So I was thinking about Frigg and Freya, how they are different yet obviously very similar. I remembered reading somewhere that it is theorized that they were once the same goddess, but became divided and more specialized for some reason. Frigg becoming a goddess associated with traditional domestic duties, while Freya became more of a goddess of the wild.
My research directed me to the likes of Perchta, the White Women, Hulders, Frau Holle and Holda, which I think are pretty obvious to most, as being earlier forms of Frigg/Freya:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wei%C3%9Fe_Frauen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frau_Holle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Hulda
Nevertheless, I stumbled across this page, which had a particular revelation that, quite frankly, floored me:
http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/perchtenpagancustom1.htm
"Traditionally, Frau Perchta is believed to be a god-like creator half man, half woman, but usually displayed in its female manifestation. She appears on Earth on the turning point between the old and the new year (winter solstice, matching with Christmas and the Julfestival in Scandinavian countries). Frau Perchta represents the dual male/female deity and is accompanied by all sorts of evil spirits of the winter."
Frau Perchta being both male and female (or half male, half female) brings up a couple of points of speculation to mind:
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Could Hel being half alive, half dead, be descended from this concept?
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Could the twins relationship of Frey and Freya, just be a latter/corrupted version of the male/female duality of Frau Perchta, and thus, not only are Frigg and Freya a hypostasis of each other, but Frey and Freya as well?
Also of note, is the concept of the goddess of the wild in the specific role as initiator:
http://www.theoddgods.com/deities/perchtaberchta/
"Belly-Slitter/Initiatory Aspects
One of the common motifs around Perchta is that of the belly slitter, punishing people who betrayed cultural norms. Motz notes that Perchta seems to have aspects of an educator and she wonders (I as well) if these themes weren’t originally related to an initiation of some sort.
Motz notes “Stories of the education of the young by a superhuman being, especially if it takes place in the wilderness, bring to mind the practices of puberty initiation of primitive societies. In these, separation from parental dwellings and experiences inflicted by superhuman forces are essential for the spiritual second birth and for gaining an adult status. … The recurrent tale of Perchta’s opening and refilling of human stomachs appears to be an initiatory motif. … The refilling of a body with a new substances obviously takes place only in initiatory dreams … Mutilated men and men whose bodies have been cut so that their intestines trail behind are noted in descriptions of the wild host which is so frequently headed by the goddess.” Maybe these mutilated individuals are supposed to represent those who somehow failed initiation.
It seems that for women, Perchta’s initiatory roles would be centered around spinning, and for men, it would be involved in the perchten processions – at first becoming personifications of wild entities, and later appearing in the costume of the region, representing the state of young adulthood they were aspiring to.
Interestingly enough, there is a similar incident in Laxdaela saga, in which a character experiences a vision where a woman comes to him, cuts him open, and replaces his innards with brushwood. The woman turns out to be his guardian idis and did this as protection; the next day he is mortally wounded in battle and thought to be dead. However, he’s fine the morning after that, and says that the woman came back to him in the night and put his entrails back."
Which dovetails nicely with this video:
>>9316
Which is essentially of preview of this dissertation paper - "The Maiden with the Mead: A Goddess of Initiation in Norse Mythology?":
https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/23958/18497.pdf?sequence=1
I will be reading the above further for more info.