fields of war."

(3) Loki taunts Njoerd with his position, in _Lokasenna_:

"Thou wast sent from the east as a hostage to the Gods...."

_Njoerd_. "This is my comfort, though I was sent from far as a hostage
to the Gods, yet I have a son whom no one hates, and he is thought
the best of the Aesir."

_Loki_. "Stay, Njoerd, restrain thy pride; I will hide it no longer:
thy son is thine own sister's son, and that is no worse than one
would expect."

_Tyr_. "Frey is the best of all the bold riders of Asgard."

There is little doubt that Njoerd was once a God of higher importance
than he is in the Edda, where he is overshadowed by his son. Grimm's
suggestion that he and the goddess Nerthus, mentioned by Tacitus,
were brother and sister, is supported by the line in _Lokasenna_; it
is an isolated reference, and the Goddess has left no other traces in
Scandinavian mythology. They were the deities, probably agricultural,
of an earlier age, whose adoption by the later Northmen was explained
by the story of the compact between Aesir and Vanir. Then their places
were usurped by Frey and Freyja, who were possibly created out of
epithets originally applied to the older pair; Njoerd was retained
with lessened importance, Nerthus passed out altogether. The Edda
gives Njoerd a giant-bride, Skadi, who was admitted among the Gods in
atonement for the slaying of her father Thiazi; she is little more
than a name. Frey and Freyja have other marks of agricultural deities,
besides their relationship. Nothing is said about Frey's changing
shape, but Freyja possesses a hawk-dress which Loki borrows when
he wishes to change his form; and, according to Snorri, Frey was
sacrificed to for the crops. Njoerd has an epithet, "the wealthy,"
which may have survived from his earlier connexion with the soil. In
that case, it would explain why, in Snorri and elsewhere, he is God of
the sea and ships, once the province of the ocean-goddess Gefion; the
transference is a natural one to an age whose wealth came from the sea.

In spite of their origin, Frey and Freyja become to all intents
and purposes Aesir. Frey is to be one of the chief combatants at
Ragnaroek, with the fire-giant Surt for his antagonist, and a story is
told to explain his defeat: he fell in love with Gerd, a giant-maid,
and sacrificed his sword to get her; hence he is weaponless at the
last fight. Loki alludes to this episode in _Lokasenna_: "With gold
didst thou buy Gymi's daughter,