TheGefion Fountain (Danish:Gefionspringvandet) is a largefountain on the harbour front inCopenhagen,Denmark. It features a large-scale group of oxen pulling a plow and being driven by theNorse goddessGefjon. It is located inNordre Toldbod area next toKastellet and immediately south ofLangelinie.
The fountain was donated to the city of Copenhagen by theCarlsberg Foundation on the occasion of the brewery's 50-year anniversary. It was originally supposed to be located in the main town square outside city hall, but it was decided instead to build it near theØresund in its current location nearKastellet ("The Citadel").
It was designed by Danish artistAnders Bundgaard, who sculpted the naturalistic figures 1897–99. The basins and decorations were completed in 1908. The fountain was first activated on July 14, 1908.
The fountain underwent extensive renovations starting in 1999. The fountain was out of commission for many years, and was re-inaugurated in September 2004.
The fountain depicts the mythical story of the creation of the island ofZealand on which Copenhagen is located. The legend appears inRagnarsdrápa, a 9th-centurySkaldic poem recorded in the 13th centuryProse Edda, and inYnglinga saga as recorded inSnorri Sturluson's 13th centuryHeimskringla.
According toYnglinga saga, the Swedish kingGylfi promised Gefjun the territory she could plow in a night. She turned her four sons intooxen, and the territory they plowed out of the earth was then thrown into the Danish sea betweenScania and the island ofFyn. The hole became a lake calledLögrinn andLeginum (locative). Snorri identifies the lakeLöginn, as the lake ofOld Sigtuna west ofStockholm, i.e., LakeMälaren, an identification that he returns to later in theSaga of Olaf the Holy. The same identification ofLöginn/Leginum as Mälaren appears inÁsmundar saga kappabana, where it is the lake byAgnafit (modernStockholm), and also inKnýtlinga saga.
In spite of Snorri's identification, tourist information about the fountain identifies the resultant lake asVänern[1],[2][3][4] Sweden's largest lake, citing the fact that modern maps show that Zealand and the lake resemble each other in size and shape.
Snorri, however, was well acquainted with Vänern as he had visitedVästergötland in 1219. When he referred to this lake he called itVænir.[5]
The Gefion Fountain is seen at 0:48:47 in the 1972Olsen-banden filmThe Olsen Gang's Big Score.[6] It is also seen in the feature filmsJeg elsker en anden (1946),Mor bag rattet (1965), andMin søsters børn vælter byen (1968).[7]
ScholarHilda Ellis Davidson comments that "some of the power of the old tale of Gefjon, creator of the islands, has been superbly expressed in the great fountain at the water's edge in Copenhagen, depicting her ploughing through the sea in a cloud of rising spray with her giant beasts."[8]
Media related toGefion Fountain at Wikimedia Commons55°41′22″N12°35′51″E / 55.68944°N 12.59750°E /55.68944; 12.59750