Gefjon
Encyclopedia
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
, Gefjon or Gefjun (with the alternate spelling Gefion) is a goddess associated with plough
Plough
The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
ing, the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
island of Zealand, the legendary Swedish king
Mythical kings of Sweden
In sources such as Heimskringla and Ynglinga saga there appear early Swedish kings who belong in the domain of mythology.From about the 6th century, these kings are gradually succeeded by Swedish semi-legendary kings with at least partial claim to historicity....
Gylfi
Gylfi
In Norse mythology, Gylfi, Gylfe, Gylvi, or Gylve was the earliest king in Scandinavia recorded. The traditions on Gylfi deal with how he was tricked by the gods and his relations with the goddess Gefjon.-The creation of Zealand:...
, the legendary Danish king
Legendary Danish kings
The legendary kings of Denmark are the predecessors of Gorm the Old, half history and half legend. The accounts of the Danish kings are confusing and contradictory, and so this presentation tries to separate the various sources from each other...
Skjöldr
Skjöldr
Skjöldr was among the first legendary Danish kings. He is mentioned in the Prose Edda, in Ynglinga saga, in Chronicon Lethrense, in Sven Aggesen's history, in Arngrímur Jónsson's Latin abstract of the lost Skjöldunga saga and in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum...
, foreknowledge
Foreknowledge
Foreknowledge may refer to* Various concepts of knowledge regarding future events:** Predestination** Prediction - Informed or uninformed guesses regarding future events...
, and virginity
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
. Gefjon is attested in the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the Prose Edda
Prose Edda
The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Nordic mythology...
and Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
; in the works of skald
Skald
The skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking Age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
s; and appears as a gloss
Gloss
A gloss is a brief notation of the meaning of a word or wording in a text. It may be in the language of the text, or in the reader's language if that is different....
for various Greco-Roman goddesses
Classical mythology
Classical mythology or Greco-Roman mythology is the cultural reception of myths from the ancient Greeks and Romans. Along with philosophy and political thought, mythology represents one of the major survivals of classical antiquity throughout later Western culture.Classical mythology has provided...
in some Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
translations of Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
works.
The Prose Edda and Heimskringla both report that Gefjon plowed away what is now lake Mälaren
Mälaren
Lake Mälaren is the third-largest lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Its area is 1,140 km² and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from east to west...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and with this land formed the island of Zealand, Denmark. In addition, the Prose Edda describes that not only is Gefjon a virgin herself, but that all who die a virgin become her attendants. Heimskringla records that Gefjon married the legendary Danish king Skjöldr
Skjöldr
Skjöldr was among the first legendary Danish kings. He is mentioned in the Prose Edda, in Ynglinga saga, in Chronicon Lethrense, in Sven Aggesen's history, in Arngrímur Jónsson's Latin abstract of the lost Skjöldunga saga and in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum...
and that the two dwelled in Lejre
Lejre
Lejre is a town with a population of 2,343 and a municipality on the island of Zealand in east Denmark. It belongs to Region Sjælland. The town's Old Norse name was Hleiðra. The municipality has an area of 240 km² and a total population of ca. 26,603 . Its mayor is Mette Touborg, representing the...
, Denmark.
Scholars have proposed theories about the etymology the name of the goddess, connections to fertility and ploughing practices, the implications of the references made to her as a virgin, five potential mentions of the goddess in the Old English poem Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
, and potential connections between Gefjon and Grendel's Mother
Grendel's mother
Grendel's mother is one of three antagonists in the work of Old English literature of anonymous authorship, Beowulf . She is never given a name in the text....
and/or the goddesses Freyja and Frigg
Frigg
Frigg is a major goddess in Norse paganism, a subset of Germanic paganism. She is said to be the wife of Odin, and is the "foremost among the goddesses" and the queen of Asgard. Frigg appears primarily in Norse mythological stories as a wife and a mother. She is also described as having the power...
.
Etymology
The etymology of the name Gefjon has been a matter of dispute. In modern scholarship, the element Gef- in Gef-jon is generally theorized as related to the element Gef- in the name Gef-n. The name Gefn is one of the numerous names for the goddess Freyja, and likely means "she who gives (prosperity or happiness)." The connection between the two names has resulted in etymological results of Gefjun meaning "the giving one." The names Gefjun and Gefn are both related to the Matron groups the Alagabiae or Ollogabiae.Albert Murey Sturtevant notes that "the only other feminine personal name which contains the suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
-un is Njǫr-un
Njörun
In Norse mythology, Njörun is a goddess attested in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and various kennings . Scholarly theories have proposed that Njörun may represent the earth...
, recorded only in the þulur
Nafnaþulur
Nafnaþulur is a subsection of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the last part of the Skáldskaparmál. It is a listing in verse of names that may be used in poetry for various items, such as gods, giants, people, animals, and weapons...
[...], and among the kvenna heiti ókend
Heiti
A heiti is a synonym used in Old Norse poetry in place of the normal word for something...
. Whatever the stem syllable Njǫr- represents (perhaps *ner- as in *Ner-þuz
Nerthus
In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with fertility. Nerthus is attested by Tacitus, the first century AD Roman historian, in his Germania. Various theories exist regarding the goddess and her potential later traces amongst the Germanic tribes...
>Njǫrðr), the addition of the n- and un-suffixes seems to furnish an exact parallel to Gef-n : Gefj-un (cf. Njǫr-n : Njǫr-un)."
A Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
word for "bride's outfit, trousseau
Trousseau
Trousseau may refer to:*A dowry*The outfit of a bride, including the wedding dress or similar clothing*A name for the Bastardo grape in some regions*A white mutation of the Trousseau grape, known as Trousseau Gris...
" may derive from Gefjon's name.
Poetic Edda
Lokasenna
Lokasenna is one of the poems of the Poetic Edda. The poem presents flyting between the gods and Loki....
, where an exchange occurs between Gefjun and Loki at a dinner feast, and the god Odin
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
comes to Gefjon's defense. After an exchange occurs between Loki and the goddess Iðunn
Iðunn
In Norse mythology, Iðunn is a goddess associated with apples and youth. Iðunn is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson...
, Gefjon questions why Loki wants to bring negativity into the hall with the assembled gods:
Benjamin ThorpeBenjamin ThorpeBenjamin Thorpe was an English scholar of Anglo-Saxon.-Biography:After studying for four years at Copenhagen University, under the Danish philologist Rasmus Christian Rask, he returned to England in 1830, and in 1832 published an English version of Caedmon's metrical paraphrase of portions of the...
translation:
- Gefion.
- Why will ye, Æsir twain, here within,
- strive with reproachful words?
- Lopt perceives not that he is deluded,
- and is urged on by fate.
Henry Adams BellowsHenry Adams BellowsHenry Adams Bellows was a lawyer, state legislator, and jurist born in Rockingham, Vermont. He was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives from Littleton, New Hampshire in 1839. He was subsequently elected again to the House from Concord, New Hampshire in 1856–1857, and served as...
translation:
- Gefjun spake:
- "Why, ye gods twain, with bitter tongues
- Raise hate among us here?
- Lokis is famed for his mockery foul,
- And the dwellers in heaven he hates.
The last two lines of the stanza above differ greatly by translation. Henry Adams Bellows comments that the manuscript text for these two lines is "puzzling" and that as a result they have been "freely amended." In the stanza that follows, Loki responds to Gefjon, commenting that a youthful male once gave her a necklace, and that with this youth Gefjon slept:
- Loki.
- Be silent, Gefion! I will now just mention,
- how that fair youth thy mind corrupted,
- who thee a necklace gave,
- and around whom thou thy limbs didst twine?
Loki spake Be silent, Gefjun! for now shall I say Who led thee to evil life; The boy so fair gave a necklace bright, And about him thy leg was laid.
Odin interjects; stating that Loki must be quite insane to incur the wrath of Gefjon, for she knows the destinies of mankind just as well as Odin himself:
- Thou art raving mad, Loki! and hast lost thy wits,
- in calling Gefion's anger on thee;
- for all men's destinies,
- I ween, she knows as thoroughly as I do.
Mad art thou, Loki, and little of wit, The wrath of Gefjun to rouse; For the fate that is set for all she sees. Even as I, methinks.
Prose Edda
Gylfaginning
Gylfaginning, or the Tricking of Gylfi , is the first part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda after Prologue. The Gylfaginning deals with the creation and destruction of the world of the Norse gods, and many other aspects of Norse mythology...
begins with a prose account stating that King Gylfi
Gylfi
In Norse mythology, Gylfi, Gylfe, Gylvi, or Gylve was the earliest king in Scandinavia recorded. The traditions on Gylfi deal with how he was tricked by the gods and his relations with the goddess Gefjon.-The creation of Zealand:...
was once the ruler of "what is now called Sweden," and that he was said to have given "a certain vagrant woman, as reward for his entertainment, one plough-land in his kingdom, as much as four oxen could plow up in a day and night." This woman was "of the race of the Æsir
Ass
Ass may refer to:* The mammal Equus africanus asinus better known as the Donkey** Asinus subgenus* North American English informal term for buttocks* áss, one of the Æsir in Norse mythology* Ass , by Badfinger...
" and her name was Gefjun. Gefjun took four oxen from Jötunheimr
Jötunheimr
Jötunheimr is one of the Nine Worlds and the homeland of the Giants of Norse Mythology — Rock Giants and Frost Giants.-Legend:...
in the north. These oxen were her sons from a jötunn (name not provided). Gefjun's plough "cut so hard and deep that it uprooted the land, and the oxen drew the land out into the sea to the west and halted in a certain sound." Gefjun there placed the land, and bestowed upon it the name Zealand. Where the land had been taken from a lake stands. According to Snorri, the lake is now known as Lake Mälar
Mälaren
Lake Mälaren is the third-largest lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Its area is 1,140 km² and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from east to west...
, located in Sweden, and the inlets in this lake parallel the headlands of Zealand; however, since this is much more true of Lake Vänern
Vänern
Vänern is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the EU and the third largest lake in Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in the southwest of the country.- History :...
, the myth was probably originally about Vänern, not Mälaren.
As a reference, the prose account presents a stanza from a work attributed to the 9th century skald
Skald
The skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking Age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
Bragi Boddason
Bragi Boddason
In his Edda Snorri Sturluson quotes many stanzas attributed to Bragi Boddason the old , a court poet who served several Swedish kings, Ragnar Lodbrok, Östen Beli and Björn at Hauge who reigned in the first half of the ninth century...
:
- Gefjun dragged from Gylfi,
- gladly the land beyond value.
- Denmark's increase,
- steam rising from the swift-footed bulls.
- The oxen bore eight
- moons of the forehead and four heads,
- hauling as they went in front of
- the grassy isle's wide fissure.
In chapter 35 of Gylfaginning, the enthroned figure of High
High, Just-As-High, and Third
High, Just-As-High, and Third are three men that respond to questions posed by Gangleri in the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning...
presents a list of goddesses. High presents Gefjun fourth, and says that Gefjun is a virgin, and all who die as virgins attend her. In relation, High notes that, like Gefjun, the goddess Fulla
Fulla
In Germanic mythology, Fulla or Volla is a goddess. In Norse mythology, Fulla is described as wearing a golden snood and as tending to the ashen box and the footwear owned by the goddess Frigg, and, in addition, Frigg confides in Fulla her secrets...
is also a virgin. At the beginning of the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál
Skáldskaparmál
The second part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda the Skáldskaparmál or "language of poetry" is effectively a dialogue between the Norse god of the sea, Ægir and Bragi, the god of poetry, in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined...
, Gefjun is listed among nine goddesses who attend a banquet for Ægir
Ægir
Ægir is a sea giant, god of the ocean and king of the sea creatures in Norse mythology. He is also known for hosting elaborate parties for the gods.Ægir's servants are Fimafeng and Eldir.- Description :...
on the island of Hlesey (modern Læsø
Læsø
Læsø is the largest island in the North Sea bay of Kattegat, and is located off the northeast coast of the Jutland Peninsula, the Danish mainland. Læsø is also the name of the municipality on that island...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
). In chapter 32, Gefjun is listed among six goddesses who attend a party held by Ægir. In chapter 75, Gefjun is included among a list of 27 ásynjur names. In addition, Gefjun appears in a kenning
Kenning
A kenning is a type of literary trope, specifically circumlocution, in the form of a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse and later Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon poetry...
for the völva
Völva
A vǫlva or völva is a shamanic seeress in Norse paganism, and a recurring motif in Norse mythology....
Gróa
Gróa
In Norse mythology, Gróa is a völva and practitioner of seiðr, the wife of Aurvandil the Bold.-Prose Edda:Gróa appears in the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, in the context of Thor's battle with the jötunn Hrungnir...
("ale-Gefjun") employed in the skald
Skald
The skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking Age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
Þjóðólfr of Hvinir
Þjóðólfr of Hvinir
Þjóðólfr of Hvinir was a Norwegian skald, active around the year 900. He is considered to have been the original author of Ynglingatal, a poem glorifying the Norwegian petty king Ragnvald the Mountain-High, by describing how he was descended from the Swedish kings and the Norse gods.He is also...
's composition Haustlöng
Haustlöng
Haustlöng is a skaldic poem composed around the beginning of the 10th century. The poem is preserved in the 13th century Prose Edda, which quotes two groups of stanzas from it, and is attributed to the Norwegian skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir. The poem describes mythological scenes painted on a shield...
as quoted in chapter 17 of Skáldskaparmál.
Heimskringla
Ynglinga saga
Ynglinga saga is a legendary saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It was first translated into English and published in 1844....
(as collected in Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
), an euhemerized prose account relates that Odin sent Gefjun from Odense
Odense
The city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
, Funen
Funen
Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
"north over the sound to seek for land." There, Gefjun encountered king Gylfi "and he gave her ploughland." Gefjun went to the land of Jötunheimr, and there bore four sons to a jötunn (whose name is not provided). Gefjun transformed these four sons into ox
Ox
An ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable...
en, attached them to a plough, and drew forth the land westward of the sea, opposite to Odense. The saga adds that this land is now called Zealand, and that Gefjun married Skjöldr
Skjöldr
Skjöldr was among the first legendary Danish kings. He is mentioned in the Prose Edda, in Ynglinga saga, in Chronicon Lethrense, in Sven Aggesen's history, in Arngrímur Jónsson's Latin abstract of the lost Skjöldunga saga and in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum...
(described here as "a son of Odin"). The two dwelled in Lejre
Lejre
Lejre is a town with a population of 2,343 and a municipality on the island of Zealand in east Denmark. It belongs to Region Sjælland. The town's Old Norse name was Hleiðra. The municipality has an area of 240 km² and a total population of ca. 26,603 . Its mayor is Mette Touborg, representing the...
thereafter. From where Gefjun took the land that formed Zealand, a lake was left behind call Lögrinn
Mälaren
Lake Mälaren is the third-largest lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Its area is 1,140 km² and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from east to west...
, and the saga posits that the bays in lake Lögrinn correspond to the ness
Ness
- Places :* The Germanic word for promontory, found in Northern European placenames* Loch Ness, a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands** Loch Ness Monster, a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness...
es of Zealand. This is followed by the same stanza used in Gylfaginning above composed by the skald Bragi Boddason.
Völsa þáttr
Gefjun is sworn by in the þáttr Völsa þáttrVölsa þáttr
Vǫlsa þáttr is a short story which is only extant in the Flatey Book, where it is found in a chapter of Óláfs saga helga. It is probably from the fourteenth century but takes place in 1029 when Scandinavia was still largely pagan, and it appears to preserve traditions of a pagan phallos cult, the...
, where the daughter of a thrall
Thrall
Thrall was the term for a serf or unfree servant in Scandinavian culture during the Viking Age.Thralls were the lowest in the social order and usually provided unskilled labor during the Viking era.-Etymology:...
reluctantly worships a penis severed from a horse:
- Old Norse
- Þess sver eg við Gefjun
- og við goðin önnur,
- að eg nauðug tek
- við nosa rauðum.
- Þiggi mörnir
- þetta blæti,
- en þræll hjóna,
- þríf þú við Völsa.
Modern English I swear by Gefjun and the other gods that against my will do I touch this red proboscis. May giantesses accept this holy object, but now, slave of my parents, grab hold of Völsi.
Glosses
Gefjon appears in some Old Norse translations of Latin works as a glossGloss
A gloss is a brief notation of the meaning of a word or wording in a text. It may be in the language of the text, or in the reader's language if that is different....
on the names of goddesses from Greco-Roman mythology
Classical mythology
Classical mythology or Greco-Roman mythology is the cultural reception of myths from the ancient Greeks and Romans. Along with philosophy and political thought, mythology represents one of the major survivals of classical antiquity throughout later Western culture.Classical mythology has provided...
. In several works, including Breta sögur (based on Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
's Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation...
) the goddess Diana
Diana (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
is glossed as Gefjon. In Stjórn
Stjórn
Stjórn is the name given to a collection of Old Norse translations of Old Testament historical material dating from the 14th century, which together cover Jewish history from Genesis through to II Kings. Despite the collective title, Stjórn is not a homogenous work...
, Gefjon appears as a gloss for the goddess Aphrodite
Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....
. In other works, Gefjon glosses the goddesses Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
and Vesta
Vesta (mythology)
Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion. Vesta's presence was symbolized by the sacred fire that burned at her hearth and temples...
.
Ploughing, folk customs, parallels, and fertility
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
around 1 CE, 5th century BCE Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
historian Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
, and in folktales from Northern Europe. In six tales from Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and one from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
a plough is used similarly as in Livy's account, though the conditions are often met by walking or riding.
Hilda Ellis Davidson points out a tale from Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
that features a female settler "whose husband had died on the voyage out, establishing her claim to a piece of land by driving a young hiefer round it." Davidson notes that in Landnámabók
Landnámabók
Landnámabók , often shortened to Landnáma, is a medieval Icelandic written work describing in considerable detail the settlement of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries AD.-Landnáma:...
, this is recorded as a recognized method for a woman to claim land, and the work further details that "she might not possess more than she could encircle in this way between sunrise and sunset on a spring day." Davidson comments that "this sounds like a ritual taking over of land rather than a legal requirement, like the custom of men lighting fires when taking new land, and it is possible that the women's custom was linked with the fertility goddess." In addition, Davidson notes that Zealand is the most fertile region of Denmark.
Davidson further links folk customs recorded in the 19th century involving ploughs in Northern and Eastern Europe to practices involving Gefjon from the heathen period. Davidson points out that in eastern Europe, a custom is recorded in Russia where women with loosened hair and clad in white would assemble and drag a plough three times around their village during serious disease outbreaks. In Western Europe, yearly ploughing rituals occurring in England and Denmark in preparation for spring sowing which are, in eastern England, held on Plough Monday
Plough Monday
Plough Monday is the traditional start of the English agricultural year. While local practices may vary, Plough Monday is generally the first Monday after Twelfth Day , 6 January. References to Plough Monday date back to the late 15th century...
after the Christmas break. Gangs of young men dragged round a plough, while taking various names. Davidson states that "Gefjon with her giant sons transformed into oxen seems a fitting patroness of ceremonies of this kind."
Davidson finds similar elements and parallels in non-Germanic traditions, such as a folktale regarding the Lady of the Lake
Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake is the name of several related characters who play parts in the Arthurian legend. These characters' roles include giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot after the death of his father...
from Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
recorded in the 19th century. In the tale, the Lady brings forth a "a herd of wondrous cattle" from the water after she consents to marrying a local farmer. Years later, he unwittingly breaks conditions that she had laid down. As a result, the Lady returns to her dwelling beneath the lake, and calls for her cattle to accompany her, calling them by name. In one version of the tale, the Lady calls forth four gray oxen who were ploughing in a field six miles away. Responding to her call, the oxen dragged the plough with them, and the gash in the land that the plough produced was said to have once been clearly visible.
A woman was recorded in 1881 as having claimed to recall that people once gathered at the lake on the first Sunday of August, waiting to see whether or not the water would boil up as an indication that the Lady and her oxen would make an appearance. Davidson notes that "here again a supernatural woman is linked both with water and ploughing land."
Davidson states that in Germanic areas of Europe, traditions also exist of supernatural women who travel about the countryside with a plough, examples including Holde and Holle
Holle
Holle is a village and a municipality in the district of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km southeast of Hildesheim, and 15 km west of Salzgitter. It was mentioned in Tom Clancy's bestseller Red Storm Rising.- External links :...
(from the western and central regions of Germany) and Berchte
Perchta
Perchta or Berchta , also commonly known as Percht and other variations, was once known as a goddess in Southern Germanic paganism in the Alpine countries...
and Perchte
Perchta
Perchta or Berchta , also commonly known as Percht and other variations, was once known as a goddess in Southern Germanic paganism in the Alpine countries...
in traditions from upper Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Davidson explains that "they were frequently said to travel with a plough around the countryside, in a way reminiscent of the journey of the fertility goddess to bless the land in pre-Christian times, and on these occasions they might be accompanied by a host of tiny children; it was suggested that these children who died unbaptized, or human offspring replaced by changelings, but another possibility is that they were the souls of the unborn." Davidson details that some local tales feature the plough breaking down, the supernatural woman gaining assistance from a helper, and the supernatural woman giving him wooden chips, only for the chips to later to turn to gold.
Regarding the plough and Gefjon, Davidson concludes that "the idea behind the taking of the plough round the countryside seems to be that it brought good fortune and prosperity, gifts of a benevolent goddess. Gefjon and her plough thus fit into a large framework of the cult of a goddess associated with fertility of both land and water."
Possible Gylfaginning manuscript alteration
Questions have been proposed over the seemingly contradictory description of Gefjon as a virgin in Gylfaginning, yet also as attested as having sexual relations (Lokasenna, Heimskringla) and marrying (Heimskringla). John LindowJohn Lindow
John Lindow is a professor specializing in Scandinavian medieval studies and folklore at the University of California, Berkeley and author. Lindow's works include Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Rituals, and Beliefs, a handbook for Norse mythology...
says that the Gefjon/Gylfi story in Gylfaginning is absent in one branch of manuscripts of the work, and that "the fact that Gylfi is reintroduced directly after it in the other manuscripts, suggests that that it was not part of Snorri's [author of the Prose Edda and Heimskringla] original text but may have been added by a later scribe." Lindow says that if Snorri did not write it, the possibility exists that whoever added the story either was aware of an association made between Gefjon and the Greek goddess Diana (as in the "glosses" section above) "or took the view of the pagan gods as demons and therefore made a whore out of Gefjon." However, Lindow adds that the reference to Gefjon made by Loki in Lokasenna suggest that the notion of Gefjon partaking in sexual activity may have been widespread.
Beowulf and Gabia
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
in five passages (line 49, line 362, line 515, line 1394, and line 1690). Scholar Frank Battaglia refers to these passages as "the Gefion passages," and asks "Does Beowulf oppose the Earth Goddess of ancient Germanic religion
Germanic paganism
Germanic paganism refers to the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples of north-western Europe from the Iron Age until their Christianization during the Medieval period...
? The possibility of such an interpretation follows upon the discovery that the name Gefion, by which early Danes called their female chthonic deity
Chthonic
Chthonic designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion. The Greek word khthon is one of several for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather than the living surface of the land or the land as territory...
, may occur in the Old English poem five times." Battaglia further theorizes that:
- The five Gefion passages seem to highlight the championing of a new order antagonistic to goddess worship. In light of what appears to be an elaborate thematic statement about patrilineage in the poem, the new order may also have entailed a change in kinship systems. Grendel
GrendelGrendel is one of three antagonists, along with Grendel's mother and the dragon, in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf . Grendel is usually depicted as a monster, though this is the subject of scholarly debate. In the poem, Grendel is feared by all but Beowulf.-Story:The poem Beowulf is contained in...
and his motherGrendel's motherGrendel's mother is one of three antagonists in the work of Old English literature of anonymous authorship, Beowulf . She is never given a name in the text....
may stand as types of earlier, matrilineal tribes. Further the hallHeorotHeorot is a mead hall described in the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf as "the foremost of halls under heaven." It served as a palace for King Hroðgar, a legendary Danish king of the sixth century. Heorot means "Hall of the Hart"...
which is the object of struggle between BeowulfBeowulf (hero)Beowulf is a legendary Geatish hero and later turned king in the epic poem named after him, one of the oldest surviving pieces of literature in the English language.-Etymology and origins of the character:...
and the first two monsters may symbolize the consolidation of new hierarchical social organization among the northern Germanic peoples.
Battaglia says that if the passages are taken to represent Gefjon, gēafon mentioned in line 49 refers directly to Gefjon's sadness at Skjöldr's (described as having wed Gefjon in Heimskringla) death, and that here "we may with some confidence conclude that in a poem about Scyld
Skjöldr
Skjöldr was among the first legendary Danish kings. He is mentioned in the Prose Edda, in Ynglinga saga, in Chronicon Lethrense, in Sven Aggesen's history, in Arngrímur Jónsson's Latin abstract of the lost Skjöldunga saga and in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum...
's funeral for an Anglo-Danish audience, the word gēafon could probably not have been used without invoking Gefion."
Battaglia posits translations for line 362 (Geofenes begang) as "Gefion's realm," line 515 (Geofon ȳðum wēol) as "Gefion welled up in waves," line 1394 (nē on Gyfenes grund, gā þær hē wille) as "not (even) in the ground of Gefion, go where he will," and line 1690 (Gifen gēotende gīgante cyn;) as "Gefion gushing, the race of giants."
Scholar Richard North theorizes that Old English geofon and Old Norse Gefjun and Freyja's name Gefn may all descend from a common origin; gabia a Germanic goddess connected with the sea, whose name means "giving".
Frigg and Freyja
Some scholars have proposed a connection between Gefjun and the goddesses FriggFrigg
Frigg is a major goddess in Norse paganism, a subset of Germanic paganism. She is said to be the wife of Odin, and is the "foremost among the goddesses" and the queen of Asgard. Frigg appears primarily in Norse mythological stories as a wife and a mother. She is also described as having the power...
and Freyja due to perceived similarities. Britt-Mari Näsström theorizes that Gefjun is simply another aspect of Freyja, and that the "white youth" that Freyja is accused of sleeping with by Loki in Gylfaginning may be the god Heimdallr.
Hilda Ellis Davidson says that "there seems ample indication that Gefjon represents one aspect of a once powerful goddess of the north, the figure representing in Scandinavian myths as either Frigg, the wife of Odin, or Freyja, sister of fertility god Freyr. Freyja, desired by gods, giants and dwarves alike, acted as dispenser of bounty and inspirer of sexual love between men and women like the Greek Aphrodite." In addition, Davidson says that "as Axel Olrik
Axel Olrik
Axel Olrik was a Danish folklorist, and a pioneer in the methodical study of oral narrative.His Principles for Oral Narrative Research, recently translated by K. Wolf and J. Jensen, Bloomington, Ind., 1992, was first published in 1921, after Olrik's early death...
(1901) pointed out long ago, we know very little about Gefion, and it is possible that she can be identified with Frigg or Freyja" and not only does the Prose Edda associate her with an afterlife realm of the dead, "in Lokasenna, Loki claims that Gefion was given a jewel by a lover, traditions that would fit in very well with what we know of Freyja."
Regarding parallels drawn between Freyja and Gefjon proposed from the exchange found in Lokasenna, Rudolf Simek
Rudolf Simek
Rudolf Simek is an Austrian Germanist and Philologian.Simek studied German literature, philosophy and Catholic theology in the University of Vienna, before becoming a librarian and a docent at the institution. He taught among others in the universities of Edinburgh, Tromsø and Sydney...
says that Lokasenna is a "late composition and the reproach is too much of a stereotype to carry much weight." Simek says that, regardless, even if Gefjon shouldn't be identified with Freyja, Gefjon could still be considered "one of the fertility and protective goddesses because of the meaning of her name ('the giving one')."
Modern influence
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in the forty-page Swedish Romantic poem
Swedish Romantic literature
Swedish Romantic literature denotes Swedish literature between 1809 and 1830. In Europe, the period from circa 1805–1840 is known as Romanticism. It was also strongly featured in Sweden, based on German influences. During this relatively short period, there were so many great Swedish poets,...
Gefion, a Poem in Four Cantos by Eleonora Charlotta d'Albedyhll (1770–1835). A fountain depicting Gefjun driving her oxen sons to pull her plough (The Gefion Fountain
Gefion fountain
The Gefion Fountain is a large fountain on the harbour front in Copenhagen, Denmark. It features a large-scale group of animal figures being driven by the legendary Norse goddess, Gefjun...
, 1908) by Anders Bundgaard stands in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark, on the island of Zealand, as in the myth. The Gefion family
Gefion family
The Gefion family of asteroids is a grouping of S-type asteroids in the intermediate main belt.-Properties:The members have proper orbital elements in the approximate ranges...
, a family of asteroids
Asteroid family
An asteroid family is a population of asteroids that share similar proper orbital elements, such as semimajor axis, eccentricity, and orbital inclination. The members of the families are thought to be fragments of past asteroid collisions...
, and asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
1272 Gefion
1272 Gefion
1272 Gefion is an asteroid from the asteroid belt discovered on October 10, 1931 by Reinmuth, K. at Heidelberg.-References:...
(discovered in 1931 by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth
Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth
Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth was a German astronomer.He was a prolific discoverer of asteroids , beginning with 796 Sarita in 1914, working at the Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl astronomical observatory on the Königstuhl hill above Heidelberg, Germany from 1912 to 1957.His most notable...
) both derive their names from that of the goddess.