Sigyn

In Norse mythology, Sigyn (Old Norse "victorious girl-friend") is a goddess and is the wife of Loki. Sigyn 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. In the Poetic Edda, little information is provided about Sigyn other than her role in assisting Loki during his captivity. In the Prose Edda, her role in helping her husband through his time spent in bondage is stated again, she appears in various kennings, and her status as a goddess is mentioned twice. Sigyn may appear on the Gosforth Cross and has been the subject of an amount of theory and cultural references.

Attestations

Sigyn is attested in the following works:

Poetic Edda

In stanza 35 of the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, a völva tells Odin that, amongst many other things, she sees Sigyn sitting very unhappily with her bound husband, Loki, under a "grove of hot springs". Sigyn is mentioned a second (and final) time in the ending prose section of the poem Lokasenna. In the prose, Loki has been bound by the gods with the guts of his son Nari, his son Váli is described as having been turned into a wolf, and the goddess Skaði fastens a venomous snake over Loki's face, from which venom drips. Sigyn, again described as Loki's wife, holds a basin under the dripping venom. The basin grows full, and she pulls it away, during which time venom drops on Loki, causing him to writhe so violently that earthquakes occur that shake the entire earth.

Sigyn (ship)

Sigyn, built in Gothenburg 1887, now museum ship in Turku, is the last remaining wooden barque used for trade across the oceans. At the time she was built there were thousands of similar vessels, but she was one of the last ones built. She was quite small even for her time, considering she was built for long-distance trade, but well built and considered fast and beautiful.

As merchant ship

In these times the steam ships were taking over the most important routes; the Suez canal was already built and the Panama canal was planned. The tonnage of steam ships passed that of sailing ships in 1890, ten and thirty years later in Sweden and Finland respectively. On the other hand this was the time when big barques of steel were built. Sigyn was planned for another niche: the small size and small draught made her suited to also use small remote harbours.

The first decade Sigyn sailed on the Atlantic on tramp trade, mostly with wood (pine, spruce, pitch pine, mahogany, cedar), but also e.g. coal, probably sugar, once even hay. In 1897 she made one journey to Bangkok. After 1900 she sailed mostly in European waters.

Sigyn (Marvel Comics)

Sigyn is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. She is based on the being of the same name from Norse mythology.

Publication history

Sigyn first appeared in Thor #275 (September 1978), and was adapted from mythology by Roy Thomas and John Buscema.

The character subsequently appeared in Thor #276-278 (October–December 1978), #300-302 (October–December 1980), Thor Annual #9 (1981), Thor #307 (May 1981), 313 (November 1981), 321 (July 1982), Thor Annual #14 (1989), #19 (1994), Thor #479-480 (October–November 1994), and 484 (March 1995).

Sigyn appeared as part of the "Asgardians" entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #1.

Fictional character biography

Sigyn is the wife of Loki, making her princess of Asgard.

When Loki was young, he came to desire a wife, and admired Sigyn from afar. When he went to court her, she revealed that she was betrothed to Theoric. Loki arranged to have Theoric murdered but made it look like he was killed in battle, and then disguised himself as Theoric so that Sigyn and "Theoric" were eventually wed by Odin. At the end of the ceremony, Loki revealed his true form. Odin was furious, but Sigyn noted that as his wife, she was duty-bound to Loki for life. Odin made her the goddess of fidelity for her endurance, and banished Loki from Asgard.