Lofn

Lofn is one of the Ásynjur in Norse mythology. She is mentioned briefly in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda.

Átta Lofn, hon er svá mild ok góð til áheita at hon fær leyfi af Alföðr eða Frigg til manna samgangs, kvenna ok karla, þótt áðr sé bannat eða þvertekit. Fyrir því er af hennar nafni lof kallat, ok svá þat er lofat er mjök af mönnum.

"The eighth is Lofn; she is so gentle and good to invoke that she has permission from All-father and Frigg to bring together men and women for whom marriage was forbidden or banned. From her name comes the word "permission", also what is much praised by men." - Young's translation

The name Lofn is not mentioned again in the Prose Edda and occurs nowhere in the Poetic Edda. In skaldic poetry the name is frequently used in kennings as a generic goddess name (e.g. Lofn seima means "Lofn of gold", i.e. "woman"). It is unclear whether Lofn was ever a major goddess. It is possible that, unknown to Snorri, she was simply another name for Freyja.

References

Eysteinn Björnsson (ed.) (2005). Snorra-Edda: Formáli & Gylfaginning : Textar fjögurra meginhandrita. http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/gg/
Finnur Jónsson. Lexicon Poeticum. 1931. København: S. L. Møllers Bogtrykkeri.
Simek, Rudolf. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. 1993. Trans. Angela Hall. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. ISBN 0859913694. New edition 2000, ISBN 0859915131.
Young, Jean I. (1964). Snorri Sturluson : the Prose Edda. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-01231-3.

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