View source for Sjöfn

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Sjǫfn}}
{{Deity infobox
|Name=Sjǫfn
|Image=Sjöfn, Goddess of Love.jpg
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|Deity=Goddess of Love
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|Species=Goddess
|Norse=Sjǫfn
|Alias=
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|Consort=
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}}
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In [[Norse mythology]], '''Sjöfn''' (or '''Sjǫfn''' in Old Norse orthography) is a Teutonic goddess of love.<ref>(Canney 1921, p. 327)</ref> She is regarded as a messenger and attendant of [[Freya]].<ref>(Keyser 1854, p. 135)</ref> Sjöfn is considered a protecting guardian of betrothal.<ref>(Keyser 1868, p. 31)</ref>

==Attestations==
In chapter 35 of the [[Prose Edda]] book [[Gylfaginning]], High provides brief descriptions of 16 ásynjur. High lists Sjöfn seventh, and says that Sjöfn is "concerned to direct people's minds to love, both women and men." In addition, High states that from Sjöfn's name comes the Old Norse word sjafni. In the Nafnaþulur section appended to the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, chapter 75, Sjöfn is included in a list of 27 names of ásynjur. Otherwise, the name Sjöfn is thrice employed as a base word in skaldic kennings for "woman".

==Theories==
Regarding the information given about Sjöfn in Gylfaginning, John Lindow says that the word sjafni does indeed appear listed in the þulur as a word for "love", yet that outside this description no information about the goddess is known. Lindow states that some scholars theorize that Sjöfn may be the goddess Frigg under another name. Rudolf Simek says that Snorri may have derived his etymology of Sjöfn from the Old Norse words sefi ("sense") or from sefi (possibly "relation"), but that the scant references to Sjöfn do not allow for much more of an elaborate explanation for the goddess. Simek says that, accordingly, Sjöfn is viewed as a goddess of "marriage and love, or else one of relationships" and that Sjöfn is among several goddesses mentioned in the Prose Edda "who are matron-like guardian-goddesses."

==Family==
{{Vanir genealogy}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Sjöfn, Goddess of Love.jpg
Sjofn.jpg
</gallery>

==Notes==
<references/>

==References==
*Canney, Maurice (1921), ''An Encyclopaedia of Religions'', E. P. Dutton & co., New York, ISBN 81-7081-024-8
*Keyser, Rudolph (1868), ''The Private Life of the Old Northmen'', Chapman & Hall, London.
*Keyser, Rudolph (1854), ''The Religion of the Northmen'', C.B. Norton, New York.

{{Wikipedia}}
{{Norse deities}}
[[Category:Ásynjur]]
[[Category:Goddesses]]
[[Category:Goddesses of Love and Lust]]
[[Category:Norse mythology]]
[[Category:Norse figures]]
[[Category:Norse goddesses]]