GNA, THE TRAVELLER, HANDMAID OF FRIGGA

 At her hall of Fensalir, Frigga, the Norse All-Mother, has twelve Handmaidens (Note 1) or ladies-in-waiting to attend to Her. Not much is known about who these Handmaidens were since the Lore is scanty about Norse Goddesses in general. Much of what is known today is by Group Verified Gnosis.

 

Gna (briefly)

Riding Hofvarpnir (Note 2), Gna carries Frigga’s messages through the Worlds. Since She travels between the Worlds, Gna can be relied on to carry prayers to Frigga.

 

The most extensive mention of Gna in the lore is Snorri Sturluson in his Prose Edda. He writes:

 

“The fourteenth is Gna, whom Frigg sends on her errands into various worlds. She rides upon a horse called Hofvarpnir, that runs through the air and over the sea. Once, when she was riding, some vans saw her faring through the air. Then said one of them: ‘What flies there? What fares there? What glides in the air?’

 

She answered

‘I fly not,

Though I fare

And glide through the air

On Hofvarpnir’”

 

(Snorri states that from Gna’s name comes the custom of saying something gnaefir (looms) when it rises up high.)

 

This passage delineates Gna’s role as Frigga’s messenger. Rather than think of this Goddess as an “Archetype,” I prefer to ponder Gna as a multi-dimensional Being. She is one of the few Gods who can travel to all the Nine Realms (Note 3) from Asgaard to Hel and in between. Gna does carry the prayers of all Beings back to Frigga.

 

However, Gna is more powerful than that. My sense of Her is that this Goddess is the Master of Time and Space. Gna lives beyond linear time and three-dimensional space. She could be thought of as the Guardian of Travellers and Pilgrims. Help for not becoming lost in inner space is something that can be asked of Gna.

 

Gna soars beyond the understanding of humans. When baffled by time, they can look to Gna who knows No Time (constant and static) to All Time (fluid and changing). Going through the planes of existence, this Goddess knows “Time in Being” which is “Being in Time.” This is beyond how the Past, Present, and Future exist at once.

 

Gna provides a way to communicate with Frigga, the All-Mother. Frigga often frightens people, and Gna is more accessible. She is an easier Goddess to ask to bring prayers to Frigga. Gna is the Traveller who flies from Realm to Realm with a purpose.

 

Notes:

Note 1. Saga (seer), Eir (healer), Gefjun (unmarried girls), Fulla (plenty), Sjofn (love), Lofn (forbidden love), Var (oaths), Vor (wisdom), Syn (truth), Hlin (protector), Snorta (diplomacy), Gna (travelers).

 

Note 2: Hofvarpner means “hoof thrower.”

 

Note 3: The Nine Realms where the various Beings live: Alfheim (Light Elves), Asgard (Aesir Gods), Hel (the Dead), Jotunheim (Jotuns), Midgard (Humans), Muspelheim (Fire Giants), Niflheim (Frost Giants), Svartalfheim (Dwarfs and Dark Elves), and Vanaheim (Vanir Gods).