She chooses the half,
And leaves half to Odin.”
Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson).
Queen of the Valkyrs.
Although goddess of love, Freya was not soft and pleasure-loving only, for the ancient Northern races said that she had very martial tastes, and that as Valfreya she often led Valkyrs down to the battlefields, choosing and claiming one half the heroes slain. She was therefore often represented with corselet and helmet, shield and spear, only the lower part of her body being clad in the usual flowing feminine garb.
FREYA.
Freya transported the chosen slain to Folkvang, where they were duly entertained, and where she also welcomed all pure maidens and faithful wives, that they might enjoy the company of their lovers and husbands even after death. The joys of her abode were so enticing to the heroic Northern women that they often rushed into battle when their loved ones were slain, hoping to meet with the same fate; or they fell upon their swords, or were voluntarily burned on the same funeral pyre as the beloved remains.
As Freya was inclined to lend a favorable ear to lovers’ prayers, she was often invoked by them, and it was customary to indite love songs in her honor, which were sung on all festive occasions, her very name in Germany being used as the verb “to woo.”
Freya and Odur.