Alright folks, buckle up. Today was all about Sigyn, Loki’s wife. Honestly, I kinda glossed over her for years. Figured, Loki’s the star, right? Flashy, chaotic. Then I stumbled on some mentions that basically said Sigyn just stood there holding a bowl. Seemed weak. Felt like, “Really? That’s it?” But the question kept nagging at me: how powerful is she really? Decided to dig in properly.
First thing I did? Pulled out my old, beat-up copy of the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. Dust literally flew off. Started flipping like mad, scanning the index, my fingers tracing lines. Realised most mentions of Sigyn are buried deep, like footnotes to Loki’s chaos. Frustrating! Kept thinking, “Where are you hiding, lady?” Needed a wider net.
Grabbed my laptop next. Started searching online, typing variations of “Sigyn myths,” “Sigyn powers,” “Sigyn importance.” Went down some deep, kinda sketchy internet rabbit holes. Found tons of modern pagan stuff, which is cool, but I needed the old-school sources. Filtered for academic papers and trusted mythology sites. Bookmarked like fifteen tabs, my brain starting to buzz. The sheer lack of dedicated Sigyn stories hit me. Why the silence?
Decided the only way was to piece together her strength from the fragments. I grabbed a fresh notebook – the nice lined one I save for deep dives – and a pen. Sat down at the kitchen table, coffee going cold. Started listing every single reference I could verify from the texts and solid sources. Cross-checked names, locations, versions. It became detective work. And slowly, a pattern emerged. Not power like Thor swinging a hammer, but something… different.
Here’s the 4 big things that practically slapped me in the face once I saw them pulled together:
- She stuck with Loki, actively. I mean, actively chose to stay with the guy who got their son murdered by the other gods. When the gods finally caught Loki and chained him underground with a serpent dripping venom? She wasn’t forced or tricked. She walked right up and chose to sit there holding that damn bowl. That takes a terrifying kind of willpower.
- The endurance marathon. Holding the bowl, catching the venom drops before they hit Loki’s face. Forever. The texts say “she holds a basin under the venom”. Sounds passive? Nope. It’s constant vigilance. Unending pain prevention. The serpent keeps dripping, she keeps catching. Imagine the focus. Imagine the physical toll of sitting motionless for eternity.
- Absolute loyalty, even beyond reason. When she briefly has to tip the bowl, the venom hits Loki, and his writhing causes earthquakes. So she’s literally preventing geological chaos through sheer, stubborn presence. Her loyalty holds the world together from one specific disaster point.
- Surviving the catastrophe. After Ragnarok, the old world ends. Most gods die. Who’s mentioned among the survivors or new arrivals in some interpretations? Sigyn and one of her sons. She endured the ultimate suffering alongside the ultimate trickster, watched the world end, and came out the other side. That’s not weakness. That’s resilience on a cosmic scale.
Finished writing my notes, looked at the scribbles filling the pages. My back hurt just thinking about her posture in that cave. It wasn’t about thunder or lightning. Power wasn’t the point I started hunting for, but damn, I found a whole freaking ocean of it. Strength isn’t always about breaking things. Sometimes, it’s about holding the line, unbroken, long after anyone sane would have quit. Changed my whole view on “power.” Why hadn’t I seen it? Maybe ’cause we’re trained to look for the flashy stuff. Quiet power like Sigyn’s… it sneaks up on you. Makes you rethink everything. Mind blown. Seriously.
