Gefjun

Gefjun, Gefjon, or Gefion (possibly from Old Norse "geð fiá" meaning "chaste"The article " [http://runeberg.org/nfbi/0440.html Gefjun] " in "Nordisk familjebok" (1908).] ) is one of the Asynjur in Norse mythology. She appears only a few times in surviving sources, and mediæval sources talk of her mainly as a goddess of chastity. However, modern scholarship suggests that she may originally have been a fertility goddess connected with ritual plowing,The article "Gefjon" in "Nationalencyklopedin" (1992).] and even that she was originally the same fertility goddess as Freyja.Schön, Ebbe. (2004). "Asa-Tors hammare, Gudar och jättar i tro och tradition". Fält & Hässler, Värnamo. ISBN 91-89660-41-2 p. 136.]

It has also been suggested that she is the origin of Grendel's mother who appears in the epic "Beowulf".

ources

Gefjun's plowing

The oldest surviving account of Gefjun deals with how she pulled a piece of land from Sweden and thereby created the Swedish lake Mälaren and the Danish island Zealand. This account is the 9th century skaldic poem "Ragnarsdrápa" which was composed in honour of Ragnar Lodbrok by Bragi the Old, the court skald of Björn at Haugi, the king of Sweden. This skaldic poem is preserved in "Ynglinga saga", a part of the "Heimskringla", and in "Gylfaginning", a part of the "Prose Edda". In these sources, the poem is inserted into prose sections with comments by Snorri Sturluson.

Grendel's mother

Some scholars have linked the myth of "Gefion" with the figure of Grendel's mother in the Old English heroic epic poem "Beowulf".

In his 1991 article, "The Germanic Earth Goddess in Beowulf", Frank Battaglia develops the correlation between Ides and Dis (p. 433) by linking Grendel's mother with Gefion, one of the Asynjur in Norse mythology. He asks:

Battaglia offers five passages (and their translations) which he argues reference Gefion: l.49 ("géafon on gársecg" - "Gefion on the waves"), l.362 ("ofer geofenes begang" - "over Gefion's realm"), l.515 ("geofon ýþum"- "Gefion welled up in waves"), l.1394 ("né on gyfenes grund" - "Ground of Gefion"), and l.1690 ("gifen géotende" - "Gefion gushing"). Battaglia links these terms to Grendel's mother (the "merewif" or Kuhn's 'water-woman', woman of the mere') through their reference to water (Klaeber offers a number of spellings for this word in his glossary: "geofon" as "sea, ocean" and offers the alternate spellings, "gifen, 1690", "geofenes, 362" and "gyfenes, 1394"). Indeed, Battaglia notes that "in Old English poetry, geofon is a word for ocean which has been seen since Jakob Grimm (1968, 198) as related to the name Gefion of the Danish Earth Goddess...power to divide land and sea is shown by representations of Gefion in Norse literature." [Battaglia, Frank. "The Germanic Earth Goddess in Beowulf" in "The Mankind Quarterly", page 416. Summer 1991]

Author John Grigsby makes a similar argument in his 2005 book, "", suggesting that Grendel's mother is drawn from the fertility goddess Nerthus with whom he equates Gefion.

Possible connections with Frigg and Freyja

Because Gefjun rarely appears in myths, modern scholars speculate much on this figure. In her only appearance in the "Poetic Edda", when Loki claimed that she is not a virgin, Odin said::"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."These words really fit his wife, Frigg. (Freyja said the same thing::"Mad art thou, Loki, that known thou makest:The wrong and shame thou hast wrought;:The fate of all does Frigg know well,:Though herself she says it not.")

As there is little evidence that a goddess called Gefjun was ever worshipped, some scholars maintain that Gefjun is simply an avatar of Frigg or Freyja (who are often identified with each other). All three of them are fertility goddesses who served by women after death, and who practice magic and prophecy. In addition, all have a precious necklace. [Davidson, Hilda Ellis. "Roles of the Northern Goddess" (1998).]

Freyja also has many names, indicating that she was worshipped under many aspects: "Mardöll" which is related to the sea, "Hörn" which is related to the field, "Sýr" which is related to the earth, and "Gefn" means "giver (of life)". In Latin, Friday is "Day of Venus", and in Germanic countries, Friday is the "Day of Freyja". Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, in earlier times before she was identified with the Greek goddess Aphrodite, was a goddess of gardens and fields. She also had different functions: Venus Felix, the bringer of good fortune; Venus Victrix, the bringer of victory; and Venus Verticordia, the protector of feminine chastity. Freyja, the Norse goddess of fertility, love and beauty, is also a goddess of wealth and battle. Considering this pattern, scholars speculate that Gefjon may be an avatar for Freyja, and only later was identified as an individual goddess.

References

* Battaglia, Frank. "The Germanic Earth Goddess in Beowulf." "Mankind Quarterly" 31.4 (Summer 1991): 415-46.
* Grigsby, John. "". Watkins Publishing. London, 2005. (2006 reprint edition distributed by Sterling Publishing).

Notes