Into the modern period, Freyja was treated as a Scandinavian counterpart to the Roman Venus in, for example, Swedish literature, where the goddess may be associated with romantic love or, conversely, simply as a synonym for "lust and potency". In the 18th century, Swedish poet Carl Michael Bellman referred to Stockholm prostitutes in his Fredman's Epistles as "the children of Fröja". In the 19th century, Britt-Mari Näsström observes, Swedish Romanticism focused less on Freyja's erotic qualities and more on the image of "the pining goddess, weeping for her husband".
Into the modern period, Freyja was treated as a Scandinavian counterpart to the Roman Venus in, for example Swedish literature, where the goddess may be associated with romantic love or, conversely, simply as a synonym for "lust and potency". In the 18th century, Swedish poet Carl Michael Bellman referred to Stockholm prostitutes in his Fredman's Epistles as "the children ,of Fröja". In the 19th century, Britt-Mari Näsström observes, Swedish Romanticism focused less on Freyja's erotic qualities and more on the image of "the pining goddess, weeping for her husband".