FREÁ, in Old-norse FREYR, in Old-german FRO.—The god whom the Norse mythology celebrates under the name of Freyer must have borne among us the name of Freá. It is probable that he enjoyed a more extensive worship in all parts of Europe than we can positively demonstrate. At present we are only enabled to assert that the principal seat of his worship was at Upsala among the Swedes. In general there is not much trace in the North of phallic gods; but an exception must be made at once in the case of Freyr. One of the most beautiful poems of the Edda[668] tells how Freyr languished for desire of the beautiful Gerdr; it was for her love that he lost the sword, the absence of which brings destruction upon him in the twilight of the Gods. The strongest evidence of his peculiar character is found in the passage already cited from Adam of Bremen[669], and what he says of the shape under which Frea was represented at Upsala: “Tertius est Fricco, pacem, voluptatemque largiens mortalibus; cujus etiam simulachrum fingunt ingenti Priapo.” The fertilizing rains, the life-bringing sunshine, the blessings of fruitfulness and peace were the peculiar gifts of Freyr[670]; and from Adam of Bremen again we learn that he was the god of marriage: “Si nuptiae celebrandae sunt, sacrificia offerunt Fricconi.” In his car he travelled through the land, accompanied by a choir of young and blooming priestesses[671], and wherever he came plenty and peace abounded. The beast sacred to Freyr was the boar, and it is not improbable that various customs and superstitions connected with this animal may have had originally to do with his worship. It is not going too far to assert that the boar’s head which yet forms the ornament of our festive tables, especially at Christmas, may have been inherited from heathen days, and that the vows made upon it, in the middle ages, may have had their sanction in ancient paganism. But it is as an amulet that we most frequently meet with the boar in Anglosaxon. Tacitus says of the Æstyi, that, in imitation of the Suevish custom, “Matrem deum venerantur; insigne superstitionis, formas aprorum gestant. Id pro armis omnium que tutela; securum deae cultorem etiam inter hostes praestat[672].” The relation between Freá and the _Mater deorum_ is a near one. Now the Anglosaxon poems consider a boar’s form or figure so essential a portion of the helmet, that they use the word eofor, _aper_part of the armour: hét ðá inberan he commanded them to bring in eofor heáfordsegn, the boar (i. e. helmet) the heaðosteápne helm. ornament of the head, the helmet lofty in battle[673]. And still more closely, with reference to the virtues of this sign: