In Norse mythology, Gefjon (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

: ; alternatively spelled Gefion, or Gefjun , pronounced without secondary syllable stress) is a goddess associated with ploughing, the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

island of

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

, the legendary Swedish king

Gylfi In Norse mythology, Gylfi (Old Norse: ), ''Gylfe'', ''Gylvi'', or ''Gylve'' was the earliest recorded king in Scandinavia. He often uses the name Gangleri when appearing in disguise. The traditions on Gylfi deal with how he was tricked by the god ...

, the

legendary Danish king The legendary kings of Denmark are the predecessors of Gorm the Old, a king who reigned ca. 930s to 950s and is the earliest reliably attested Danish ruler. Historicity of the earlier legendary kings are thus half legend and half history. The acc ...

Skjöldr Skjöldr (Latinized as Skioldus, sometimes Anglicized as Skjold or Skiold) was among the first List of legendary kings of Denmark, legendary Danish kings. He is mentioned in the ''Prose Edda'', in ''Ynglinga saga'', in ''Chronicon Lethrense'', i ...

foreknowledge Foreknowledge is knowledge regarding future events. It may also refer to: * Foresight (disambiguation) * Precognition - prior viewing of some future event * Knowledge of predestination * Prediction or forecasting – calculated, informed or unin ...

, her oxen children, and

virginity Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

. Gefjon is attested in the ''

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...

'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been t ...

'' and ''

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 Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

'', written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson; in the works of skalds; and appears as a gloss for various Greco-Roman goddesses in some

translations of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

works. The ''Prose Edda'' and ''Heimskringla'' both report that Gefjon plowed away what is now lake Mälaren, Sweden, 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

and that the two dwelled in

Lejre Lejre is a railway town, with a population of 3,127 (1 January 2022),Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

poem '' Beowulf'' (parallelled by mentions in the

Old Saxon Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Europe). It ...

poem ''

Heliand The ''Heliand'' () is an epic poem in Old Saxon, written in the first half of the 9th century. The title means ''saviour'' in Old Saxon (cf. German and Dutch ''Heiland'' meaning "saviour"), and the poem is a Biblical paraphrase that recounts the ...

''), and potential connections between Gefjon and

Grendel's Mother Grendel's mother ( ang, Grendles mōdor) is one of three antagonists in the anonymous Old English poem '' Beowulf'' (c. 700-1000 AD), the other two being Grendel and the dragon. Each antagonist reflects different negative aspects of both the h ...

and/or the goddesses

Freyja In Norse paganism, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chario ...

and

Frigg Frigg (; Old Norse: ) is a goddess, one of the Æsir, in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about her, she is associated with marriage, prophecy, clairvoyance and motherhood, and dwells in the wet ...

Etymology

The etymology of theonym ''Gefjon'' (and its variant ''Gefjun'') has been a matter of dispute. In modern scholarship, the element ''Gef-'' is generally held to be related to the element ''Gef-'' in the name ''Gefn'', one of the numerous names for the goddess Freyja, and likely means 'she who gives (prosperity or happiness)'.Sturtevant (1952:166). The connection between the two names has resulted in etymological interpretation of ''Gefjun'' as "the giving one."Orchard (1997:52). The names ''Gefjun'' and ''Gefn'' are both related to the

Matron Matron is the job title of a very senior or the chief nurse in several countries, including the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and other Commonwealth countries and former colonies. Etymology The chief nurse, in other words the person ...

groups the Alagabiae or Ollogabiae.Davidson (1998:79). Albert Murey Sturtevant notes that "the only other feminine personal name which contains the suffix ''-un'' is '' Njǫr-un'', recorded only in the '' þulur'' .. and among the '' kvenna heiti ókend''. Whatever the stem syllable ''Njǫr-'' represents (perhaps *''ner-'' as in *'' Ner-þuz> 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'')."Sturtevant (1952:167). The suffix of the name may stem from the Norse 'hjón', literally 'the joined', meaning a household, a loving couple, or even the crew on a ship, particularly a skeið. A

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

word ''kapiot'' for "bride's outfit,

trousseau Trousseau may refer to: *A dowry *The wardrobe of a bride, including the wedding dress or similar clothing *A hope chest, glory box or its contents *Trousseau (grape), a wine grape also known as Bastardo ** Trousseau Gris, a white mutation of the ...

" may derive from Gefjon's name.Lindow (2001:136).

Attestations

''Poetic Edda''

In the ''Poetic Edda'', Gefjon appears solely in three stanzas of the poem ''

Lokasenna ''Lokasenna'' (Old Norse: 'The Flyting of Loki', or 'Loki's Verbal Duel') is one of the poems of the '' Poetic Edda''. The poem presents flyting between the gods and Loki. It is written in the ljóðaháttr metre, typical for wisdom verse. ''Lo ...

'', where an exchange occurs between Gefjun and Loki at a dinner feast, and the god Odin comes to Gefjon's defense. After an exchange occurs between Loki and the goddess

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 St ...

, Gefjon questions why Loki wants to bring negativity into the hall with the assembled gods:

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:

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:

''Prose Edda''

The ''Prose Edda'' book ''

Gylfaginning ''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; c. 20,000 words; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'' after the Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' deals with t ...

'' begins with a prose account stating that King

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 The Æsir (Old Norse: ) are the gods of the principal pantheon in Norse religion. They include Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, and Baldr. The second Norse pantheon is the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage war against each other, ...

" and her name was Gefjun. Gefjun took four oxen from

Jötunheimr The terms Jötunheimr (in Old Norse orthography: Jǫtunheimr ; often anglicised as Jotunheim) or Jötunheimar refer to either a land or multiple lands in Nordic mythology inhabited by the jötnar. are typically, but not exclusively, presente ...

in the north. These oxen were her sons from a

jötunn A (also jotun; in the normalised scholarly spelling of Old Norse, ; ; plural / ) or, in Old English, (plural ) is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, they are often contrasted with gods ( Æsir and Vani ...

(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, located in Sweden, and the inlets in this lake parallel the headlands of Zealand;Faulkes (1995:7). however, since this is much more true of Lake

Vänern Vänern ( , also , ) is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the European Union and the third-largest lake of all Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland i ...

, the myth was probably originally about Vänern, not Mälaren.Heimir Pálsson
"Tertium vero datur: A study of the text of DG 11 4to"
Thesis,

University of Uppsala Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

, 2010, p. 44 . As a reference, the prose account presents a stanza from a work attributed to the 9th century skald

Bragi Boddason Bragi Boddason, known as Bragi the Old (Old Norse: ''Bragi hinn gamli'') was a Norwegian skald active in the first half of the 9th century, the earliest known skald from whom verses have survived. Portions of his '' Ragnarsdrápa'' are preserved ...

: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.Byock (2006:9).

In chapter 35 of ''Gylfaginning'', the enthroned figure of High 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 (Old Norse: , possibly 'bountiful') or Volla (Old High German, 'plenitude') is a goddess in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Fulla is described as wearing a golden band and as tending to the ashen box and the footwear owned by the g ...

is also a virgin.Faulkes (1995:29). At the beginning of the ''Prose Edda'' book ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda''. The section consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bragi, the god of poetry, ...

'', Gefjun is listed among nine goddesses who attend a banquet for

Ægir Ægir (anglicised as Aegir; Old Norse 'sea'), Hlér (Old Norse 'sea'), or Gymir (Old Norse less clearly 'sea, engulfer'), is a jötunn and a personification of the sea in Norse mythology. In the Old Norse record, Ægir hosts the gods in his halls ...

on the island of Hlesey (modern

Læsø Læsø ("Isle of Hlér") 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 ( Danish, '' kommune'') on that ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

).Faulkes (1995:59). In chapter 32, Gefjun is listed among six goddesses who attend a party held by Ægir.Faulkes (1995:95). In chapter 75, Gefjun is included among a list of 27 ásynjur names.Faulkes (1995:157). In addition, ''Gefjun'' appears in a

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech in the type of circumlocution, a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English ...

for the

völva In Germanic paganism, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future events and perform sorcery. They are also referred to with many other names meaning "prophetess", "staff bearer", "wise woman" and "sorceress", and they are ...

Gróa In Norse mythology, Gróa (possibly from Old Norse "growing"Orchard (1997:63).) is a völva (seeress) and practitioner of ''seiðr''. She is the wife of Aurvandil the Bold. Attestations ''Prose Edda'' Gróa appears in the ''Prose Edda'' book ...

("ale-Gefjun") employed in the skald

Þjóðólfr of Hvinir Þjóðólfr ór Hvini (anglicized as Thjódólf of Hvinir or Thiodolf; fl. late 9th–early 10th c. AD), was a Norwegian skald, said to have been one of the court-poets of the semi-legendary Norwegian king Harald Fairhair. His name suggests that h ...

's composition ''

Haustlöng ''Haustlǫng'' (Old Norse: 'Autumn-long'; anglicized as ''Haustlöng'') is a skaldic poem composed around the beginning of the 10th century by the Norwegian skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir. The poem has been preserved in the 13th-century ''Prose E ...

'' as quoted in chapter 17 of ''Skáldskaparmál''.Faulkes (1995:81).

''Heimskringla''

In chapter 5 of ''

Ynglinga saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into English and published in 184 ...

'' (as collected in ''

''), a

euhemerized Euhemerism () is an approach to the interpretation of mythology in which mythological accounts are presumed to have originated from real historical events or personages. Euhemerism supposes that historical accounts become myths as they are exagge ...

prose account relates that Odin sent Gefjun from

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

"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 oxen, 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

(described here as "a son of Odin"). The two dwelled in

Lejre Lejre is a railway town, with a population of 3,127 (1 January 2022),Lögrinn, and the saga posits that the bays in lake Lögrinn correspond to the nesses of Zealand. This is followed by the same stanza used in ''Gylfaginning'' above composed by the skald Bragi Boddason.Hollander (2007:9).

''Völsa þáttr''

Gefjun is sworn by in the

þáttr The ''þættir'' (Old Norse singular ''þáttr'', literally meaning a "strand" of rope or yarn)O'Donoghue (2004:226). are short stories written mostly in Iceland during the 13th and 14th centuries. The majority of ''þættir'' occur in two compend ...

'' Völsa þáttr'', where the daughter of a

thrall A thrall ( non, þræll, is, þræll, fo, trælur, no, trell, træl, da, træl, sv, träl) was a slave or serf in Scandinavian lands during the Viking Age. The corresponding term in Old English was . The status of slave (, ) contrasts wi ...

reluctantly worships a penis severed from a horse:

Glosses

Gefjon appears in some Old Norse translations of Latin works as a gloss on the names of goddesses from

Greco-Roman mythology Classical mythology, Greco-Roman mythology, or Greek and Roman mythology is both the body of and the study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans as they are used or transformed by cultural reception. Along with philosophy and poli ...

. In several works, including '' Breta sögur'' (based on

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...

's ''

Historia Regum Britanniae ''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...

'') the goddess Diana is glossed as ''Gefjon''.Ross (1978:155). In ''

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 no ...

'', Gefjon appears as a gloss for the goddess

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols inclu ...

.Simek (2007:102). In other works, Gefjon glosses the goddesses

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

and Vesta.Davidson (1999:58).

Theories

Ploughing, folk customs, parallels, and fertility

Frederiksborg Slot Hilleroed Denmark ceiling1

A reoccurring theme in legend and folktale consists of a man or, more often, a woman who is challenged to gain as much land as can be traveled within a limited amount of time. This motif is attested by

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

around 1 CE, 5th century BCE

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

historian

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

, and in folktales from Northern Europe. In six tales from

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

and one from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

a plough is used similarly as in Livy's account, though the conditions are often met by walking or riding.Davidson (1999:52—53).

Hilda Ellis Davidson Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson (born Hilda Roderick Ellis; 1 October 1914 – 12 January 2006) was an English folklorist. She was a scholar at the University of Cambridge and The Folklore Society, and specialized in the study of Celtic and G ...

points out a tale from

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

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 heifer round it." Davidson notes that in ''

Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and ove ...

'', 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."Davidson (1999:53). 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 is the traditional start of the English agricultural year. While local practices may vary, Plough Monday is generally the first Monday after Epiphany, 6 January. References to Plough Monday date back to the late 15th century. The ...

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 (1999:56). Davidson finds similar elements and parallels in non-Germanic traditions, such as a folktale regarding the

Lady of the Lake The Lady of the Lake (french: Dame du Lac, Demoiselle du Lac, cy, Arglwyddes y Llyn, kw, Arloedhes an Lynn, br, Itron al Lenn, it, Dama del Lago) is a name or a title used by several either fairy or fairy-like but human enchantresses in the ...

from

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

recorded in the 19th century. In the tale, the Lady brings forth "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 (1999:56-57). 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 (from the western and central regions of Germany) and Berchte and Perchte 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.Davidson (1999:57). 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 Lindow John Frederick Lindow (born July 23, 1946) is an American philologist who is Professor Emeritus of Old Norse and Folklore at University of California, Berkeley. He is a well known authority on Old Norse religion and literature. Biography John Lin ...

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 uthor 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''

Mentions of Gefjon may appear in '' Beowulf'' in five passages (line 49, line 362, line 515, line 1394, and line 1690). The word ''geofon'', a poetic epithet for 'ocean, sea', is parallelled by the word ''geƀen'' in the Old-Saxon ''Heliand''. Scholar Frank Battaglia refers to these passages as "the Gefion passages," and asks "Does Beowulf oppose the

Earth Goddess An Earth goddess is a deification of the Earth. Earth goddesses are often associated with the "chthonic" deities of the underworld. Ki and Ninhursag are Mesopotamian earth goddesses. In Greek mythology, the Earth is personified as Gaia, corres ...

of ancient Germanic religion? The possibility of such an interpretation follows upon the discovery that the name ''Gefion'', by which early Danes called their female chthonic deity, may occur in the Old English poem five times."Battaglia (1991:415). 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 and
his mother ''His Mother'' is a 1912 American silent film produced by Kalem Company. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Gene Gauntier and Jack J. Clark in the leading roles. It was one of more than a dozen films produced by the Kalem Company filmed in Ir ...
may stand as types of earlier, matrilineal tribes. Further the hall which is the object of struggle between Beowulf 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's funeral for an Anglo-Danish audience, the word ''gēafon'' could probably not have been used without invoking Gefion."Battaglia (1991:418). 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."Battaglia (1991:426, 428, 432, and 437). 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".North (1998:226).

Frigg and Freyja

Some scholars have proposed a connection between Gefjun and the goddesses

and

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.Näsström (1999:71). 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."Davidson (1999:58). In addition, Davidson says that "as

Axel Olrik Axel Olrik (3 July 1864 – 17 February 1917) was a Danish folklorist and scholar of mediaeval historiography, and a pioneer in the methodical study of oral narrative. Olrik was born in Frederiksberg, the son of the artist Henrik Olrik. Art ...

(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."Davidson (1998:65). Regarding parallels drawn between Freyja and Gefjon proposed from the exchange found in ''Lokasenna'',

Rudolf Simek Rudolf Simek (born 21 February 1954) is an Austrian philologist and religious studies scholar who is Professor and Chair of Ancient German and Nordic Studies at the University of Bonn. Simek specializes in Germanic studies, and is the author o ...

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

Gefjon appears prominently as the allegorical mother of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, Sweden, and

in the forty-page Swedish Romantic poem ''Gefion, a Poem in Four Cantos'' by

Eleonora Charlotta d'Albedyhll Eleonora Charlotta d'Albedyhll, née ''Wrangel'', (27 March 1770, Stockholm – 4 June 1835), was a Swedish countess, poet and salon holder. She hosted a literary salon in Uppsala 1812-1835 and has been described as the center of the salon in Upps ...

(1770–1835).Benson (1914:87). A fountain depicting Gefjun driving her oxen sons to pull her plough (The

Gefion Fountain The Gefion Fountain ( da, Gefionspringvandet) is a large fountain on the harbour front in Copenhagen, Denmark. It features a large-scale group of oxen pulling a plow and being driven by the Norse goddess Gefjon. It is located in Nordre Toldbod ar ...

, 1908) by Anders Bundgaard stands in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark, on the island of

, as in the myth.Mouritsen. Spooner (2004:74). The

Gefion family The Gefion family (FIN: 516; adj. ''Gefionian''; also known as Ceres family and Minerva family) is an asteroid family located in the intermediate asteroid belt between 2.74 and 2.82 AU at inclinations of 7.4° to 10.5 °. The family of S-type ...

, a family of asteroids,Barnes-Svarney (2003:96). and asteroid

1272 Gefion 1272 Gefion, provisional designation , is a stony asteroid and parent body of the Gefion family from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 October 1931, by astronomer Karl Reinmuth ...

(discovered in 1931 by

Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth (4 April 1892 in Heidelberg – 6 May 1979 in Heidelberg) was a German astronomer and a prolific discoverer of 395 minor planets. Scientific career From 1912 to 1957, Reinmuth was working as an astronomer at the Heide ...

Schmadel (2003:105).) both derive their names from that of the goddess. The highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

Queen Louise Land Queen Louise Land ( da, Dronning Louise Land; kl, Nuna Dronning Louise) is a vast mountainous region located west of Dove Bay, King Frederick VIII Land, northeastern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National P ...

( da, Dronning Louise Land), NE

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

was named after Gefjon by the 1912–13 Danish Expedition to Queen Louise Land led by J.P. Koch.

Notes

References

*Barnes-Svarney, Patricia (2003).
Asteroid: Earth Destroyer or New Frontier?
'. Basic Books. * Bellows, Henry Adams (Trans.) (1923). ''The Poetic Edda''. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation. *Benson, Adolph Burnett (1914).
The Old Norse Element in Swedish Romanticism
'.

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...

. *Byock, Jesse (Trans.) (2006). ''The Prose Edda''.

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the West ...

. * Davidson, Hilda Ellis (1998).
Roles of the Northern Goddess
'.

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

. *Davidson, Hilda Ellis (1999). "Gefjon, Goddess of the Northern Seas", in: Lysaght, Patricia. Ó Catháin, Séamas. Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí (eds.), ''Islanders and Water-Dwellers: Proceedings of the Celtic-Nordic-Baltic Folklore Symposium held at University College Dublin 16–19 June 1996''. DBA Publications Ltd. * *Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). ''Edda''.

Everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...

. *French, Kevin (2014).
We Need to Talk about Gefjun. Toward a New Etymology of an Old Icelandic Theonym
'. MA-Thesis Háskóli Íslands, Reykjavik, September 2014 *Heizmann, Wilhelm (2002). "Gefjon: Metamorphosen einer Göttin", in: Simek, Rudolf, and Heizmann, Wilhelm (eds.), ''Mythological Women. Studies in Memory of Lotte Motz (1922-1997)'', Vienna: Fassbaender, pp. 197-256 * Hollander, Lee Milton. (Trans.) (2007).
Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway
'.

University of Texas Press The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books and journals in several areas, including Latin American studies, Texan ...

. * Karsten, Torsten Evert (1915). ''Germanisch-finnische Lehnwortstudien. Ein Beitrag zu den ältesten Sprach- und Kulturgeschichte der Germanen''. Helsingfors 1915 (Acta Societatis Scientiarium Fennicæ 45, nr. 2) * Lindow, John (2001).
Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs
'.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. *Mouritsen, Lone. Spooner, Andrew (2004).
The Rough Guide to Copenhagen
'.

Rough Guides Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on custome ...

. *Näsström, Britt-Mari (1999).
Freyja - a Goddess with Many Names
as collected in Billington, Sandra, and Green, Miranda eds. (1999). ''The Concept of the Goddess''.

. *North, Richard (1998). ''Heathen Gods in Old English Literature''.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

. * Ross, Margaret Clunies (1978). "The Myth of Gefjon and Gylfi and its function in ''Snorra Edda'' and ''Heimskringla''", in ''Arkiv för nordisk filologi'' 93. * Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). ''Dictionary of Minor Planet Names'', fifth edition, illustrated. Springer. * Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. D.S. Brewer. *Sturtevant, Albert Morey (1952). "Regarding the Old Norse name Gefjon", ''Scandinavian Studies'' 24 (number 4, November). ISSN 0036-5637 * Thorpe, Benjamin (Trans.) (1907). ''The Elder Edda of Saemund Sigfusson''. Norrœna Society.

External links

MyNDIR (My Norse Digital Image Repository)
Illustrations of Gefjon from manuscripts and early print books. Clicking on the thumbnail will give you the full image and information concerning it. {{Good article Wisdom goddesses Knowledge goddesses Agricultural goddesses Ásynjur Death goddesses Fertility goddesses Oracular goddesses Virgin goddesses Norse underworld