Gefjun

The Gefion fountain in Churchill Park Copenhagen, Denmark.

Gefjun (or Gefjon, Gefion) is one of the Æsir in Norse mythology. This name could be from Old Norse geð fiá meaning "chaste"^[1] is one of the Asynjur in Norse mythology.^[1] She appears only a few times in surviving sources. Medieval sources talk of her mainly as a goddess of chastity. However, modern scholarship suggests that she may originally have been a fertility goddess connected with ritual plowing,^[2] and even that she was originally the same fertility goddess as Freyja.^[3]

It has also been suggested that she is the origin of Grendel's mother who appears in the epic poem Beowulf.

Gefjun Media

Detail of the Gefion Fountain (1908) by Anders Bundgaard
Gefjon ploughs the earth in Sweden by Lorenz Frølich
The first page of the Beowulf manuscript
The Gefion Fountain (1908) by Anders Bundgaard

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 The article Gefjun in Nordisk familjebok (1908).
↑ The article Gefjon in Nationalencyklopedin (1992).
↑ Schön, Ebbe. (2004). Asa-Tors hammare, Gudar och jättar i tro och tradition. Fält & Hässler, Värnamo. ISBN 91-89660-41-2 p. 136.

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[nordiskgefjun-1] 1.0 ^1.1 The article Gefjun in Nordisk familjebok (1908).

[nationalgefjun-2] The article Gefjon in Nationalencyklopedin (1992).

[Sh.C3.B6n1-3] Schön, Ebbe. (2004). Asa-Tors hammare, Gudar och jättar i tro och tradition. Fält & Hässler, Värnamo. ISBN 91-89660-41-2 p. 136.

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