He loved his promiscuous missus Freya, but he was a bit flighty himself. He could never settle down at home – he was always taking lengthy business trips to places unknown and leaving her out in the cold.

Freya was terribly upset and searched high and low for her missing husband, weeping golden tears as she went. When her teardrops hit the ground they hardened into golden nuggets — and that’s where the world’s gold comes from. Not to mention amber.

After many months she eventually found him in a distant land sunbathing under a tree. As soon as he saw her, Ód’s heart softened. He tore up the divorce papers and they were reconciled.

This might all sound like a half-hearted attempt to explain the origin of winter. But the story of Ód is odd. It all comes down to the fact that may not even exist. Ancient sources give a very garbled account of him, and he is constantly mistaken for Odin. Which is all the more confusing as he may actually be Odin.

We at Godchecker are always knocking at the door of truth. One day we hope someone will answer. Till then, our entry on Freya seems to be reasonably accurate.

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Article last revised on September 21, 2018 by the Godchecker data dwarves.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders

References: Coming soon.

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