In the Old Norse the word dís was a term that was used to mean a woman in general as well as referring to the supernatural beings. (31) It is for this reason that Simek believes that one of Freyja's other names, Vanadís could only mean basically “Vanir-Woman” and was used merely as a kenning to mean that she was one of the goddesses of the Vanir. Other's postulate that the title Vanadís signifies that Freyja is mistress of the dísir. Although this can't be said with total certainty I intend to present information I think that definitely makes it a fair possibility. I will go further and present the possibility that the dísir are Freyja's version of the Valkyries. In Gylfaginning XXIV Snorri says that Freyja “has in heaven the dwelling called Fólkvangr, and wheresoever she rides to the strife, she has one-half of the kill, and Odin half, as is here said:

Fólkvangr 't is called,

  where Freyja rules

 Degrees of seats in the hall;

Half the kill she keepeth each day,

 And half Odin hath.

   - Brodeur translation

“In Valhöll the occupation of the ôskmeyjar or valkyrjar was to hand the drinking-horn to the gods and einherjar, and to furnish the table. Here comes out their peculiar relation to Freyja, who 'chooses val' like them, is called Valfreyja (p. 305), and pours out at the banquet of the Ases (at gildi Asa), Sn. 108. Exactly in the same way did Göndul, sitting on a stôl î rioðrinu (in the niuriute, clearing), offer the comers drink out of a horn.” (32) Davidson says, “Another example of a guardian goddess is the 'wife' of Jarl Hakon of Halogaland, virtually king of Norway for some years and an opponent of the Christian Olaf Tryggvason. She is described as a richly adorned figure in a shrine, worshipped with great devotion by the Jarl, and called 'bride of Helgi'. She and her sister Irpa gave him active help in battle, calling down a fearsome hailstorm and shooting arrows 'which seemed to fly form every finger of the monstrous woman', each finding its mark (Flateyjarbók I, 154-7). There is some confusion between her and Hakon's human wife, Thora. It seems likely that the name of the goddess was really Gerd, since this is the form found in an early skaldic verse, and Gerd is one of the names of the goddess Freyja. It seems that Hakon may have been turning to the same goddess when, defeated and hopeless, he is said to have been hidden in the earth under the swine (Heimskringla, Óláfs Saga Tryggvasonar 48), since this could symbolize the mound of the goddess Freyja, one of whose titles was Syr (sow). The fact that after Hakon's death Olaf Tryggvason had Thorgerd's image dragged out and burnt beside that of Freyr supports this view.

If Helgi were the mythical founder of Halogaland, this would explain Thorgerd's name 'Bride of Helgi', since she could become the wife of each ruler of the kingdom in turn. The idea of the guardian goddess welcoming the king in death was essentially an aristocratic concept, just as was that of kings and leaders granted entry to Valhalla, and this is one important aspect of the goddess in the Viking Age. Such a tradition could account for the noble figures of valkyries welcoming dead kings in poems like Hákonarmál, while Näsström notes that some references to Hel in skaldic verse do not fit that gruesome figure as Snorri describes her, but might refer to Freyja.” (33) Another possible connection between the dísir and Freyja comes from Hyndlujóð. There we find a description of how worship to Freyja is performed.

10. "He a high altar made me of heaped stones----

all glary have grown the gathered rocks---

and reddened anew them with neats' fresh blood;

for ay believed Óttar in the ásynjur.”

What is interesting about this strophe is the description of the altar and how it is reddened with blood. The alter is described as heaped stones and this sounds very much like the hörgr described in Hevrarar Saga that was reddened by blood by the king's daughter. That the way worship of Freyja is described in Hyndlujóð and the sacrifice to the dísir described in Hevarar Saga are so similar does not automatically mean they are connected but I think that it at least does present the possibility. It is also interesting to note that both Freyja, along with Frigg, and the dísir are called on for help with childbirth.

Something to consider when thinking of the parallel between valkyries and dísir is the fact that Freyja is said to get half the battle dead. We'll examine other parallels later when examining valkyries but for the moment let us look at their role as choosers of the dead. We know that the battle dead, at least the half that are chosen by Othinn are chosen by his valkyries and they conduct the fallen to Vahöll. Would it not then be logical to assume that Freyja, like Othinn has her “chooser's of the slain”, that is, her own valkyries and that perhaps Freyja's valkyries are indeed called dísir?

The term fylgja is thought to be related to the Old Norse verb fylgja, which means 'to follow'. (34) The fylgja normally takes on two distinct forms. The first, which for the purposes of this article, I'll label as the “animal fylgja”, (as opposed to fylgja which for this article will signify the fylgja that is in the form of a woman) is normally in the form of an animal. This animal usually conforms to the person's personality, i.e. a sly person might have a fox for an animal fylgja. The life and well being of the person the animal fylgja is attached to depends on the well being of his or her animal fylgja. There is no evidence of the animal fylgja surviving the death of the person it is attached to. The fylgja, on the other hand, is normally in the form of a female who attends to the individual until death and survives him, at which time the individual is able to enter her abode and she is able to attach herself to another, often someone in the same family. (35) Although both of these are labeled under the same name (fylgja and fetch) we can be fairly certain that they are indeed two different “beings”, for lack of a better word. Furthermore it's my contention that the fylgja is actually dísir. According to Jochens, fylgjur were always considered female, whether animal or human. In animal form it always represented the person it was attached to. She also states that women and men could have animal fylgjur but only men had fylgjur. It is her contention that the two kinds of fylgjur were unconnected in their origin. The animal form came from “ancient roots in primitive thinking,” and the female form “probably is linked with ancestor worship. (36)

Like dísir and valkyries fylgjur were involved with battle. In Ljósvetninga Saga (XXX) The misfortunes of Eyjólfr are attributed to the fact that the fylgjur of their enemies were more powerful than the fylgjur of their own. (37)

To see ones fylgja many times meant that one was fey, or destined to die soon. Again here is another common trait shared with the dísir. “In Scandinavian paganism the presence of the guardian spirit often went unnoticed until the time of ones death: in the Eddaic poem Helgaqviða Hjörvarðzsonar, for instance, the hero Helgi's female guardian spirit (fylgior) appears in the form of a woman riding a wolf with snakes for reins.” (38) It is interesting to note here that this description of fylgjur is almost exactly the same as early descriptions of valkyries.

Another name for fylgjur what was used is fylgjukona, which could be translated as “following woman.” Jochen's tells us that fylgjukona became visible to others only when the one she was attached to was going to die in order to attach herself to another. (39) It's very easy to see here the similarities between fylgjur and dísir.

Here I would like to quote a section from Gísli's Saga:

“In his dreams he visits the hall of someone he calls his better dream-woman and there finds many others who welcome him. There are fires burning in the hall and he is told the number of fires in the hall is equal to the number of years he has to live. His guide gives him moral counsels. Later on his dreams become worse as another women comes to him “covered in men's blood' and washes him in it. The first women comes to him after this and she is called his bride and carries him away with her on a gray steed, and takes him to a hall in which there is a soft bed and pillows of down. She tells him that he will come her after he dies, saying, “Here shall you certainly come when you die … then shall the chieftain possess these riches and the woman also…” The other woman gets angry with this and swears it will not be so. She is the last to visit Gísli before his death and when she finally appears she covers him in blood and wraps him in blood-stained garments.”

Volsunga Saga (IV) "I have no will to go away with Seggeir, neither does my heart smile upon him, and I wot, by my fore-knowledge, and from the fetch of our kin, that from this counsel will great evil fall on us if this wedding be not speedily undone."

While it is true that almost all references to dísir show them connected to men only it is perhaps because most Sagas and lore center on men as the main protagonist. One last bit of information that may give support to the dísir=fylgjur theory is that the word fylgja can also mean “afterbirth.” According to Jochen's it is a rare meaning for the word but folklorists report that until recent times the afterbirth was treated with great care as not to damage the soul of the newborn. (41)

From the descriptions we have of animal fylgjur they seem to have been separate from fylgjur or dísir. One good description of an animal fylgja is in Þáttr Þorsteins Uxafóts in the Flateyjarbók:

'Now when the boy entered the hall, he came in with a great rush, as children usually do. He slipped on the floor of the hall, and when Geitir saw this, he burst out laughing.. . The boy went up to Geitir and said: 'Why did it seem funny to you when I fell just now?' Geitir answered: 'Because in truth I could see what you did not.' 'What was that?' asked Þorsteinn. 'I will tell you. When you came into the hall a white bear-cub followed you, and ran along the floor in front of you. Now when he saw me, he stood still; but you were going rather fast, and you fell over him - it is my belief that you are not the son of Krumr and Þorgunna, but must be of greater family.' (42)

31. Dictionary of Northern Mythology by Rudolf Simek 1996. Back

32. Grimm's Teutonic Mythology by Jacob Grimm 1883. Back

33. Roles of the Northern Goddess by Hilda Ellis Davidson 1998, p. 177-178. Back

34. Old Norse Images of Women by Jenny Jochens 1996. Back

35. The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature by Hilda Roderick Ellis (Davidson) 1968, p. 138 Back

36. Old Norse Images of Women by Jenny Jochens 1996. p. 37 Back

37. The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature by Hilda Roderick Ellis (Davidson) 1968, p. 129. Back

38. Nordic Religions of the Viking Age by Thomas A. Dubois. 1999, p. 52. Back

39. Old Norse Images of Women by Jenny Jochens 1996 p. 37. Back

40. Ibid., p. 37. Back

41. Ibid., p. 37. Back

42. The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature by Hilda Roderick Ellis (Davidson) 1968, p. 127. Back