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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