Northern mythology

gins.
She knows the decrees of fate as well as Odin himself.
NORTHERN MYTHOLOGY. 35
Loki upbraids her with being infatuated with the
fair youth that gave her a necklace^ and with yielding to
his embraces ^
EiR is the best leech.
Fulla is a maiden with dishevelled
hair and a golden band round her head^. She bears
Frigg^s casket, has charge of her foot -covering, and knows
her secret council. Gna rides through the air and over
the sea, on Frigg^s messages, on the horse Hofvarpnir.
Once, as she was riding, some Vanir saw her in the air,
one of whom said.
She answered,
What flies there ?
what goes there?
or is borne in air ?
I fly not,
though I go,
and am borne in air,
on Hofvarpnir,
that Hamskerph*
got by Gardarofa.
Hlin guards those whom Frigg is
desirous of freeing
from peril. Siofn inclines the mind of both sexes to love :
from her name a lover is called siafni. Lofn is kind and
good to those that invoke her : she has permission from
All-father or Frigg to unite those who love each other, whatever
hindrances or difficulties may stand in the way. From
her name is derived the word lof (praise, leave), because
she is greatly praised by men. Vor hears the oaths and
vows of lovers, and punishes those who break them.
She
was ploughed up a lake formed itself, called in Sweden Laugr, now the
Malar lake. And the bays and creeks in the lake correspond to the promontories
of Seeland.— Snorra Edda, p. 1. Thiele, Danske Folksagn, i. 1.
The above is not contained in the Upsala MS. of Snorri's Edda, which is
the oldest copy known.
1 Gylf. 35. ' Lokaglepsa, Str. 20, 21.
2 Hofu'Sband FuUu (FuUa's head-band) is a periphrasis for gold.