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Confidence, secrets and service to Frigg Fulla is one of the ásynjur closely associated with Frigg, Odin’s wife. Few stories about her survive, but the available details portray a distinctive figure in the divine household: confidante, personal attendant and keeper of Frigg’s secrets. Her importance comes less from great deeds than from the extraordinary trust she appears to enjoy within the innermost circle of the queen of the Æsir. In Gylfaginning, part of the Prose Edda, Snorri Sturluson includes Fulla among the ásynjur and gives several specific details about her. Fulla is described as a young woman with loose hair and a gold band around her head. She carries Frigg’s casket or box, looks after her footwear and, above all, knows her secrets. This last detail is especially significant. Fulla holds a position of trust that goes far beyond that of a simple household servant. Her access to Frigg’s secrets places her within the goddess’s private sphere and makes their relationship one of the best-documented aspects of Fulla. Fulla’s description provides one of the few explicit physical attributes associated with a lesser ásynja. Snorri says she wears a golden band around her head and has loose hair. This band is her most firmly attested iconographic attribute. After Baldr’s death, Hermóðr rides to Hel’s realm. There he finds Baldr and his wife, Nanna. When he returns, Nanna sends a piece of cloth to Frigg and also gives a gold ring intended for Fulla. The episode reinforces Fulla’s closeness to Frigg and her place within Baldr’s family circle. The second of the Merseburg Incantations, a tenth-century German manuscript, mentions a figure named Volla alongside Friia. The linguistic resemblance between Fulla and Volla, together with Volla’s association with Frigg, has led scholars to connect the two figures, although differences between the traditions call for caution. 
Fulla belongs to the group of female divinities Snorri places around Frigg. Gná and Hlín are also associated with her, although they have different functions. Fulla occupies an intimate role: she guards Frigg’s personal belongings and knows what Frigg keeps secret. The medieval sources offer very little additional information about Fulla. She has no known independent mythological cycle, no clearly documented home of her own and no secure Norse genealogy. What remains clearest is a specific image: a young woman with loose hair and a golden band who stays beside Frigg, carries her casket, looks after her belongings and knows her secrets. Group: Ásynjur Divine circle: Frigg and the Æsir Principal function: Frigg’s confidante and attendant Documented attributes: Gold band, loose hair and Frigg’s casket Responsibilities: Carrying Frigg’s casket and looking after her footwear Knowledge: Keeper of Frigg’s secrets Gift received: Gold ring sent by Nanna from Hel Possible Germanic counterpart: Volla in the Merseburg Incantations Principal sources: Gylfaginning and the Second Merseburg Incantation
Fulla
Frigg’s confidante
The gold band
Nanna’s gift from Hel
Fulla and Volla
Her place among the ásynjur