Freyr

In the Eddas, Freyr possesses the ship Skíðblaðnir, which always catches a fair wind and can be folded up and carried in a pouch, and the golden boar Gullinbursti, whose glowing bristles light up the darkness. He also once owned a magical sword that fights on its own, but he gave it away to his servant Skírnir as payment for wooing the giantess Gerðr.

Freyr's wife is Gerðr, a beautiful jötunn whom he spotted from Odin's high throne Hliðskjálf and fell instantly in love with. He sent his servant Skírnir to negotiate her hand, and after Skírnir threatened Gerðr with a magical curse, she agreed to meet Freyr—but the price was Freyr's own self-fighting sword, a loss that will prove fatal at Ragnarök.

Freyr, his father Njörðr, and his twin sister Freyja were originally Vanir deities who were exchanged with the Aesir as hostages to seal the truce ending the war between the two divine tribes. After the exchange, Freyr became integrated into the Aesir and is described in the Eddas as one of the most revered gods, associated with peace, prosperity, and good harvests.

The great pagan temple at Old Uppsala in Sweden, described by the 11th-century chronicler Adam of Bremen, featured Freyr alongside Thor and Odin as one of the three principal deities. Freyr was especially venerated in Sweden, where the legendary Yngling dynasty of kings traced their lineage directly to him as a divine ancestor.