Sigyn
Sigyn is a goddess from Norse mythology . Her name means bringer of victory. She is the wife of Loki , with whom she has the sons Narfi and Ali (Riese) , and is a symbol of marital fidelity.
Lore
Sigyn is mentioned in the Elder Edda ( Völuspá 38 ), where she appears sitting with her tied husband Loki. The prose addition to Lokasenna describes the incident in more detail: Loki was tied up by the gods with the intestines of his son Nari, his other son Ali or Vali was transformed into a wolf, and Skadi placed a snake over Loki himself , whose poison was in his face dripped. Sigyn now catches the dripping poison with a bowl. But when the bowl is full and she has to empty it, the drops of poison hit Loki's face, causing him to feel tremendous pain. The earth trembles and earthquakes appear.
In the Younger Edda , Sigyn is presented in Gylfaginning 31 as the wife of Lokis and mother of his son Nari or Narfi. Chapter 50 describes how Loki turns the other gods against him through Balder's death . After an initial escape, they take Loki and then his sons prisoner. Vali turn them into a wolf, so that it tears up his brother Nari or Narfi. Loki is tied to three boulders with the bowels that turn into iron, and Skadi attaches a snake over his head, the venom of which drips into his face. Sigyn tries to alleviate his suffering, as also described in the Older Edda. This will last until the twilight of the gods .
In Skáldskaparmál 1 , Sigyn is explicitly referred to as Asin .
presentation
The 11th century English Gosforth cross probably depicts Loki bound, the snake and Sigyn with the bowl. In the 19th century this scene was thematized several times in Scandinavian art. a. by Nils Blommér (1850), Mårten Eskil Winge (1863) and Oscar Wergeland (1879).
Sigyn as namesake
Several ships were named after the Norse goddess Sigyn. a. the Swedish schooner barge Sigyn from 1887 and the Swedish nuclear waste transport ship Sigyn . There is a Sigyn glacier in Antarctica .
literature
- Hans Wilhelm Haussig (Ed.): Gods and Myths in Old Europe (= Dictionary of Mythology . Department 1: The ancient civilized peoples. Volume 2). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1973, ISBN 3-12-909820-8 .
