Fjörgyn (orJörð;Old Norse 'earth') is a personification of earth inNorse mythology, and the mother of thethunder godThor, the son ofOdin. The masculine formFjörgynn is portrayed as the father of the goddessFrigg, the wife of Odin.[1]
Both names appear in thePoetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in theProse Edda, written in the 13th century bySnorri Sturluson. A number of theories surround the names and they have been the subject of scholarly discourse.
The Old Norse nameFjörgyn is used as a poetic synonym for 'land' or 'the earth' inskaldic poems.[2][1][3] It stems fromProto-Germanic*fergunja, meaning 'mountain', perhaps 'mountainous forest', which may ultimately derive fromProto-Indo-European*per-kwun-iyā ('the realm ofPerkwunos'; i.e., the wooden mountains).[4][5]Fjörgyn iscognate with theGothicfairguni (𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌲𐌿𐌽𐌹), theOld Englishfirgen, both meaning 'mountain', and with theOld High GermanFirgunnea, theOre Mountains.[5] Alternatively, the name may be a feminine equivalent of*ferga, meaning 'god'.[5]
Scholars argue that Fjörgyn may simply be another name forJörð, whose name also means 'earth'.[2][1] The fact that she does not appear elsewhere as a goddess inskaldic poetry "as would be expected of a purely literary alternative to Jörð" may be also notable.[2]
Fjörgyn(feminine) is attested inVöluspá in thekenning "Fjörgyn’s son" forThor, and inHárbarðsljóð as the mother of Thor.[1]
So keep to the left on the road, until you find Verland;
There Fjörgyn will find Thor, her son,
And she will teach him the ways of kinsmen to Odin’s lands.
— Snorri Sturluson,Hárbardsljód, 56, trans.J. Lindow, 2002.
In bothGylfaginning(9) andSkáldskaparmál(19), Fjörgynn(masculine) is depicted as the father ofFrigg.[1] InLokasenna ('Loki'sflyting'), Loki is responding to Frigg:
Shut up, Frigg! You are Fjörgynn’s daughter
and have ever been most eager for men...
Hilda Ellis Davidson theorizes that Fjörgyn and Fjörgynn may have represented a divine pair of which little information has survived, along with figures such as the theorizedUllr and Ullin,Njörðr andNerthus, and the attestedFreyr andFreyja.[6]
Theories have been proposed that Fjörgyn (Proto-Germanic: *fergunja) may represent an extension of an earlierProto-Indo-European thunder or rain god*Perkwunos due toIndo-European linguistic connections between Norse Fjörgyn, the Lithuanian godPerkūnas, the Slavic godPerun and, perhaps, the Vedic rain godParjanya.[7]
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