Freyja's Names: Sýr
One of the names that Freyja gives herself is Sýr (Sow). I take this name to refer to the female wild boar rather than the domesticated pig. The following are some of the characteristics of the female wild boar that I found illuminating of Sýr’s character. Female wild boars-
- Are large, powerful animals that can weigh up to 600lbs
- Live in groups, called sounders, of about twenty boars that include a dominant female, two or three other females and their young.
- Are nocturnal, active from dusk until dawn
- Eat almost anything they find, including carrion
- Highly intelligent, one of the most intelligent of all animals
- Reclusive and seldom seen by humans
- Protective of themselves and their own
- When threatened will charge with their heads up, mouth wide, and bite. Such attacks may result in severe trauma, dismemberment, or blood loss when against humans
While I do not experience Sýr as large in size, I do experience her as being very powerful, far more powerful than any of the other Vanir or Aesir with whom I had experience, including Odin.
Without doubt Sýr is intelligent, especially in all of the ways of magic. I also experience her to be at the height of her powers at night. Most of my time with her is late at night or in the very early morning prior to dawn.
Eating is often a metaphor for sex and Sýr is certainly known for “eating” almost anyone with whom she relates. I am reminded of her of having sex with the four dwarves in exchange for the Brisingamen and Loki accusing her of having sex with all of the goddesses, gods and elves in Aegir’s hall. Likewise, Hyndla accused her of wild promiscuity, being like a she-goat in heat. Whether or not all of these stories are true, they certainly speak of Sýr’s lusty reputation. Where the lusty aroma of sex fills the air, it is because sex has been had there. In my own experience of Sýr she is highly sexed in a very feral way.
The eating of carrion is an act of a powerful healer and transformer. Carrion-eaters eat disease and death without being harmed. They eat death and transform it to life. This is part of the work of Sýr.
That female wild boars gather in matriarchal groups and connect with solitary males only for sex makes me wonder about how females experience Sýr. Are they more likely to experience her presence in a group setting and in a less sexual way? My hunch so far is that they do.
I do find Sýr to be relatively reclusive, or I did when we were first getting acquainted. Now that we are wed I do not find her reclusive at all. She is present before I finish saying her name.
She is no doubt very peaceful, committed to frith, until either she or her own are threatened. Then, like female wild boars, she is protective in a dreadful, even deadly way.
That Freyja names herself Sýr is both illuminating and confirming of my own experience of her.