My Two Cents About Sigyn
Jun. 30th, 2014 10:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sigyn_halja... Or, the useless and irrationally angry musings of a too-fangirlish fangirl. Though, seriously, what did you expect from one with that sort of username?
Anyway, these are things that piss me off as Norse Mythology-obsessed creep with a soft spot for Sigyn and Loki/Sigyn.
1. Sigyn is useless as a character. I mean, what does she even do? She’s just Loki’s doormat.
Yeah, so she doesn’t actually do much in the myths. There are much more active characters, like Loki, Freya, even Frigg. And there are also less active characters - Balder and Hermod have a relevant role in one myth, and let’s not talk about Eir, Hlin or Lofn.
But you know what? We can guess Balder was relevant because of a quote in the Merseburg Charms, and we can guess Eir had a famous cult on a sacred mountain or whatnot. And guess what? We do have hints about things that Sigyn may have once been connected too - but more about those later.
Also, are you seriously calling her a doormat? Do you honestly think what she does in the surviving myths is useless and doesn’t require any sort of mental strength? Well, let me put it this way, then …
She saw one of her kids being forced to kill the other - by the people she lived side by side, by the ones that perhaps she thought of as her friends. She saw her brutally murdered kid’s entrails being extracted from his body and then used to bind her husband in an eternal punishment - a punishment that would end only at the end of the world. Literally.
And you know what? She did not run away and hide in fear of something equally terrifying happening to her too, nor did she kill herself or go mad with grief and a thirst for revenge like other mythological women would have done. She didn’t even divorce her husband - yeah, Viking women could do that, and Sigyn had a lot more valid reasons than, say, Skadi - and try to forget everything and start a new life or a new family. No, she had the strength to bear it all until the end, to keep taking care of Loki instead of trying to run back to the good guys who ruined her life and hope they’d take her back - after all, they left her unharmed, meaning they didn’t really hold a grudge against her.
Now, think about spending eternity that way, about going on every single day of your life like that: watching one of your loved ones writhing in pain and knowing you’re the only one who can offer them some sort of comfort, while always being aware that the rest of your loved ones are all dead.
It takes some fucking balls not to break, is all I’m telling ya.
2. Wait, what has that to do with anything? Wasn’t she forced to stay in the cave with Loki?
Yeeeeah … only she wasn’t. The lore isn’t really all that detailed when it comes to Sigyn’s role in Loki’s binding, but there is nothing about Sigyn being forced by anybody. Really, why would the Aesir want someone easing Loki’s suffering anyway? I mean, they tied him to rocks and let Skadi put a poisonous snake right over his head, one would think they wanted him in as much pain as humanly (godly?) possible.
3. Well, then I’m sure Loki himself forced her to stay! After all, Sigyn is just a weak, stupid abused housewife.
Call women who are victims of domestic violence weak and stupid when I’m around just one more time and I swear I will hurt you.
Anyway, Loki wasn’t really in a position to force anybody to do anything, now was he? Also, this might shock you and leave you in a “OMG WTF U SAYING” phase for the rest of your life, but - yet again, there’s nothing in the lore supporting the abusive!Loki theory.
Sure, he sleeps around like nobody’s business. Sure, he is a jerk with a peculiar sense of humour. But you know what?
Odin sleeps around. Rind, Saga, Jord … does any of these names ring a bell? Oh, and possibly Freya and Skadi, too.
Thor sleeps around. Just ask Jarnsaxa and her kids.
Frigg? Loki did say some interesting things about her true relationship with her brothers-in-law …
Freya? She’s got her twin, four dwarves and possibly Odin on her record.
Just face it. Everybody is a slut in every mythology.And before someone says it: yeah, I can make an exception for Athena, but I’m pretty damn sure Artemis was banging Callisto.
And the screwed up humour? I’d like to remind you that Skadi laughs at goats trying to rip guys’ testicles away.
4. Yeah, okay, but Loki is still the bad guy! Everybody knows that!
Loki was not the bad guy. He was the irresponsible jerk who either put everyone else in trouble or saved the day - and often the two things happened in the same story.
Also, Loka Táttur. Read it. Just do it.
Now, be a dear and put your Satan!Loki vs Jesus!Balder theories away for a second, okay? I’m not moving on until you do.
5. Okay, okay, so Sigyn wasn’t abused by Loki. But her character is still anti-feministic! She just revolves around Loki - even her name says exactly that!
Wait … what? Now I’m just confused.
6. Oh come on, she’s the Goddess of Fidelity and her name means “faithful”! She’s clearly a filthy servant of the patriarchy, because she completely embodies a traditionally feminine virtue.
A wonderful guy with a wonderful askblog once said that you can’t expect gods to fall neatly into your tiny little boxes just to make your life easier, and he was right. The Norse pantheon sure hates boxes, and dubbing anyone as the “God/dess of X” is pretty damn reductive.
Would you be able to tell the name of the Norse God of War, for example? After all, it should be easy, as we’re talking about Vikings …
Why, that’s Odin! Except he’s also the god of magic and poetry. Then it must be Tyr! But he is also the god of justice - okay, one of the gods of justice. And what about Freya? She chooses the fallen warriors first, but then again she is also fertility goddess, a goddess of love and sex, a goddess of magic - oh wait, the magic thing overlaps with Odin …
… Okay, now we’ve got that out of the way. But just to be sure: the God of Mischief thing is a Marvel thing. Yeah, I know, shocking.
Anyway, this is just to say that Sigyn is never explicitly labelled as the Goddess of Fidelity. And no, her name doesn’t have anything to do with it either.
You know what her name really means, though? It mean victorious girlfriend. Yup. A good old-fashioned victory name - just like Signý, Sigurd, Sigrun and basically every other name starting with sigr -. Oh, did you know that some modern-day heathens worship Sigyn as the Victory Bringer? Okay, you didn’t.
Sure, the Victory Bringer thing seems to come entirely out of her name, and Sigyn may have been linked to more traditionally feminine virtues like devotion, compassion and - yeah - fidelity. Do you know other goddess who were linked to feminine things?
Frigg. She is a seer and so she is connected to magic. Magic and seeing the future were “women stuff”, according to yer good ol’ macho!Vikings. Plus, she is Odin’s wife and the myth of the death of Balder characterizes her strongly as a mother figure. She even weaves, for Balder’s sake! And she can make weapons and rocks swear oaths to her. Friggin’ rocks, man!
Freya. Again, strongly connected to magic. And also to fertility. Oh, and she’s a mom, too. And she cries while desperately looking everywhere for her husband Od. Now try and force her to marry someone she doesn’t like - see how well Freya of the Slain takes that.
Ah, still about Sigyn’s supposed not doing anything not Loki-related. The Victory Bringer thing may be just speculation/UPG/whatever, but Sigyn is called the Incantation Fetter in lore. Meaning she is possibly connected to magic, protection, and safety.
Considering what the other magic-related Norse goddesses were capable of, I wouldn’t dismiss her so easily …
7. But fidelity is such a Christian value! Vikings didn’t care about stuff like that! Obviously, Sigyn is just a stupid Christian Virgin Mary rip-off that Christian writers put in the myths to make them more Christian.
… Okay, so I sometimes use the term “Vikings” instead of “Norsemen” or “Ancient Scandinavian”. But do you really have to punish me like this?
Sure, Vikings didn’t care about fidelity or devotion or compassion. They clearly only cared about raping English noblewomen and killing everybody and everything they ever happened to meet. And getting high on mystical mushrooms and washing and sneezing all together in the same dirty basin, naturally.
… No, this kind of thinking isn’t even worthy of a proper rant. I just can’t, okay? What’s next, anyway?
Oh, yeah, the “stupid Christian invention” thing. *sigh*
Just letting you know: Sigyn is mentioned in Haustlöng. Haustlöng is a skaldic poem. It dates back to 9th-10th century.
You should check it out, sometimes, you know?
… Yeah, I’m done now. A little less angry, a little more embarrassed by my own nerdiness and fangirling.
Time to write more Loki/Sigyn p0rn, I guess.
Anyway, these are things that piss me off as Norse Mythology-obsessed creep with a soft spot for Sigyn and Loki/Sigyn.
1. Sigyn is useless as a character. I mean, what does she even do? She’s just Loki’s doormat.
Yeah, so she doesn’t actually do much in the myths. There are much more active characters, like Loki, Freya, even Frigg. And there are also less active characters - Balder and Hermod have a relevant role in one myth, and let’s not talk about Eir, Hlin or Lofn.
But you know what? We can guess Balder was relevant because of a quote in the Merseburg Charms, and we can guess Eir had a famous cult on a sacred mountain or whatnot. And guess what? We do have hints about things that Sigyn may have once been connected too - but more about those later.
Also, are you seriously calling her a doormat? Do you honestly think what she does in the surviving myths is useless and doesn’t require any sort of mental strength? Well, let me put it this way, then …
She saw one of her kids being forced to kill the other - by the people she lived side by side, by the ones that perhaps she thought of as her friends. She saw her brutally murdered kid’s entrails being extracted from his body and then used to bind her husband in an eternal punishment - a punishment that would end only at the end of the world. Literally.
And you know what? She did not run away and hide in fear of something equally terrifying happening to her too, nor did she kill herself or go mad with grief and a thirst for revenge like other mythological women would have done. She didn’t even divorce her husband - yeah, Viking women could do that, and Sigyn had a lot more valid reasons than, say, Skadi - and try to forget everything and start a new life or a new family. No, she had the strength to bear it all until the end, to keep taking care of Loki instead of trying to run back to the good guys who ruined her life and hope they’d take her back - after all, they left her unharmed, meaning they didn’t really hold a grudge against her.
Now, think about spending eternity that way, about going on every single day of your life like that: watching one of your loved ones writhing in pain and knowing you’re the only one who can offer them some sort of comfort, while always being aware that the rest of your loved ones are all dead.
It takes some fucking balls not to break, is all I’m telling ya.
2. Wait, what has that to do with anything? Wasn’t she forced to stay in the cave with Loki?
Yeeeeah … only she wasn’t. The lore isn’t really all that detailed when it comes to Sigyn’s role in Loki’s binding, but there is nothing about Sigyn being forced by anybody. Really, why would the Aesir want someone easing Loki’s suffering anyway? I mean, they tied him to rocks and let Skadi put a poisonous snake right over his head, one would think they wanted him in as much pain as humanly (godly?) possible.
3. Well, then I’m sure Loki himself forced her to stay! After all, Sigyn is just a weak, stupid abused housewife.
Call women who are victims of domestic violence weak and stupid when I’m around just one more time and I swear I will hurt you.
Anyway, Loki wasn’t really in a position to force anybody to do anything, now was he? Also, this might shock you and leave you in a “OMG WTF U SAYING” phase for the rest of your life, but - yet again, there’s nothing in the lore supporting the abusive!Loki theory.
Sure, he sleeps around like nobody’s business. Sure, he is a jerk with a peculiar sense of humour. But you know what?
Odin sleeps around. Rind, Saga, Jord … does any of these names ring a bell? Oh, and possibly Freya and Skadi, too.
Thor sleeps around. Just ask Jarnsaxa and her kids.
Frigg? Loki did say some interesting things about her true relationship with her brothers-in-law …
Freya? She’s got her twin, four dwarves and possibly Odin on her record.
Just face it. Everybody is a slut in every mythology.
And the screwed up humour? I’d like to remind you that Skadi laughs at goats trying to rip guys’ testicles away.
4. Yeah, okay, but Loki is still the bad guy! Everybody knows that!
Loki was not the bad guy. He was the irresponsible jerk who either put everyone else in trouble or saved the day - and often the two things happened in the same story.
Also, Loka Táttur. Read it. Just do it.
Now, be a dear and put your Satan!Loki vs Jesus!Balder theories away for a second, okay? I’m not moving on until you do.
5. Okay, okay, so Sigyn wasn’t abused by Loki. But her character is still anti-feministic! She just revolves around Loki - even her name says exactly that!
Wait … what? Now I’m just confused.
6. Oh come on, she’s the Goddess of Fidelity and her name means “faithful”! She’s clearly a filthy servant of the patriarchy, because she completely embodies a traditionally feminine virtue.
A wonderful guy with a wonderful askblog once said that you can’t expect gods to fall neatly into your tiny little boxes just to make your life easier, and he was right. The Norse pantheon sure hates boxes, and dubbing anyone as the “God/dess of X” is pretty damn reductive.
Would you be able to tell the name of the Norse God of War, for example? After all, it should be easy, as we’re talking about Vikings …
Why, that’s Odin! Except he’s also the god of magic and poetry. Then it must be Tyr! But he is also the god of justice - okay, one of the gods of justice. And what about Freya? She chooses the fallen warriors first, but then again she is also fertility goddess, a goddess of love and sex, a goddess of magic - oh wait, the magic thing overlaps with Odin …
… Okay, now we’ve got that out of the way. But just to be sure: the God of Mischief thing is a Marvel thing. Yeah, I know, shocking.
Anyway, this is just to say that Sigyn is never explicitly labelled as the Goddess of Fidelity. And no, her name doesn’t have anything to do with it either.
You know what her name really means, though? It mean victorious girlfriend. Yup. A good old-fashioned victory name - just like Signý, Sigurd, Sigrun and basically every other name starting with sigr -. Oh, did you know that some modern-day heathens worship Sigyn as the Victory Bringer? Okay, you didn’t.
Sure, the Victory Bringer thing seems to come entirely out of her name, and Sigyn may have been linked to more traditionally feminine virtues like devotion, compassion and - yeah - fidelity. Do you know other goddess who were linked to feminine things?
Frigg. She is a seer and so she is connected to magic. Magic and seeing the future were “women stuff”, according to yer good ol’ macho!Vikings. Plus, she is Odin’s wife and the myth of the death of Balder characterizes her strongly as a mother figure. She even weaves, for Balder’s sake! And she can make weapons and rocks swear oaths to her. Friggin’ rocks, man!
Freya. Again, strongly connected to magic. And also to fertility. Oh, and she’s a mom, too. And she cries while desperately looking everywhere for her husband Od. Now try and force her to marry someone she doesn’t like - see how well Freya of the Slain takes that.
Ah, still about Sigyn’s supposed not doing anything not Loki-related. The Victory Bringer thing may be just speculation/UPG/whatever, but Sigyn is called the Incantation Fetter in lore. Meaning she is possibly connected to magic, protection, and safety.
Considering what the other magic-related Norse goddesses were capable of, I wouldn’t dismiss her so easily …
7. But fidelity is such a Christian value! Vikings didn’t care about stuff like that! Obviously, Sigyn is just a stupid Christian Virgin Mary rip-off that Christian writers put in the myths to make them more Christian.
… Okay, so I sometimes use the term “Vikings” instead of “Norsemen” or “Ancient Scandinavian”. But do you really have to punish me like this?
Sure, Vikings didn’t care about fidelity or devotion or compassion. They clearly only cared about raping English noblewomen and killing everybody and everything they ever happened to meet. And getting high on mystical mushrooms and washing and sneezing all together in the same dirty basin, naturally.
… No, this kind of thinking isn’t even worthy of a proper rant. I just can’t, okay? What’s next, anyway?
Oh, yeah, the “stupid Christian invention” thing. *sigh*
Just letting you know: Sigyn is mentioned in Haustlöng. Haustlöng is a skaldic poem. It dates back to 9th-10th century.
You should check it out, sometimes, you know?
… Yeah, I’m done now. A little less angry, a little more embarrassed by my own nerdiness and fangirling.
Time to write more Loki/Sigyn p0rn, I guess.
