Okay so last night I was scrolling through some old Norse mythology stuff again, like I do when I can’t sleep. Kept seeing Loki everywhere – the guy’s in every other story causing chaos. But then I thought, “Wait, what about his wife?” Honestly drew a total blank. Like, knew Thor’s wife Sif, Odin’s wife Frigg, but Loki’s partner? Nada. So I grabbed my dog-eared copy of the Prose Edda and started digging.
The Initial Shock
Found the part about Loki’s punishment first. Dude gets chained under a serpent dripping venom as punishment for basically getting a god killed. Graphic stuff. Then BAM – there’s Sigyn standing there holding a bowl over his face. Textbook definition of ride-or-die wife energy. My first thought? “Damn, what did Loki even do to deserve this level of loyalty?” Like he’s the god of lies and mischief who got her kid killed earlier in the myths! Made zero sense.
Testing the Theory
Decided to reenact the scene to really get it. Grabbed:
- A mixing bowl (my “venom catcher”)
- Stood under my leaky kitchen faucet (“serpent venom”)
- Timed how long I could hold the bowl steady
Made it three minutes before my arms started shaking. Felt ridiculous but proved a point: Sigyn wasn’t grabbing quick snacks between drips. She’d be rooted there for hours while acid burned her man’s face, catching every drop. Meanwhile Loki’s just… writhing in pain under her. Messed up dynamic.
The Awkward Realization
After staring at Snorri’s description again, it hit me: Nowhere does Sigyn actually talk. Not a single line. She’s just… there. Silent suffering wife trope dialed to eleven. Even the dripping venom makes more noise than her! So I scribbled some notes:
- Why’s she loyal? Myths don’t say
- Does she blame Loki for their dead son?
- Or is this Norse version of “stand by your man” gone wild?
Honestly the more I stared at those pages, the more it felt like ancient shock value. Like “Watch Loki suffer! Oh and his wife suffers too! Fun!” Pretty messed up when you think about it.
Final Takeaways
After closing the book, couple things stuck:
First – Sigyn’s famous for loyalty simply because she exists in Loki’s shadow. It’s depressing how her entire identity boils down to “guy who holds bowl for disloyal husband.”
Second – Her “famous myth” barely qualifies as a story. More like a snapshot of divine dysfunction. No beginning, no end, just eternal agony with leaky plumbing.
Third – Realized I’d fallen into the same trap everyone does: making her loyalty the headline instead of asking why mythology reduced her to a suffering prop. Mind blown at 3 AM over coffee.
So yeah. Went looking for a sweet love story, found eternal torture instead. Norse myths, man. Never disappoints for drama. Still got zero answers about why Sigyn stays though. Maybe she just really, really hated mopping venom off the floor.
