Sjöfn
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Sjöfn is one of the Ásynjur in Norse mythology. She is mentioned briefly in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda.
- Sjaunda er Sjöfn, hon gætir mjök til at snúa hugum manna til ásta, kvenna ok karla, ok af hennar nafni er elskuginn kallaðr sjafni. [1]
- "The seventh [of the Ásynjur] is Sjöfn. She endeavours to turn the minds of people to love, both those of women and men, and from her name a lover is called sjafni."
The name Sjöfn is not mentioned again in the Prose Edda and occurs nowhere in the Poetic Edda. It does occur a few times in kennings as a generic goddess name (e.g. Sjöfn seims means "Sjöfn of gold", i.e. "woman"). It is unclear whether Sjöfn was ever a major goddess. It is possible that, unknown to Snorri, she was simply another name for Freyja.
[edit] References
- Eysteinn Björnsson (ed.). Snorra-Edda: Formáli & Gylfaginning : Textar fjögurra meginhandrita. 2005. http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/gg/
- Finnur Jónsson. Lexicon Poeticum. 1931. S. L. Møllers Bogtrykkeri, København.
- Simek, Rudolf. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. 1993. Trans. Angela Hall. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. ISBN 0859913694. New edition 2000, ISBN 0859915131.
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Norse mythology |
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| List of Norse gods | Æsir | Vanir | Giants | Elves | Dwarves | Valkyries | Einherjar | Norns | Odin | Thor | Freyr | Freyja | Loki | Balder | Tyr | Yggdrasil | Ginnungagap | Ragnarök | |
| Sources: Poetic Edda | Prose Edda | The Sagas | Volsung Cycle | Tyrfing Cycle | Rune stones | Old Norse language | Orthography | Later influence | |
| Society: Viking Age | Skald | Kenning | Blót | Seid | Numbers | |
| The nine worlds of Norse mythology | People, places and things |
