This die features the Old Norse Goddess Freyja with a surrounding border.  Incorporated in the design are her two cats that pull her chariot, the falcon feather cloak that gave the gift of flight to anyone who wore it, and her most prized possession the necklace Brísingamen.  
 
This die is a compainion piece for our Odin the Traveler die.  
 
One of the principal deities of the Norse pantheon, the lovely and enchanting Freya was a goddess of blessings, love, lust, and fertility. A member of the Vanir tribe of deities, Freya shared her people’s penchant for the magical arts of divination. It was Freya who introduced the gods to seidr, a form of magic that allowed practitioners to know and change the future.
 
Freya was gentler and more agreeable than the other Norse deities. Where Thor accomplished his goals through aggression and Odin and Loki resorted to trickery, Freya achieved her ends with the gentler persuasions of gifts, beauty, and sex. While Freya was often unselfish and helpful, she did have a darker side. Like the male gods, Freya had a taste for blood and fought fiercely in battle. It was said she took the lives of half the warriors ever slain in battle.
 
Freya was known by a number of epithets, and the variants of her name (Freja, Freyia, Freyja, Fröja, Frøya, Frøjya, and Frua, among others) were as different as the Germanic languages and dialects of her many worshippers. Thanks in part to these linguistic differences, some interpretations of Norse mythology believed Freya to be synonymous with Frigg, Odin’s wife, and sometimes Gullveig, the völva narrator of the Völuspá who recounted the Aesir-Vanir War and predicted the fate of the gods during Ragnarök. 
 
While Freya did not typically wield weapons of war, she did possess many accoutrements of a different sort. One such item was a cloak made of falcon feathers that gave the gift of flight to anyone who wore it. When she was not wearing it herself, Freya lent the cloak to companions and collaborators who agreed to do her bidding. Freya’s most prized possession was likely the necklace, or torc, known as Brísingamen (“gleaming torc” or “amber torc”). Brísingamen was made by dwarves and purchased at a dear price. Freya guarded the necklace from any and all would-be thieves with a fiery passion.
 
In addition to her cloak and “gleaming torc,” Freya rode a glittering chariot that was pulled by two black (or grey) domestic cats. She was usually accompanied by her animal familiar, a hog named Hildisvíni (meaning “battle swine”). One of her common epithets, Sýr (“sow”) likely came from her familiarity with Hildisvíni.
 
This die measures 3" X 3" and features a pendant with four optional hanging loops and a pair of earrings also with two optional hanging loops. 
 
The pendant is just under 1-3/64" wide and 1-9/64" tall excluding the hanging loops.
The earrings are  just over 7/8" wide and 1" tall excluding the hanging loops.  
 
The hanging loops allow for the following options:
1) Cut all of the loops off and add your own jump rings.
2) Cut the side and bottom loops off and just use the top loop to make a pendant or add earwires for earrings.
3) Cut the top and bottom loops off and use the side loops to connect several components together with jump rings to make a bracelet.
4) Cut the top and bottom loops off and use the side loops and attach a leather strap to make a bracelet.
5) Cut the side loops off and use the top loop to add a jump ring to attach a chain or add earwires for earrings.  Use the bottom loop to hang a bead or stone.
 
The earring components feature mirrored images.   
 
This Rolling Mill Component Die is a mild tool steel die that can be used in a rolling mill that can accommodate 3" wide by 1/8” thick material plus your metal and craft foam.  The designs can be used for making earrings, pendants, and other smaller sized components.  
 
These Rolling Mill Component Dies are for rolling mill use only. We tested them with a hydraulic press and we were able to get impressions. However, we also found that after the first couple of pressings the plates became dented. This happened because the type of tool steel necessary for use in a rolling mill is softer than the type of steel used in a hydraulic press. 
 
Some of our dies will have an arrow to show the direction that the die should be fed through your rolling mill. The reason we mark certain dies is due to the fact that as the die and metal is pressed it stretches slightly which can slightly deform designs that have round elements or borders. To account for the stretch, we slightly shorten those designs so they will be closer to the right dimensions once pressed.