll. Freyja’s domain, Fólkvangur, is
described in the 14 th stanza, like this:
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