"Loki and Sigyn" (1863) by Mĺrten Eskil Winge.

Sigyn (Old Norse "victorious girl-friend"^[1]) is a goddess and wife of Loki in Norse mythology. Sigyn 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. In the Poetic Edda, little information is provided about Sigyn other than her role in assisting Loki during his captivity. In the Prose Edda, her role in helping her husband through his time spent in bondage is stated again, she appears in various kennings, and her status as a goddess is twice stated. Sigyn may appear on the Gosforth Cross and has been the subject of an amount of theory and cultural references.

Attestations

"Loki and Sigyn" (1901) by Johannes Gehrts.

Poetic Edda

In stanza 35 of the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, a Völva tells Odin that, amongst many other things, she sees Sigyn sitting very unhappily with her bound husband, Loki, under a "grove of hot springs".^[2] Sigyn is mentioned a second (and final) time in the ending prose section of the poem Lokasenna. In the prose, Loki has been bound by the gods with the guts of his son Nari, his son Narfi is described as having been turned into a wolf, and the goddess Skađi fastens a venomous snake over Loki's face, from which venom drips. Sigyn, stated again as Loki's wife, holds a basin under the dripping venom. The basin grows full, and she pulls it away, during which time venom drops on Loki, causing him to writhe so violently that earthquakes occur that shake the entire earth.^[3]

Prose Edda

"Loki Bound (motive from the Gosforth Cross)" (1908) by W. G. Collingwood.

Sigyn is introduced as a goddess, an ásynjur, in the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, where the gods are holding a grand feast for the visiting Ćgir,^[6] and in kennings for Loki ("husband of Sigyn",^[7] "cargo [Loki] of incantation-fetter's [Sigyn's] arms",^[8] and in the 9th century Haustlöng kenning "the burden of Sigyn's arms"^[9]). Sigyn's final mention in Skáldskaparmál is within a second list of ásynjur found in chapter 57.^[10]

Archaeological record

The bottom portion of the west side of the Gosforth Cross.

Theories

While the name Sigyn is found as a female personal name in Old Norse sources (Old Norse sigr meaning "victory" and vina meaning "girl-friend"), and though in surviving sources she is largely restricted to a single role, she appears in the 9th century Haustlöng from pagan times, written by the skald Ţjóđólfr of Hvinir. Due to this early connection with Loki, Sigyn has been theorized as being a goddess dating back to an older form of Germanic paganism.^[12]

Modern influence

The scene of Sigyn assisting Loki has been depicted on a number of paintings, including "Loke och Sigyn" (1850) by Nils Blommér, "Loke och Sigyn" (1863) by Mĺrten Eskil Winge, "Loki och Sigyn (1879) by Oscar Wergeland, and the illustration "Loki und Sigyn; Hel mit dem Hunde Garm" (1883) by K. Ehrenberg.^[12] Various objects and places have been named after Sigyn in modern times, including the Norwegian stiff-straw winter wheat varieties Sigyn I and Sigyn II,^[13] a Marvel Comics character (1978) of the same name,^[14] the Swedish vessel MS Sigyn, which transports spent nuclear fuel in an allusion to Sigyn holding a bowl beneath the venom to spare Loki,^[15] and the arctic Sigyn Glacier.^[16]

Notes

References

• Belderok, Bob. Mesdag, J. Mesdag, Hans. Donner, Dingena A. (2000). Bread Making Quality of Wheat: A Century of Breeding in Europe. Springer. ISBN 0792363833
• Byock, Jesse (Trans.) (2006). The Prose Edda. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0140447555
• Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). Edda. Everyman. ISBN 0-4608-7616-3
• Larrington, Carolyne (Trans.) (1999). The Poetic Edda. Oxford World's Classics. ISBN 0192839462
• Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0 304 34520 2
• Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 0859915131

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