InNorse mythology,Sif is a golden-hairedgoddess associated with earth. Sif is attested in thePoetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and theProse Edda, written in the 13th century bySnorri Sturluson, and in the poetry ofskalds. In both thePoetic Edda and theProse Edda, she is known for her golden hair and is married to the thunder godThor.
TheProse Edda recounts that Sif once had her hairshorn byLoki, 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 theProse Edda as the mother ofÞrúðr (by Thor) andUllr.
Scholars have proposed that Sif's hair may represent fields ofgolden wheat, that she may be associated with fertility, family, wedlock and/or that she is connected torowan, and that there may be an allusion to her role or possibly her name in theOld English poemBeowulf.
The nameSif is the singular form of the pluralOld Norse wordsifjar.Sifjar only appears in singular form when referring to the goddess as a proper noun.Sifjar is cognate to theOld Englishsibb andmodern Englishsib (meaning "affinity, connection, by marriage") and in other Germanic languages:Gothic𐍃𐌹𐌱𐌾𐌰 (sibja),Old High Germansippa, andmodern GermanSippe.Sifjar appears not only in ancient poetry and records of law, but also in compounds (byggja sifjar means "to marry").[1] Using this etymology, scholarJohn Lindow gives the meanings "in-law-relationship", scholar Andy Orchard provides "relation", and scholarRudolf Simek gives "relation by marriage".[2]
In stanza 48 of thePoetic Edda poemHárbarðsljóð,Hárbarðr (Odin, father of Thor, in disguise) meetsThor at aninlet of a gulf. The two engage inflyting, and Hárbarðr refuses toferry 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.[3]
In stanzas 53 and 54 of the poemLokasenna, after pouring Loki a crystal cup ofmead 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:
Then Sif went forward and poured out mead for Loki into a crystal cup and said:
Welcome now, Loki, and take the crystal cup
full of ancient mead,
you should admit, that of the children of theÆsir,
that I alone am blameless.
He took the horn and drank it down:
That indeed you would be, if you were so,
if you were shy and fierce towards men;
I alone know, as I think I do now,
your lover beside Thor,
and that was the wicked Loki.[4]
Sif does not respond, and the exchange turns toBeyla.[5] Sif is additionally mentioned in two kennings found in poems collected in thePoetic Edda;Hymiskviða (where Thor is referred to as the "Husband of Sif" thrice[6]), andÞrymskviða (where Thor is once referred to as "Husband of Sif"[7]).
In theProse Edda, Sif is mentioned once in thePrologue, in chapter 31 ofGylfaginning, and inSkáldskaparmál as a guest atÆgir'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 thePrologue section of theProse Edda; Snorri'seuhemerized account of the origins ofNorse mythology. Snorri states that Thor married Sif, and that she is known as "a prophetess calledSibyl, though we know her as Sif".[8] Sif is further described as "the loveliest of women" and with hair of gold.[8] Although he lists her own ancestors as unknown, Snorri writes that Thor and Sif produced a son by the name ofLóriði, who "took after his father".[9]
In chapter 31 of theProse Edda bookGylfaginning, Ullr is referred to as a son of Sif and a stepson of Thor (though his father is not mentioned):
Ull is the name of one. The son of Sif, he is the stepson of Thor. He is so skillful a bowman and skier that no one can compete with him. He is beautiful to look at, and is an accomplished warrior. He is also a good person to pray to when in single combat.[10]
As reported in theProse Edda bookSkáldskaparmál, Thor once engages in a duel withHrungnir, there described as the strongest of thejötnar. Prior to this, Hrungnir had been drunkenly boasting of his desire to, amongst other things, kill all of the gods exceptFreyja and Sif, whom he wanted to take home with him. However, at the duel, Hrungnir is quickly killed by the enraged Thor.[11]
Further inSkáldskaparmál, 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 bydwarfs, theSons 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 shipSkíðblaðnir and the boarGullinbursti forFreyr, the multiplying ringDraupnir for Odin, and the mighty hammerMjöllnir for Thor.[12]
Sif also appears inSkáldskaparmál listed as aheiti for "earth",[13] appears in a kenning for a gold-keeping woman,[14] and once forHildr.[15] Poetic means of referring to Sif calling her "wife of Thor", "mother of Ullr", "the fair-haired deity", "rival ofJárnsaxa", and as "mother of Þrúðr".[16]
19th-century scholarJacob Grimm records that in his time residents ofVärmland,Sweden "call[ed] Thor's wifegodmor, good mother."[17]
InOld English,sib ("family") is cognate with Old NorseSif andsif. In the Old English poemBeowulf (lines 2016 to 2018),Hroðgar's wife,Wealhþeow, moves through the hall serving mead to the warriors and defusing conflict. Various scholars beginning withMagnus Olsen have pointed to the similarity with what Sif does at the feast described inLokasenna.[18][19]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 ofBeowulf was in a position to imagine a sixth-century Scandinavia on the basis of his knowledge of contemporary Danish legends."[20]
19th-century scholarJacob Grimm proposes a reconstruction of a Germanic deity cognate to Sif in other Germanic cultures and proposes a similar nature to that of the goddessesFrigg andFreyja:
TheGoth.sibja,OHG.sippia,sippa,AS.sibgen.sibbe, denote peace, friendship, kindred; from these I infer a divinitySibja,Sippia,Sib, corresponding toON.Sif gen.Sifjar, the wife ofThôrr, for the ON. too has a pl.sifjar meaning cognatio, sifi amicus (OHG.sippio,sippo), sift genus, cognatio. By this sense of the word,Sif would appear to be, likeFrigg andFreyja, a goddess of loveliness and love; as attributes ofOðinn and Thôrr agree, their wives Frigg and Sif have also a common signification.[21]
Grimm connects Eddic references to Sif's golden hair (gold is referred to asSifjar haddr; Sif's hair) with the herb namehaddr Sifjar (Polytrichum aureum)[verification needed]. Grimm says that "expositors see in this the golden fruits of the Earth burnt up by fire and growing again, they liken Sif toCeres", and Grimm says that "with it agrees the fact thatO. Slav.Siva is a gloss onCeres dea frumenti" but citesetymological problems between the potential cognate. Grimm says that Thor's mother was the earth, and not his wife, yet "we do find the simpleSif 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 ofDemeter, whose poignant grief for her daughter threatens to bring famine on mankind (Hymn to Cer. 305–306), nor anything like it, recorded."[22]
Citing the etymology of her name, 19th century scholarGuðbrandur 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".[1]
ScholarRudolf Simek theorizes that Sif likely originated as a complement to Thor through his fertility associations, and that the nameSif (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.[23]
ScholarH. R. Ellis Davidson states that Sif may have been an ancient fertility goddess, agreeing with a link between her lustrous hair and fields ofgolden wheat.[24] Regarding Sif, Thor, and fertility, Davidson says:
The cult of Thor was linked up with men's habitation and possessions, and with well-being of the family and community. This included the fruitfulness of the fields, and Thor, although pictured primarily as astorm god in the myths, was also concerned with the fertility and preservation of the seasonal round. In our own times, little stone axes from the distant past have been used as fertility symbols and placed by the farmer in the holes made by the drill to receive the first seed of spring. Thor's marriage with Sif of the golden hair, about which we hear little in the myths, seems to be a memory of the ancient symbol ofdivine marriage betweensky god andearth goddess, when he comes to earth in the thunderstorm and the storm brings the rain which makes the fields fertile. In this way Thor, as well as Odin, may be seen to continue the cult of the sky god which was known in theBronze Age.[25]
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.[26]
Sif has been linked withRavdna, the consort of theSami thunder godHoragalles. Red berries ofrowan were holy to Ravdna and the nameRavdna resembles the North Germanic words for the tree (for example, Old Norsereynir). According toSkáldskaparmál, 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."[27]Uno Harva has raised doubts about goddess Ravdna, as while the word does mean rowan in Sámi, she is only mentioned byJacob Fellman, who referred to Horagalles as theFinnishUkko and might've then been simply trying to find a Sámi equivalent forRauni.[28]
Regarding the accusations that Loki makes to Sif inLokasenna, Carolyne Larrington says that Sif is not elsewhere attested as unfaithful, though notes that Odin makes a similar accusation inHárbarðsljóð, 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."[29]
Several identities have been suggested for Sif's first husband, the father of Ullr, but since neitherEdda names this husband, most scholars continue to consider him unidentified. N. A. Nielsen suggests that she was married toNjord before theÆsir–Vanir War,[30] an interpretation which depends on considering Ullr identical withFreyr, which Rudolf Simek characterizes as "very precarious."[31]
Sif has inspired the name of avolcano on the planetVenus (Sif Mons).[32]
Sif's characterization in modern media tends to be much more martial than in the original sources. TheMarvel Comics character,Sif, is based on the Sif of Norse myth and is portrayed byJaimie Alexander in theMarvel Studios filmThor, itssequel, theAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.[33] television series, and theLoki streaming series episodeThe Nexus Event, where the hair shearing incident has loosely been adapted.[34][35]
Lady Sif appears inSanta Monica Studio's 2022 video gameGod of War Ragnarök, where she is voiced byEmily Rose.[36]
Media related toSif at Wikimedia Commons
