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YNGVI-FREY, as is well known, was the Sveagod par excellence, a great fertility divinity, whose cult center was Upsala, even in those far-off days the great religious and cult center of Sweden. He was worshipped, however, by all Teutonic tribes dwelling along the coasts of the North Sea and the Baltic, as is proved by OE Ing, the Cheruscian *Ingwia (in names such as Inguiomarus) and, above all, by the name of the Ingaevones referred to by Tacitus (Germ., c. 11) as proximi Oceano Ingaevones and comprising, according to Pliny (N.H. IV. 99), the Cimbri, Teutoni, and Chauci, i.e., the tribes inhabiting Jutland and the Frisian North Sea coast. From the same Yngvi-Frey the ancient Swedish dynasty of the Ynglingar is descended, and in Beowulf 1044, 1319 the Danes are called Ingwine, i.e., 'Friends of Ing.' The cult of Ing must be fairly ancient, witness the form *Enguz ( > *Ig&us) of the Gothic runic alphabet. This Sveagod stands in curious contrast to the rank and file of the iEsir, the Teutonic divine dynasty. For one thing, he is the twin brother and, in certain texts, the lover of the gentle Freya, the Swedish goddess of love. At Upsala his statue could be seen (in the words of Adam of Bremen, IV. 26) cum ingenti priapo: he was thus an ithyphallic god. There were held in his honor, at stated intervals, mystery plays in which the sexual element was predominant, so much so that prudish Norse visitors were occasionally shocked. A human incarnation of the god, accompanied by his priestess, would traverse the country in spring, blessing the young plants, and if the priestess became pregnant, the farmers interpreted this as an especially good omen, since it presaged fertility and bumper crops. Snorri (Gylfag., ch. 23) states that Frey is invoked by men anxious to obtain fertility of the soil and peace ( . . . til ârs ok fridar). His alter ego is the Danish King Frot>i III, who established peace all over the Northern lands.1 He was fabled by the
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