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Sif is the grain goddess in heathen mythology. She is married to Thor. Continuing my Novel Gnosis series, in which I present religious insights gained through writing fiction, today I'm talking about Sif and also Kvasir, the being made from brew. In Russian the word Kvas means a beer-like beverage.
In the Fireverse, Sif looks young with her shining gold hair, but her son Ullr looks old. Thor notices this when he marries Sif but he dismisses the thought because the appearance of age and actual age are not always related when it comes to gods and goddesses. Sif enjoys baking bread, and also enjoys eating it and other grain based foods. Sif’s representative color is gold. The cutting and regrowing of Sif's hair is an obvious agricultural metaphor, a snapshot of the wheat harvest.
Kvasir doesn’t appear in the story much, but his making was an important peace ritual. In the Fireverse, when each of the gods spat in the vat, they were adding their own special yeast cultures used to make particular kinds of alcohol, each one saying “Mine is for [beer, mead, wine, etc.]” until they get to Sif who said “Mine is for bread.” Kvasir is therefore the living spirit of spirits, that is, he represents yeast.
The story in the lore in which Kvasir is killed and his blood turned into vats of mead is another obvious metaphor, depicting the use of yeast in the production of mead.
Image: "Sif was Queen of the Fields" by Day, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Seriously? You sold your car because a piece of cardboard told you to?
All other things being equal, I always say, consult divination.
But, for gods' sakes, be smart about it.
Yea or nay? you ask, and throw the bones.
Yea say the bones, but you think: No, nay!
So now you know your real mind on the matter.
There's your real answer, subtly delivered.
A Word to the Wise: Use your divination.
Rheims Cernunnos
Gallo-Roman relief, 1st century CE
