information:extraction
Later Scandinavian folklore

Although the Christianization of Scandinavia sought to demonize the native gods, belief and reverence in the gods, including Freyja, persisted throughout the modern period and melded into Scandinavian folklore. Britt-Mari Näsström comments that Freyja became a particular target under Christianization:

Freyja's erotic qualities became an easy target for the new religion, in which an asexual virgin was the ideal woman Freyja is called "a whore" and "a harlot" by the holy men and missionaries, whereas many of her functions in the everyday lives of men and women, such as protecting the vegetation and supplying assistance in childbirth were transferred to the Virgin Mary.

However, Freyja did not disappear. In Iceland, Freyja was called upon for assistance by way of Icelandic magical staves as late as the 18th century; and as late as the 19th century, Freyja is recorded as retaining elements of her role as a fertility goddess among rural Swedes.

The Old Norse poem Þrymskviða (or its source) continued into Scandinavian folk song tradition, where it was euhemerized and otherwise transformed over time. In Iceland, the poem became known as Þrylur, whereas in Denmark the poem became Thor af Havsgaard and in Sweden it became Torvisan or Hammarhämtningen. A section of the Swedish Torvisan, in which Freyja has been transformed into "the fair" (den väna) Frojenborg, reads as follows:

In the province of Småland, Sweden, an account is recorded connecting Freyja with sheet lightning in this respect. Writer Johan Alfred Göth recalled a Sunday in 1880 where men were walking in fields and looking at nearly ripened rye, where Måns in Karryd said: "Now Freyja is out watching if the rye is ripe". Along with this, Göth recalls another mention of Freyja in the countryside:

When as a boy I was visiting the old Proud-Katrina, I was afraid of lightning like all boys in those days. When the sheet lightning flared at the night, Katrina said: "Don't be afraid little child, it is only Freyja who is out making fire with steel and flintstone to see if the rye is ripe. She is kind to people and she is only doing it to be of service, she is not like Thor, he slays both people and livestock, when he is in the mood" I later heard several old folks talk of the same thing in the same way.

In Värend, Sweden, Freyja could also arrive at Christmas night and she used to shake the apple trees for the sake of a good harvest and consequently people left some apples in the trees for her sake. However, it was dangerous to leave the plough outdoors, because if Freyja sat on it, it would no longer be of any use.

Many Asatru practitioners today mostly honor Freyja as a goddess of fertility, abundance and beauty. A common rite for modern Freya worshippers is to bake foods that have some connection to love in one way or another, such as chocolate. Freyja is also called upon for protection, usually when it comes to a domestic violence situation.