The Saga of Vanadís, Völva and Valkyrja

is thought to be among the oldest Edda-poems, from around 900, and has been described
as a hieros gamos myth (Simek, 1984, pp. 216 - 217).
One day Freyr falls into the temptation of sitting in Hliðskjálf, the high throne of Frigg and Óðinn,
and from there he can spy the most beautiful sight, the giantess Gerður, whose arms light up the
ocean and the sky. He falls in love instantly but cannot reveal his feelings and becomes
melancholic. Njörður and Skaði ask Skírnir, Freyr’s servant and friend to find out what ails him.
Freyr tells him he is in love, but that neither Æsir nor álfar 84 will agree to such a relationship. He
thinks that he will not be allowed to love Gerður, and that she will not accept him. Skírnir offers to
go and fetch her if Freyr will give him his sword and horse. Freyr agrees and he also equips him
with some golden apples and the golden ring Draupnir, burned with Baldur and returned from Hel.
Gerður refuses to take the gifts, but accepts Freyr’s marriage offer, after Skírnir has threatened her
with all kinds of evil spells. She says she will meet Freyr in the grove called Barri, in nine days
and nights.
The reference to the goð’s opposition to exogamy is interesting in the light of both
Óðinn’s many relationships with giantesses and Njörður’s marriage to one. However,
according to Ynglingasaga (ch. 10-11), Freyr and Gerður were happily married and had a
son called Fjölnir. They are the ancestors of Ynglingar, the kings of Sweden/Svíþjóð, to
whom many Islanders can trace their roots. Among the many descendants of Ynglingar
were Haraldur hárfagri, king in Norway, at the time of the Islandic settlement, and Ólafur
hvíti, king in Dublin, Ireland, husband of Auður djúpúðga.
Who was Gerður? She was of the northern tribes, the most ancient ones, and as
the foremother of the Ynglingar she was the edda of the Islanders. She was Freyja’s sister
in law and Skaði´s kin's-woman. Her name may be related to garður (garden) and gerði
(enclosure), and mean either the ‘goddess of the field’ or the ‘protector of the land’
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