Fjörgyn and Fjörgynn

Fjörgyn and Fjörgynn are important in Norse mythology.

Fjörgyn stands for the earth. She is the mother of Thor, the thunder god. Thor is strong and carries a hammer called Mjölnir. He helps protect the world from danger. Fjörgyn is also called Jörð. This is the Old Norse word for “earth.”

Fjörgynn is the masculine form of the name. He may be the father of Frigg. Frigg is the goddess married to Odin, the main god. Frigg is wise and helps both gods and humans.

These names are found in two old books about Norse myths: the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. The Poetic Edda was gathered in the 13th century from older tales. The Prose Edda was written by a man named Snorri Sturluson at the same time. Scholars have many ideas about these names, which makes them interesting for people who study ancient myths.

Name

The Old Norse name Fjörgyn is a poetic word for “land” or “the earth.” It comes from an old word for “mountain” and might mean “mountainous forest.”

Some scholars think Fjörgyn could be another name for Jörð, who also means “earth.” However, Fjörgyn is not often mentioned in old poems like we might expect a goddess to be.

Attestations

Fjörgyn, the feminine form, is mentioned in the Völuspá as Thor's mother, called "Fjörgyn’s son." In Hárbarðsljóð, Fjörgyn is described as Thor's mother.

Fjörgynn, the masculine form, is shown as the father of Frigg in Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál. In Lokasenna, Loki calls Frigg Fjörgynn’s daughter.

Theories

Hilda Ellis Davidson thinks that Fjörgyn and Fjörgynn may have been a divine pair, like other pairs in Norse mythology such as Ullr and Ullin, or Njörðr and Nerthus.

Some ideas say that Fjörgyn might be connected to an old Proto-Indo-European god of thunder or rain. This links him to gods like Perkūnas from Lithuania, Perun from Slavic traditions, and maybe Parjanya from Vedic traditions.