This is a review of the Pagan Portals book: Frigg, Beloved Queen of Asgard, by Ryan McClain

Frigg is one of those deities that I’ve met, and valued at a distance, but never really been close to having found myself swept up by her wandering husband, Odin, who I prayed to often during my 12 year self-sacrificing, initiatory, search for knowledge (otherwise called PhD studies), and Freyja who, well, is all the things I adore; magic, sensuality, passion, the vibrancy of the land…

But Frigg, Frigg’s domain and I have a tricky relationship. On the one hand I need to do those practical housekeeping things that Frigg rules over, and I know her stories and attributes, and absolutely respect her power and value. On the other, my ADHD brain means I’m sporadic at it at best and never really felt her presence as an actual goddess. It happens sometimes, we’re not going to resonate with every deity, even if we get on with their family, and I had accepted that this was the case.

So it was an absolute delight to read Ryan McClain’s book, or rather love letter, to the “Beloved Queen of Asgard” and come away with a sense of this powerful, important goddess, having glimpsed her in a new light.

McClain clearly adores Frigg, and in this book he shares a balanced blend of personal experience and lore-based research, recontextualising her, for me, as the Love that is Home.

This book is, as a Pagan Portal, only a brief introduction to Frigg, but it covers Early Sources, the Norse Record, her roles, symbols, and (importantly) relationships, all as keys and signposts to understanding her better. McClain also dedicates a chapter to her “Handmaidens”, those goddesses that carry her support and guidance through many different areas of life, and finally outlines ways in which you can begin to work with Frigg and her ladies.

I doubt she and I will ever be close, but I came away from this book with a new perspective on the Beloved Queen of Asgard, and a feeling that I’d, finally, been properly introduced.

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(PS: Full disclosure, I’m published by Moon Books too, who sent me this to review. Find my books here.)