places herself beside him, where she holds out a bowl to catch the dripping venom. However, when the bowl becomes full she leaves to pour out the venom. As a result, Loki is again described as shaking so violently that the planet shakes, and this process repeats until he breaks free, setting Ragnarök into motion. Sigyn is introduced as a goddess, an ásynja, in the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, where the gods are holding a grand feast for the visiting Ægir, and in kennings for Loki: "husband of Sigyn", "cargo [Loki] of incantation-fetter's [Sigyn's] arms", and in a passage quoted from the 9th-century Haustlöng, "the burden of Sigyn's arms". The final mention of Sigyn in Skáldskaparmál is in the list of ásynjur in the appended Nafnaþulur section, chapter 75. Archaeological record The mid-11th century Gosforth Cross located in Cumbria, England, has been interpreted as featuring various figures from Norse mythology. The bottom portion of the west side of the cross features a depiction of a long-haired female, kneeling figure holding an object above another prostrate, bound figure. Above and to their left is a knotted serpent. This has been interpreted as Sigyn soothing the bound Loki. Scholastic reception While the name Sigyn is found as a female personal name in Old Norse sources (Old Norse sigr meaning 'victory' and vina meaning 'female friend'), and though in surviving sources she is largely restricted to a single role, she appears in the 9th century skaldic poem Haustlöng from pagan times, written by the skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir. Due to this early connection with Loki, Sigyn has been theorized as a god dating back to an older form of Germanic paganism. Modern influence The scene of Sigyn & Loki has been depicted on a number of paintings, including "Loke och Sigyn" (1850) by Nils Blommér, "Loke och Sigyn" (1863) by Mårten Eskil Winge, "Loki och Sigyn (1879) by Oscar Wergeland, and the illustration "Loki und Sigyn; Hel mit dem Hunde Garm" (1883) by K. Ehrenberg. Various objects and places have been named after Sigyn in modern times, including the Norwegian stiff-straw winter wheat varieties Sigyn I and Sigyn II, a Marvel Comics character (1978) of the same name, the Swedish vessel MS Sigyn, which transports spent nuclear fuel in an allusion to Sigyn holding a bowl beneath the venom to spare Loki, and the antarctic Sigyn Glacier. Notes References Belderok, Bob. Mesdag, J.