Beyla

Beyla appears in the prose introduction to the Poetic Edda poem Lokasenna as one of Freyr's servants alongside her husband Byggvir and is named again in stanzas 55 and 66 of the same poem. No independent origin narrative or wider mythic role survives in the provided sources; the figure exists only as a named member of Freyr's retinue in the Lokasenna episode. Modern commentary reconstructs possible meanings for her role (not present in the medieval text) by linking her to agricultural functions because of her association with Freyr.

The primary texts offer no physical description of Beyla. In Lokasenna Loki insults her, calling her 'filthy' (stanza 55), but the sources do not explain the accusation or give corporeal details. Any reconstruction of appearance in later commentary is speculative and derives from interpretive readings of her name and household role rather than from textual description.

The extant stanzas provide no explicit supernatural powers or capabilities for Beyla; she is attested only as a named attendant of Freyr and as a target of Loki's insult. Scholarly interpretations (based on etymology and contextual association with Freyr) have proposed that Beyla may personify an agricultural substance—commonly suggested examples include manure, or more broadly items linked to cows, beans, or bees—functioning metaphorically to soften earth and foster seed growth. These identifications are interpretive hypotheses rather than statements of power in the medieval sources.