Freya, the Norse goddess of beauty, love, and fertility, often went cruising in a chariot hitched to a large pair of cats. Norwegian Forest Cat Fanciers like to believe that the two cats providing the horsepower for Freya's chariot --- and another celebrated feline who was so heavy the mighty Thor could not lift him --- were the mythological ancestors of today's Wegies.

You would expect a cat that consorted with gods and goddesses to be a splendid creation, and the Norwegian Forest Cat does not disappoint. The Wegie is a double- coated, heavy - boned, deep - chested charmer with large, almond - shaped eyes set fetchingly in a handsome, triangular face. An alert, clever, and devoted companion whose disposition is as winning as his countenance, the Forest Cat reaches physical maturity at five years. By this time Norwegian males, much the larger of the sexes, weigh 15 to 17 pounds.

Though Wegies take time to mature, they waste no time playing a tune on their owner's heartstrings. Their purr boxes are constantly working, and they continuously exhibit their love of people. If they have a fault, it is that they want to be with you and to love you all the time.

The Forest Cat is a naturally occurring breed that has lived for hundreds of years in Norwegian woods. The earliest references to cats that resemble today's Wegies are found in Norwegian folk tales that were gathered and recorded between 1837 and 1852. The history of cat breeds, however, is an oral, not a linear affair. Some observers theorize that Forest Cats may be the descendants of backwoods rendezvous between shorthaired cats from England brought to Norway by the Vikings and longhaired cats brought in by the Crusaders.

Whatever its origin, the Forest Cat owes its vitality, resourcefulness, and sensible, water - repellent coat to the rough winters of its native country. The Wegie's domain is the farmland and woodland of central Norway, which lies roughly between the 59th and 62nd degrees of latitude. (Alaska is the only state in this country which lies above the 59th parallel). Thus, unlike many show cats that could only survive in a drawing room atmosphere, the Wegie has a diehard constitution, a resilience forged in a harsh, wet climate that rewards the survivors of one winter by giving them the opportunity to survive another one. These characteristics, so valuable to the Wegie throughout its development, still serve to make this breed a sturdy indoor show cat or pet.

For all but the last 20 years, the Forest Cat has been a prophet without a pulpit-or papers-in Norway. The Wegie was left to survive outdoors while the two-legged Norwegians who took part in those unusual forms of animal worship known as cat shows sought the company of other, more exotic breeds. In the mid - '30 s a few Norwegian fanciers got together to promote the Forest Cat, called the Skogkatt in Norway, and a Wegie was exhibited at a show in Oslo in 1938, but World War II delayed the breed's progress in the cat fancy.

After the war, continued breeding between Forest Cat and the domestic shorthaired huskatt, the equivalent of our free -ranging domestic feline, almost stopped the Wegie's progress cold. Fortunately, in the early '70s Carl-Fredrik Nordane, past president of the Norwegian Cat Association, began lobbying on the Wegie's behalf. He organized a meeting at which the first Norwegian Forest Cat breeding program was designed, and helped to charter the Norsk Skogkattring, a Wegie breed club which held its first meeting in February 1975.

Two and a half years later Nordane traveled to Paris, where he made a presentation about Forest Cats to the general assembly of Feline International Federation (FIFe) on November 25,1977. Norway's quarantine laws made it inconvenient for Nordane to bring live cats with him, but he showed the FIFe assembly slides of two Wegies with winning names: Truls and Pippi Skogpus.The cats must have had winning conformation, too, because FIFe voted to confer championship status on the breed. When Nordane returned to Oslo the following night, he was greeted with flags, music, and 40 cars' worth of NORAK (Norwegian Cat Fancy Council ) members in a joyous parade.

The first breeding pair of Norwegian Forest Cats arrived in the United States on November 1, 1979. The first Norwegian litter born in this country arrived on March 21, 1981. In August 1984 The International Cat Association (TICA) became the first North American registry to grant championship status to the Norwegian Forest Cat, which is currently accepted for championship competition by ACFA, CFA, and CFF as well as TICA.

As of June 1, 1994, about 1500 Wegies had been registered in various Cat associations. Wegie breeders are pledged to seeing this number grow, but they are even more determined to preserve the Wegie's steadfast and sunny disposition and its natural beauty. Indeed, if you divided cat breeds into two groups-those whose features have been redesigned by human intervention and those whose features have not-the Forest Cat would belong in the second category.

While the Norwegian Forest Cat is a unique breed, it is often confused with the Maine Coon Cat. This confusion disappears upon closer inspection, for the Norwegian is a boxy cat, while the Maine Coon is long and rectangular. The Wegie has a straight nose; the Maine's is curved. The Norwegian's muzzle fits neatly into its triangular face; the Maine Coon has a prominent, squared-off muzzle. The Wegie's ears are wide spaced and forward tilting; the Maine Coon's ears sit upright on top of its head.

Since being accepted in Europe more than a decade ago, the Norwegian Forest Cat has traveled from footnote to spotlight in the cat fancy. Referred to as a "living national cultural monument" by many of its fans, the Skogkatt is a tactile pleasure and a temperamental delight. And whether Thor could have lifted a Wegie or not, it's safe to say that he couldn't have resisted petting one!