In Norse mythology, Gefjon (Old Norse: ; alternatively spelled Gefion, or Gefjun , pronounced without secondary syllable stress) is a goddess associated with ploughing, the Danish island of Zealand, the legendary Swedish king Gylfi, the legendary Danish king Skjöldr, foreknowledge, her oxen children, and virginity. Gefjon is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, 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 Old Norse translations of Latin works.
The Prose Edda and Heimskringla both report that Gefjon ploughed away what is now lake Mälaren, Sweden, and with this land formed the island of Zealand, Denmark. In addition, the Prose Edda states 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 and that the two resided in Lejre, Denmark.
Scholars have proposed theories about the etymology of 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 (parallelled by mentions in the Old Saxon poem Heliand), and potential connections between Gefjon and Grendel's Mother or the goddesses Freyja and Frigg.
Etymology The etymology of theonym Gefjon (and its variant Gefjun) has been a matter of dispute.See a recent survey by Kevin French (2014). 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 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 word kapiot for "bride's outfit, trousseau" may derive from Gefjon's name.Lindow (2001:136).Karstens (1915:27)
Attestations
Poetic Edda
In the Poetic Edda, Gefjon appears solely in three stanzas of the poem Lokasenna, 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, Gefjon questions why Loki wants to bring negativity into the hall with the assembled gods: Benjamin Thorpe 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.Thorpe (1907:87).Henry Adams Bellows translation: Gefjun spake: "Why, ye gods twain, with bitter tongues Raise hate among us here? Loki is famed for his mockery foul, And the dwellers in heaven he hates.Bellows (1923:158). 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.Bellows (1923:159).
Prose Edda
The Prose Edda book Gylfaginning begins with a prose account stating that King Gylfi 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" and her name was Gefjun. Gefjun took four oxen from Jötunheimr 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, 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, the myth was probably originally about Vänern, not Mälaren.Pálsson, Heimir. "Tertium vero datur: A study of the text of DG 11 4to", thesis, University of Uppsala, 2010, p. 44.
As a reference, the prose account presents a stanza from a work attributed to the 9th-century skald Bragi Boddason: 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 is also a virgin.Faulkes (1995:29). At the beginning of the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, Gefjun is listed among nine goddesses who attend a banquet for Ægir on the island of Hlesey (modern Læsø, Denmark).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 for the völva Gróa ("ale-Gefjun") employed in the skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir's composition Haustlöng as quoted in chapter 17 of Skáldskaparmál.Faulkes (1995:81).
Heimskringla
In chapter 5 of Ynglinga saga (as collected in Heimskringla), a euhemerized prose account relates that Odin sent Gefjun from Odense, Funen, "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 Skjöldr (described here as "a son of Odin"). The two dwelled in Lejre thereafter. From where Gefjun took the land that formed Zealand, a lake was left behind call 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 Völsa þáttr, where the daughter of a thrall reluctantly worships a penis severed from a horse and preserved with linen and leeks: 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.Eybjorn (2000).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 gloss on the names of goddesses from Greco-Roman mythology. In several works, including Breta sögur (based on Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae) the goddess Diana is glossed as Gefjon.Ross (1978:155). In Stjórn, Gefjon appears as a gloss for the goddess Aphrodite.Simek (2007:102). In other works, Gefjon glosses the goddesses Athena and Vesta.Davidson (1999:58).
Theories
Ploughing, folk customs, parallels, and fertility
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 travelled within a limited amount of time. This motif is attested by Livy around 1 CE, 5th century BCE Greek historian Herodotus, and in folktales from Northern Europe. In six tales from Jutland, Denmark, and in one from Germany, 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 points out a tale from Iceland 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, 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 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 from Wales recorded in the 19th century. In the tale, the Lady brings forth "a herd of wondrous cattle" from the water after she consents to marry 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.