Sif

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The goddess Sif holds her long, golden hair while grain grows behind her in an illustration from 1897

In Norse mythology, Sif is a golden-haired goddess associated with earth. Sif is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and in the poetry of skalds. In both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, she is known for her golden hair and is married to the thunder god Thor.

The Prose Edda recounts that Sif once had her hair shorn by Loki, and that Thor forced Loki to have a golden headpiece made for Sif, resulting in not only Sif's golden tresses but also five other objects for other gods. Sif is also named in the Prose Edda as the mother of Þrúðr (by Thor) and Ullr.

Scholars have proposed that Sif's hair may represent fields of golden wheat, that she may be associated with fertility, family, wedlock and/or that she is connected to rowan, and that there may be an allusion to her role or possibly her name in the Old English poem Beowulf.

EtymologyEdit

The name Sif is the singular form of the plural Old Norse word Template:Wikt-lang. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} only appears in singular form when referring to the goddess as a proper noun. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is cognate to the Old English Template:Wikt-lang and modern English Template:Wikt-lang (meaning "affinity, connection, by marriage") and in other Germanic languages: Gothic Template:Wikt-lang ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), Old High German Template:Wikt-lang, and modern German Template:Wikt-lang. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} appears not only in ancient poetry and records of law, but also in compounds ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}} means "to marry").<ref name=VIGFUSSON526>Gudbrandur Vigfusson (1874:526).</ref> Using this etymology, scholar John Lindow gives the meanings "in-law-relationship", scholar Andy Orchard provides "relation", and scholar Rudolf Simek gives "relation by marriage".<ref name=MODERNSCHOLARSETYMOLOGY>Lindow (2001:266), Orchard (1997:138), and Simek (2007:283).</ref>

AttestationsEdit

Poetic EddaEdit

In stanza 48 of the Poetic Edda poem Hárbarðsljóð, Hárbarðr (Odin, father of Thor, in disguise) meets Thor at an inlet of a gulf. The two engage in flyting, and Hárbarðr refuses to ferry Thor across the bay. Among numerous other insults, Hárbarðr claims that Sif has a lover at home. In response, Thor says that Hárbarðr is speaking carelessly "of what seems worst to me" and also lying.<ref name=LARRINGTON75>Larrington (1999:75–76).</ref>

File:Lokasenna by Lorenz Frølich.jpg

Lokasenna (1895) by Lorenz Frølich

In stanzas 53 and 54 of the poem Lokasenna, after pouring Loki a crystal cup of mead during his series of insults towards the gods, Sif states that there is nothing Loki can say only in regard to her. In response, Loki claims that Sif has had an affair with him:

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Sif does not respond, and the exchange turns to Beyla.<ref name=LARRINGTON94>Larrington (1999:94).</ref> Sif is additionally mentioned in two kennings found in poems collected in the Poetic Edda; Hymiskviða (where Thor is referred to as the "Husband of Sif" thrice<ref name=LARRINGTON78-80-82>Larrington (1999:78, 80, and 82.).</ref>), and Þrymskviða (where Thor is once referred to as "Husband of Sif"<ref name=LARRINGTON100>Larrington (1999:100).</ref>).

Prose EddaEdit

File:How loki wrought mischief in Asgard by Willy Pogany.png

How Loki wrought mischief on Asgard (1920) by Willy Pogany

File:The third gift — an enormous hammer by Elmer Boyd Smith.jpg

The third gift – an enormous hammer (1902) by Elmer Boyd Smith. The bottom right corner depicts the ship Skíðblaðnir "afloat" Sif's new hair.

In the Prose Edda, Sif is mentioned once in the Prologue, in chapter 31 of Gylfaginning, and in Skáldskaparmál as a guest at Ægir's feast, the subject of a jötunn's desire, as having her hair shorn by Loki, and in various kennings.

Sif is introduced in chapter three of the Prologue section of the Prose Edda; Snorri's euhemerized account of the origins of Norse mythology. Snorri states that Thor married Sif, and that she is known as "a prophetess called Sibyl, though we know her as Sif".<ref name="BYOCK6">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Sif is further described as "the loveliest of women" and with hair of gold.<ref name="BYOCK6"/> Although he lists her own ancestors as unknown, Snorri writes that Thor and Sif produced a son by the name of Lóriði, who "took after his father".<ref name=FAULKES3>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>

In chapter 31 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, Ullr is referred to as a son of Sif and a stepson of Thor (though his father is not mentioned):

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As reported in the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, Thor once engages in a duel with Hrungnir, there described as the strongest of the jötnar. Prior to this, Hrungnir had been drunkenly boasting of his desire to, amongst other things, kill all of the gods except Freyja and Sif, whom he wanted to take home with him. However, at the duel, Hrungnir is quickly killed by the enraged Thor.<ref name=FAULKES77-79>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>

Further in Skáldskaparmál, Snorri relates a story where Loki cuts off Sif's hair as a prank. When Thor discovers this, he grabs hold of Loki, resulting in Loki swearing to have a headpiece made of gold to replace Sif's locks. Loki fulfills this promise by having a headpiece made by dwarfs, the Sons of Ivaldi. Along with the headpiece, the dwarfs produced Odin's spear, Gungnir. As the story progresses, the incident leads to the creation of the ship Skíðblaðnir and the boar Gullinbursti for Freyr, the multiplying ring Draupnir for Odin, and the mighty hammer Mjöllnir for Thor.<ref name=FAULKES96-97>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>

Sif also appears in Skáldskaparmál listed as a heiti for "earth",<ref name=FAULKES160>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> appears in a kenning for a gold-keeping woman,<ref name=FAULKES115>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> and once for Hildr.<ref name=FAULKES123>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Poetic means of referring to Sif calling her "wife of Thor", "mother of Ullr", "the fair-haired deity", "rival of Járnsaxa", and as "mother of Þrúðr".<ref name=FAULKES86>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>

Swedish folkloreEdit

19th-century scholar Jacob Grimm records that in his time residents of Värmland, Sweden "call[ed] Thor's wife godmor, good mother."<ref name=GRIMM1364>Grimm (1888:1364).</ref>

TheoriesEdit

File:Sif by Dollman.jpg

Sif (1909) by John Charles Dollman

BeowulfEdit

In Old English, sib ("family") is cognate with Old Norse Sif and sif. In the Old English poem Beowulf (lines 2016 to 2018), Hroðgar's wife, Wealhþeow, moves through the hall serving mead to the warriors and defusing conflict. Various scholars beginning with Magnus Olsen have pointed to the similarity with what Sif does at the feast described in Lokasenna.<ref name="BAKER153">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref><ref name="ENRIGHT15">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Richard North further notes that unusually, sib is personified here and in lines 2599 to 2661, and suggests they may be references to Sif in Danish religion: "Both instances may indicate that the poet of Beowulf was in a position to imagine a sixth-century Scandinavia on the basis of his knowledge of contemporary Danish legends."<ref name="NORTH235-236">North (1998:235–236, n. 126).</ref>

Hair as wheat and potential cognatesEdit

19th-century scholar Jacob Grimm proposes a reconstruction of a Germanic deity cognate to Sif in other Germanic cultures and proposes a similar nature to that of the goddesses Frigg and Freyja:

The Goth. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, OHG. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, AS. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} gen. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, denote peace, friendship, kindred; from these I infer a divinity Sibja, Sippia, Sib, corresponding to ON. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} gen. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, the wife of Thôrr, for the ON. too has a pl. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} meaning cognatio, sifi amicus (OHG. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), sift genus, cognatio. By this sense of the word, Sif would appear to be, like Frigg and Freyja, a goddess of loveliness and love; as attributes of Oðinn and Thôrr agree, their wives Frigg and Sif have also a common signification.<ref name=GRIMM309>Grimm (1882:309).</ref>

Grimm connects Eddic references to Sif's golden hair (gold is referred to as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; Sif's hair) with the herb name {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Polytrichum aureum)Template:Verify source. Grimm says that "expositors see in this the golden fruits of the Earth burnt up by fire and growing again, they liken Sif to Ceres", and Grimm says that "with it agrees the fact that O. Slav. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is a gloss on {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}" but cites etymological problems between the potential cognate. Grimm says that Thor's mother was the earth, and not his wife, yet "we do find the simple Sif standing for earth." Grimm adds that he is inconclusive regarding Sif and that, "we ought to have fuller details about Sif, and these are wholly wanting in our mythology. Nowhere amongst us is the mystic relation of the seed-corn of Demeter, whose poignant grief for her daughter threatens to bring famine on mankind (Hymn to Cer. 305–306), nor anything like it, recorded."<ref name=GRIMM309-310>Grimm (1888:309–310).</ref>

Citing the etymology of her name, 19th century scholar Guðbrandur Vigfússon theorizes that Sif "betokens mother earth with her golden sheaves of grain; she was the goddess of the sanctity of the family and wedlock".<ref name=VIGFUSSON526/>

Scholar Rudolf Simek theorizes that Sif likely originated as a complement to Thor through his fertility associations, and that the name Sif (Simek provides the etymology "relation by marriage") may have originally simply meant "the wife (of Thor)". Simek rejects notions of a "vegetation cult" venerating Sif, says that Sif does not appear to have a function, dismisses theories proposing connections between Sif's hair and grain as "over-zealous interpretation[s]", and theorizes that Snorri invented the story of Sif's shorn locks in attempt to explain the attributes of various gods.<ref name=SIMEK283>Simek (2007:283).</ref>

Scholar H. R. Ellis Davidson states that Sif may have been an ancient fertility goddess, agreeing with a link between her lustrous hair and fields of golden wheat.<ref name=DAVIDSON84>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Regarding Sif, Thor, and fertility, Davidson says:

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Scholar John Lindow proposes that a potentially understated mythological importance of Sif's role in the story of her sheared hair exists; her headpiece is created along with the most important and powerful items in Norse mythology. Lindow further states that it may be easy to lose sight of the central role Sif plays in the creation of these objects.<ref name=LINDOW266>Lindow (2001:266).</ref>

RowanEdit

Sif has been linked with Ravdna, the consort of the Sami thunder god Horagalles. Red berries of rowan were holy to Ravdna and the name Ravdna resembles the North Germanic words for the tree (for example, Old Norse reynir). According to Skáldskaparmál, the rowan is called "the salvation of Thor" because Thor once saved himself by clinging to it. It has been theorized that Sif was once conceived in the form of a rowan to which Thor clung."<ref name=TURVILLE-PETRE98>Template:Cite book</ref>

Lokasenna accusationsEdit

File:Loki and Sif by A Chase.jpg

Sif sleeps while Loki lurks behind in an illustration (1894) by A. Chase

Regarding the accusations that Loki makes to Sif in Lokasenna, Carolyne Larrington says that Sif is not elsewhere attested as unfaithful, though notes that Odin makes a similar accusation in Hárbarðsljóð, and theorizes a potential connection between the story of Loki cutting off Sif's hair with these references. Larrington says "how he got close enough to carry this out might be explained by this verse."<ref name=LARRINGTON276>Larrington (1999:276).</ref>

Identity of Sif's first husbandEdit

Several identities have been suggested for Sif's first husband, the father of Ullr, but since neither Edda names this husband, most scholars continue to consider him unidentified. N. A. Nielsen suggests that she was married to Njord before the Æsir–Vanir War,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> an interpretation which depends on considering Ullr identical with Freyr, which Rudolf Simek characterizes as "very precarious."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Modern influenceEdit

Sif has inspired the name of a volcano on the planet Venus (Sif Mons).<ref>Lang (2003:221).</ref>

Sif's characterization in modern media tends to be much more martial than in the original sources. The Marvel Comics character, Sif, is based on the Sif of Norse myth and is portrayed by Jaimie Alexander in the Marvel Studios film Thor, its sequel, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.<ref name=MODERNINFLUENCE>Mansour (2005:485).</ref> television series, and the Loki streaming series episode The Nexus Event, where the hair shearing incident has loosely been adapted.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Lady Sif appears in Santa Monica Studio's 2022 video game God of War Ragnarök, where she is voiced by Emily Rose.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>