Gefion: The Norse Goddess of Unmarried Women
In Norse mythology, Gefion (or Gefjon) is recognized as the fourth goddess of the Æsir in “The Prose Edda,” authored by Snorri Sturluson. This follows deities such as Frigg, the spouse of Odin, along with Sága and Eir, revered for her healing abilities.
Described as a virgin, Gefion’s association with unmarried women is brought into question, as her narrative contains complexities. Early on, she reportedly had four oxen-sons with a giant and later wed Skjold, the offspring of Odin, ultimately settling in a region that would become known as Leire, Denmark. Further intertwining her identity are her connections to the goddess Freyja, who is also called “Gefn,” suggesting that Gefion may be portrayed as a facet of Freyja, and Freyja herself a counterpart to Frigg.
Gefion’s Creation of Zealand
According to “The Prose Edda,” King Gylfi, the monarch of what is now Sweden, once rewarded a mysterious beggar-woman with a swath of land, the size that four oxen could plough within a day and a night. This woman, revealed to be Gefion, hailing from the Æsir, yanked four oxen—her sons with a giant—into action. The force of the plough was so powerful that it tore through the earth, dragging the land westward into the ocean, where it eventually became known as Zealand.
The area from which the soil was taken transformed into a lake known in Sweden as “The Lake,” now featuring as many bays as there are headlands in Zealand. The ancient poet Bragi the Old captures this event in verse:
Gefion dragged with laughter
from Gylfi, the great prince,
what made Denmark larger,
beasts of burden,
the oxen drenched with sweat;
four heads they bore,
with eight eyes besides,
forging ahead through fertile ground,
scorched by theft.
Insights from the Ynglinga Saga
In another tale from the “Ynglinga Saga,” Odin foresaw a future for his descendants in the northern regions of the earth. He appointed his brothers, Ve and Vili, to govern Asagarth while he and many of his followers embarked on a journey that led them from Gardarik (modern-day Russia) southward to Saxland (Germany). Odin established territories and appointed his sons as rulers, before locating a residence on an island now referred to as Odensö in Funen.
Odin subsequently sent Gefion across the sound in search of land. Upon meeting Gylfi, she was granted the aforementioned ploughland where she birthed four sons with a giant. Shaping them into oxen, she used them to plough the earth, stripping it away into the sea opposite Odensö, thus giving rise to the land called Selund, which is an early name for Zealand. Following this, Gefion married Skjold, another of Odin’s sons, residing in Leidra, the site of her agricultural endeavors. Modern interpretations suggest that this ploughing site is now filled with the waters of Löginn, whose fjords mirror the headlands in Selund.
Bragi the Old recounts:
Gefion drew with joy
from the wealthy Gylfi
Denmark’s fresh expansion
(to the point of saturation from the oxen).
The oxen boasted four heads
and had eight eyes.
They advanced forth,
across Vinö’s bay.
Gefion’s legacy, etched in both myth and land, intertwines with the stories of her family and the geographies of this ancient world.
