Re: Aesir and Vanir.

Greetings!

Concerning the names Freyr and Freyja, my understanding is that
the names mean "Lord" and "Lady," and that these were the I-E titles
given to these Vanir deities. (Anyone want to suggest that "Potnia" is
then the equivalent of "Freyja"?)
As for the repreated theme of "Battle of the Gods" (with Titans,
Fomori, etc...) couldn't this refer to an initial period of settlement of
a newly-arrived I-E population. I learned that the 2nd Battle of MoyTura
(Tuatha vs. Fomori) may in fact be such a recollection. So too much the
conflict between the Aesit and the Vanir, when an I-E pantheon comes into
initial conflict with an indigenous or otherwise non-I-E pantheon (the
pantheons refering to peoples, of course).
One further argument for a non-I-E Vanir is the repetition of
functions. Freyr is a solar deity, as is the Aesir goddess Sif (If I
remember correctly...). In both Hittite and Germanic tradition, the sun
is identified as female, thus favouring the identification with Sif.
While a male solar deity is also common in I-E traditions, it would, in
the case of Freyr, have to come from a more distant I-E tradition than
the Germanic.

In extreme interest,
Stephanie