“Frey took the realm after Njörd; he was called the dróttin of the Swedes, and took taxes of them. He was as well liked as his father, and in his days also were good seasons. Frey raised a large temple at Uppsalir, and had his head burgh (höfud stad) there; all his taxes, lands, and loose property he gave thereto. That was the beginning of the Uppsalir wealth, which has been kept up ever since.
“In his days the peace of Fródi[[99]] (King in Denmark) began; then there were good seasons in every land. The Swedes attributed that to Frey. He was worshipped more than other gods, because in his days the people of the land became wealthier than before, on account of the peace and the good seasons. His wife was called Gerd, daughter of Gýmir;[[100]] their son was Fjölnir. Another name of Frey was Yngvi; this name was long afterwards used among his kin as a name of honour, and his kinsmen were afterwards called Ynglingar. Frey fell sick; when he was near death they took counsel and allowed few men to see him; they made a large mound ready for him with a door and three holes. When Frey was dead they carried him secretly into the mound and told the Swedes that he was alive, and kept him there for three winters. They poured all the taxes into the mound, the gold through one hole, the silver through another, and the brass pennings through the third. Then peace and good seasons continued” (Ynglinga, c. 12).
“When all the Svíar knew that Frey was dead, and peace and good seasons continued, they believed it would last while Frey was in Svithjód, and would not burn him, and called him the god of the world (veraldar god), and sacrificed ever since chiefly to him for good seasons and peace” (Ynglinga, c. 13).
After the death of Frey, Freyja, the daughter of Njörd, became the priestess, and offered the sacrifices.
“Freyja upheld the sacrifices, for she alone of the godar was then living, and she became so renowned that all high-born women are called fruvor.[[101]] Thus every woman is the freyja of her property, and she who has a household is hús-freyja[[102]] (housewife). Freyja was rather many-minded (fickle); her husband was Ód; her daughters were Hnoss (costly thing) and Gersemi (precious thing); they were very beautiful, and the costliest things are called by their names” (Ynglinga, c. 13).
According to the Ynglinga, Yngvi Frey was the son of Njörd, and Fjölnir the son of Yngvi Frey. Fjölnir ruled over the Swedish and Upsala domain, and died in Zeeland. A strong friendship existed between him and Fródi the grandson of Skjöld, the son of Odin, and it was the custom of these two chiefs to visit each other.
“Fjölnir the son of Yngvi Frey then ruled over the Swedes and the Upsala-wealth; he was a powerful king, and peace-happy and season-happy. At that time Peace-Fródi was at Hleidra (Leire); they were friends and invited each other. When Fjölnir came to Fródi in Zeeland there was a great feast prepared for him, and people were invited to it from far and wide. Fródi had a large house; in it there had been a large vat, many feet high, held together by large timbers; it stood in the lower story, and there was a loft above in which there was an opening through which the drink could be poured in; the vat was full of mixed mead,[[103]] a very strong drink. In the evening Fjölnir and his men were shown to their room on the next loft. In the night he went out on the svalir (a kind of balcony) to look for something; he was overcome with sleep and dead-drunk. When he returned to his room he walked along the balcony to the door leading into the next room, and there he missed his footing and fell into the mead-vat and perished” (Ynglinga, c. 14).
Svegdir succeeded his father, Fjölnir, and though several generations had passed away since the death of the last Odin, the veneration towards Asgard, the old home of the earlier Odin, was strong in the heart of the people.
“This Sweden they called Mannheimar (the world of men), but the large Sweden they called Godheimar (the world of gods); from Godheimar many tidings and wonders were told” (Ynglinga, c. 10).
“Svegdir took the realm after his father; he made a vow to search for Godheim and Odin the old. He went with twelve men far and wide about the world; he came to Tyrkland and to Sweden the great, and met there many of his friends and kinsmen, and was five winters on that journey.[[104]] Then he came back to Sweden, and stayed at home for some time. He had married a woman called Vana in Vanaheim; their son was Vanlandi. Svegdir went again in search of Godheim. In the eastern part of Sweden there is a large bœr called Stein (stone); there stands a rock as large as a big house. One evening after sunset, when Svegdir ceased drinking and went to his sleeping-house, he saw a Dverg sitting outside the rock. Svegdir and his men were very drunk, and ran to the rock. The Dverg stood in the door and shouted to Svegdir to come in if he wanted to meet Odin. Svegdir rushed into the rock, which at once closed upon him, and he came not back” (Ynglinga, c. 15).