Lofn
In
Attestations
In chapter 35 of the
- 'She is so gentle and so good to invoke that she has permission from All-Father or Frigg to arrange unions between men and women, even if earlier offers have been received and unions have been banned. From her name comes the word lof, meaning permission as well as high praise.'[4]
In the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, Lofn is included among a list of 27 ásynjur names.[5] Elsewhere in Skáldskaparmál, Lofn appears in a kenning for "woman" in a work by the skald Ormr Steinþórsson.[6] Otherwise Lofn appears frequently as a base word in skaldic kennings for "woman."[7]
Theories
John Lindow says that scholars have generally followed Snorri's etymological connection with the root lof-, meaning "praise." Lindow says that, along with many other goddesses, some scholars theorize that Lofn may simply be another name for the goddess Frigg.[7] Rudolf Simek theorizes that Snorri used skaldic kennings to produce his Gylfaginning commentary about the goddess, while combining several etymologies with the Old Norse personal name Lofn.[8]
Notes
References
- Byock, Jesse (Trans.) (2005). The Prose Edda. ISBN 0-14-044755-5
- Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). Edda. ISBN 0-460-87616-3
- ISBN 0-19-515382-0
- Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. ISBN 0-304-34520-2
- Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. ISBN 0-85991-513-1