YNGVI-FREY AND AENGUS MAC OC

Author(s): Alexander H. Krappe

Source: Scandinavian Studies, Vol. 17, No. 5 (FEBRUARY, 1943), pp. 174-178
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Society for the Advancement of
Scandinavian Study
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 YNGVI-FREY AND AENGUS MAC OC
Alexander H. Krappe
Princeton, NewJersey
as is wellknown,was the Sveagodpar ex-
YNGVI-FREY, a greatfertility
cellence, divinity,whosecult centerwas
Upsala,evenin thosefar-off days thegreatreligiousand cult
centerofSweden.He wasworshipped, however, byall Teutonic
tribesdwelling alongthe coasts of the North Sea and theBaltic,
as is provedbyOE Ing,theCheruscian *Ingwia(in namessuch
as Inguiomarus) and,above all, by the nameoftheIngaevones
referred tobyTacitus(Germ., c.11)as proximi OceanoIngaevones
and comprising, to
according Pliny(N.H. IV. 99), theCimbri,
and
Teutoni, Chauci,i.e., the tribes inhabiting Jutlandandthe
FrisianNorthSea coast.FromthesameYngvi-Frey theancient
Swedishdynastyofthe Ynglingar is descended, and in Beowulf
1044,1319theDanes are calledIngwine,i.e., 'FriendsofIng.'
The cultofIng mustbe fairlyancient,witnesstheform*Enguz
( > *Ig&us)oftheGothicrunicalphabet.
ThisSveagodstandsin curiouscontrastto therankand file
oftheiEsir,theTeutonicdivinedynasty.For one thing,he is
the twinbrotherand, in certaintexts,theloverof thegentle
Freya,theSwedishgoddessoflove.At Upsalahisstatuecould
be seen(in thewordsofAdamofBremen,IV. 26) cumingenti
priapo:he was thusan ithyphallic god.Therewereheldin his
at
honor, statedintervals, mystery playsin whichthe sexual
element waspredominant, so muchso thatprudish Norsevisitors
wereoccasionallyshocked.A humanincarnation of the god,
accompaniedby his priestess,wouldtraversethe countryin
spring,blessingtheyoungplants,and if thepriestessbecame
pregnant, the farmersinterpreted this as an especiallygood
omen,sinceitpresagedfertility andbumpercrops.
Snorri(Gylfag.,ch. 23) statesthatFreyis invokedby men
anxiousto obtainfertility ofthesoiland peace ( . . . tilârs ok
fridar).His alteregois theDanishKingFrot>iIII, whoestab-
lishedpeace all overtheNorthern lands.1He was fabledbythe
1 H. Hempel, Germanisch-Romanische Vol. XVI (1928), p.
Monatsschrift,
199.

174

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 Yngvi-Frey and Aengus mac Oc 175

synchroniststo have been the contemporaryof the emperor

Augustus,and Christwas thus born in his reign.Adam of Bre-
menknewthe same tradition,and he describeshim accordingly
as a god ofpeace and oflove ( . . . tertiusestFricco,pacemvolup-
tatemquelargiensmortalibus).He adds that at weddingsthere
weresacrificesmade to him,obviouslywitha view towardsob-
tainingoffspring.
His holyanimalwas the swine,a symboloffertility not only
in the North- the GreekDemeterand the Roman Dea Dia rel-
ished the same usefulanimal- and his chariotwas accordingly
drawnby a boar with golden bristles.At his great festival,at
the timeof the wintersolstice,boars were sacrificedand eaten
by his worshipers,and vows were made on the heads of these
boars. Even now cakes in boar's shape are baked in Sweden on
the eve of Yule. The custom of vows on the boar's head was
knownalso in mediaevalEngland,and in somecollegesofOxford
Universitya boar's head is stillservedon Christmaseve.
As a god ofsea-faringtribes,Frey is givena marvelousship,
Skifibladnir,which is collapsible and can be folded up like a
cloth.2
One quality,and a mostimportantone forthe ancientTeu-
tonicgods,Frey appears to lack, namelyvalor. In a well-known
Eddie lay he givesaway his horseand his sword,and thisproves
hisundoingat thelast battleofthegods.
The AncientNorse traditionhas on thewholelittleto report
ofhisfeats;but whatit does reportis all themorecharacteristic.
Having beheld the younggiantessGerftr, he fallshopelesslyin
love withher,pines away and can recoverhis healthonlywhen
hisfaithfulservantundertakestobe hismessenger andto persuade
the fairone to yield to his master'swishes,certainlya veryun-
heroicrôleforthe greatgod, thoughone strictlyin accord with
his generalcharacter.3In fact, a comparisonof Frey with the
fairAdonisofclassicallore,anothereffeminate divinity,is hardly
far-fetched.
Withthelatterhe shareshis end, at least in one set of tradi-
2 Snorri,
Gylfag.,ch. 48; Ynglingasaga,ch. 7.
3 M. Olsen, M aal
og Minne, 1909, pp. 17 ff.;cf. also F. R. Schröder,Ger-
manisch-Romanische Monatsschrift,Vol. XVII (1909), p. 253.

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176 Alexander H, Krappe

tions.Accordingto Saxo, King Fró(5iIII is slain by a "sea-cow,"

i.e., by a witchwhohad transformed herselfintoone forjust this
purpose. Scholars have repeatedlypointedout that behindthis
mysterious sea-cow lurksthewildboar,theslayerofAdonis.4
Gods of the general characterof Yngvi-Frey are rare in
NorthernEurope. Freyhas, however,a close parallelin Ireland,
in the personof Aengusmac Oc, the Irish god of love. He, too,
standsin strangecontrastto theothergods oftheIrishOlympus
and to barbariangods generally.His favoriteweapon is not the
swordbut Cupid's arrow.His whole natureis decidedlyeffemi-
nate; his generalhelplessnessand lovesickness,broughtout in
certaintexts,5are certainlythelast featuresone would expectto
findin a barbariandivinityofAncientIreland.
Aengusmac Oc has a humancounterpart, theheroDiarmuid,
withwhomhe shares his 'beauty spot/ his handsomeness,and
hisluckwiththefairsex,whichwonhimthenicknameDiarmuid
Buidhe nam ban 'yellow-hairedDiarmuid of women.' In the
adventuresfollowinghis elopementwith Grainne,his uncle's
betrothed,he is powerfullyaided by Aengus. The latter's
motiveis not entirelyclear: some textsreferto Aengusas Diar-
muid's tutoror foster-father.6 It is possiblethat in a lost pagan
versionDiarmuid was the son of Aengus,and it must be ad-
mittedthatthefatal'beautyspot' ratherbetraystheheroas the
childor the avatar of the god of love. It is understandable,too,
that Christianscribesshouldhave allowed thisdetail to fallinto
oblivion.
What is even moresurprisingis that the humancounterpart
of Aengussuffers the same fate as does the Scandinavian coun-
terpart Yngvi-Frey:Diarmuid is slain by a wild boar, not a
of
genuinewildboar,it is true,but a humanbeingtransformed into
one by witchery.
Let us now considerthe two divinenames,the Teutonic and
the Gaelic. It appears at once that Scottish-GaelicAengus, Ir.
4 Hempel, loc. cit.,p. 200.
5 E. Müller, Revueceltique,Vol. Ill (1877;, pp. ó%Llt.; J. A. Macuunocn,
CelticMythology, Boston, 1918,pp. 78 ff.;AlexanderMacBain, CelticMythology,
Stirling,1917,p. 130; J. R. Reinhard,TheSurvivalof Geisin MediaevalRomance,
Halle, 1933, p. 226.
6 S. O'Grady, TransactionsoftheOssianic Society,Vol. Ill (1853), p. 68.

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 Yngvi-Freyand AengusmacOc 177

Oengus, isidenticalinform andmeaning (whatever thatmeaning

maybe) with Goth. *Iggus(<*Enguz). The two are obviously
one.So thequestionremains tobe answered: Is thegodCelticor
Teutonic?Lookingat thedistribution ofhiscultin Irelandand
the
among Teutons, one cannot but notice thathe is ratheran
isolatedfigurein theformer country, whilein Teutoniclandshe
a
enjoyed widely diffused cult,being known all overSweden,
in theNorwegian Thrándirdistrict,7 and eveninIceland,while
theverynameof theIngaevonesattestshis popularity among
the tribesof the Germanand Danish NorthSea coasts.It is
thusseento covera vastterritory and to embracethesea-faring
tribesoftheTeutonicpeoples.How did it thenobtaina foot-
holdin Ireland?
Onetribeofthecontinental Ingaevones wastheChauci,who
inhabitedtheFrisiancoast.Of themTacitus(Ann.XI. 18) re-
portsthattheyundertook piraticalexpeditions overseas("Per
idem tempusChauci. . . inferiorem Germaniamincursavere
duceGannasco, qui . . . levibusnavigiis praedabundus Gallorum
maxime oramvastabat,nonignarus ditesetimbelles esse.").How
fartheypushedtheseenterprises of theirsmaybe seen from
Ptolemy'sGeography (II, 2.8), who reportsthattheywereset-
tledon theIrisheast coast,wheretheywerecloseneighbors of
theMoLKáwLOL, whowere,of course,theBelgianMenapii.8This
meansnothing lessthanthata tribeknownto haveworshipped
Yngvi-Frey settledin Irelandsometimeduringthereignofthe
Julio-Claudian dynasty.VeryprobablytheseChauciwerere-
sponsible forthe introduction oftheTeutonic*EnguzintoIre-
land.9
Thereis stillanotherpointworthmentioning. The wordoc
inthenameAengusmacOc has themeaning 'youth'inthesense
oftheLat. iuventus. It is thesamewordthatoccursin thename
oftheTirna n'Ogue,thelandofyouth,oftheAncient Irishsaga
7 Forum,sögur,Vol. X, p. 312.
8 R. Much, Sitzungsberichte d. WienerAkademied. Wissenschaften, phü.-
hist.CL, Vol. CLXXXXV (2) [1920],pp. 17 ff.;J. Pokorny,Zeitschrift/,
celtische
Philologie,Vol. XI (1917), pp. 169 ff.
9 The
attemptsat a derivationof the name Aengusfromthe Celtic (P. W.
Joyce,The Originand Historyof Irish Names of Places, London, 1898, Vol. II,
p. 155) are not convincing.

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178 Alexander H. Krappe

texts. On the otherhand, the originof the name Ing<*Enguz

has thusfarremainedobscure,thoughJacob Grimmtoyedwith
the possibilityof connectingit with Eng. young.Germ,jung,
Lat. iuvenis,iuventus,
etc. In view of theabsence ofcognatesthe
problem seems to defya solutionlinguistically.If, however,the
Irish oc is consideredas an Irish renderingof the Teutonic
*Enguz,thiswould make a connectionbetweenthe divinename
and the rootof wordssuch as young,iuvenis,etc., ratherproba-
ble.

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