Sigyn: Victorious One

There is admittedly not much known in the Lore at all about Sigyn, in fact there is not much about any of the Gods called Rokkr in the modern day, who are "supposed" to bring about the doom of the Aesir at Ragnarok.  For Beings causing such major change, you would think there would be more written about Them.  My personal opinion of course is that Snorri being a member of the new religion was somewhat ashamed of the "backwards religion" not so far back in his country's past, and did what he could to pick and choose from the Lore, by which time it got to him had already not been from a Jotun perspective in ages.

That being said, I will list the references given for Sigyn, and my own personal gnosis of Her, which is shared by a few people:

Now Loke was taken without truce and was brought to a cave. The gods took three rocks and set them up on edge, and bored a hole through each rock. Then they took Loke's sons, Vale and Nare or Narfe. Vale they changed into the likeness of a wolf, whereupon he tore his brother Narfe to pieces, with whose intestines the asas bound Loke over the three rocks. One stood under his shoulders, another under his loins, and the third under his hams, and the fetters became iron. Skade took a serpent and fastened up over him, so that the venom should drop from the serpent into his face. But Sigyn, his wife, stands by him, and holds a dish under the venom drops. Whenever the dish becomes full, she goes and pours away the venom, and meanwhile the venom drops onto Loke's face. Then he twists his body so violently that the whole earth shakes, and this you call earthquakes. There he will lie bound until Ragnarok.

Prose Edda, Anderson translation, Chapter 15.


One did I see                        in the wet woods bound,
A lover of ill,                       and to Loki like;
By his side does Sigyn           sit, nor is glad
To see her mate:                 would you know yet more?

Voluspa, v. 35


That Loki is important to the shaping of the Wyrd of the Gods is a given, however much less is made of the "less monstrous" side of Loki's family through Sigyn, despite the fact that these children are given the most brutal treatment of all by the Aesir.  Furthermore, Sigyn is seen as an example of loyalty by many Heathens, in that even after all Loki is accused of, and punished for His "crimes", She stays with Him in isolation and terror, and devotes all of Her life to collecting the poison so it does not hurt Him.

My initial UPG of Sigyn is that She is Loki's joy.  Loki is a complicated figure, and nothing He does comes with simple motives even if it would appear as such -- it goes beyond doing things "for the lulz" or to stir up strife.  It could be said, to borrow an "outsider" analogy, that Loki is the yin to Odin's yang, and that there's a little bit of trickster nature in Odin just as there's a little bit of seriousness in Loki, and indeed the joke may be on us -- Loki is heavily weighted with sorrows, just as Odin seems to find much of human nature and behavior to be hilarious.  As Loki is with Angrboda as a source of power, Loki gets joy from Sigyn, and does things to preserve that joy, to make Her laugh.  Sigyn has been described as a child-bride, and I believe Her innocence is what drives the loyalty to Loki during the time when All have forsaken Him.  Loki cherishes that innocence within Her, and wants to fuel it with laughter.  To give any God laughter is one of the best gifts you can give, but Sigyn has Her own pain, and Loki makes Her laugh to protect and preserve Her innocence, which gives Him joy.

On a deeper level, Sigyn can be seen as part of the cosmic current of the Weeping Goddess of Compassion, She who collects all the poison of humanity, all the world's sorrows, in a bowl, and invests every waking moment in this task.  While I wouldn't go as far as to say "Loki was bound for your sins", I believe the story of Baldur's slaying is more complex than Heathens would give thought to and Loki was misunderstood... or at least the convenient scapegoat.  I am not a Loki apologist, and I do not think every thing Loki does is wonderful.  Yes, He is a very chaotic Deity.  But that chaos brings necessary change, and that not even Odin or Frigga could stop the Wyrd of Baldur's death is significant.  Loki is "the problem child", and it should be seen as no coincidence that as the rates of child abuse -- whether physical, verbal, or sexual -- escalate, Loki and Sigyn have shown Themselves to people, often those who are survivors of abuse.

Because time is non-corporeal and non-linear for the Deities, They tend to appear at different points in time.  I have seen Loki and Sigyn pre-binding, during-binding, and after-binding.  The pre-bound Loki has a bit of a chip on His shoulder, and Sigyn seems nervous yet rather playful.  During-binding, Loki grieves and rages, and Sigyn is full of sorrow.  Post-binding, Loki is hurt, and though He may make others laugh, it is usually "fellow outcasts" who deserve to laugh and deserve the joys of embracing non-conformity rather than kicking at it.  Sigyn, on the other hand, is a bit more serious and may appreciate gifts given that would normally be "for kids", including "comfort food" (e.g. candy).

Sigyn was instrumental in helping me to embrace Loki when it was clear He was not going away and didn't care whether it ruined "my Asatru career" or not (which it did, but I'm not terribly displeased about that now).  Sigyn showed me why She loves Loki, and I have kept that in mind even when He can make things interesting... then they have a weird way of working out better than they would have without His interference... and He smiles and says, "See, I helped!"

For those who might be Jotun-phobic due to Asatru conditioning but are trying to work beyond that, Sigyn is a good intermediary.  My UPG, confirmed by many others, is that Sigyn is a fosterling taken in by the Vanir and is quite probably a "half-breed".  (So, while it may not be in the Lore, it fills in some blanks, and I highly doubt that all of us seeing this could be mad.)  There are Rokkr that Sigyn is wary of, such as Angrboda if only because She is a co-wife and a bad-ass one at that.  However, Sigyn still grieves for Loki's children through Angrboda, taken from Them, and Sigyn's alliance with the Rokkr at the end rather than with the Aesir is as complex as anything else.  I believe that Sigyn clearly wishes no one ill, but goes where She's found the most acceptance, which is with Loki.

I love Sigyn very much and have made it a point to gift Her regularly, as well as to remember Her children Narvi and Vali, who are currently hanging on my wall in a beautiful art print done by Grace D. Palmer.  I want Sigyn to smile, and laugh, and have momentary freedom from the memories of Loki's binding, or Her own murky upbringing.  It is through touching Sigyn's heart, that I also heal that hurt and PTSD-addled part of my own self.  Which is what She would want, anyway.

Hail Sigyn, who is victorious not through overt warrior skills, but through the act of love, and loyalty, trust, and compassion.


(C) 2008 Sigrun Freyskona.



Illustration: "My Lady Greensleeves", Dante Gabriel Rossetti.