Fenja and Menja are warrior women and giants who also had the power of prophecy, according to the old Norse poem, “Grotta’s Song.”

They also were associated with a legend regarding the grinding of gold and how the ocean became full of salt.

Fenja and Menja in Their Youth

Fenja and Menja, possibly cousins or sisters, were devoted companions. The women were “playmates” in their youth, and for nine winters were “nourished under the earth.” This phrase is cryptic, but probably refers to time in the land of the dead where they presumably gained the power to prophesy, as well as other supernatural gifts. Loki, for example, spent eight winters in the land below as a woman, during which time he gave birth to eight witches.

As young women, the pair served a Swedish prince as warrior women. As one of the women observed, “We fought against bearlike warriors, we broke shields … We overthrew one prince, we supported another.” Fenja and Menja fought for several years, gaining a formidable reputation for their martial prowess.

Fenja and Menja Grinding Gold

Though the old Norse poem doesn’t explain precisely how, the two women ended up as slaves of a Danish king named Frodi, a great-grandson of Odin. Fenja and Menja were chained to a magic grindstone named Grotta, which the women had torn off of a flat-topped mountain. Grotta had the power to grind out gold and good fortune, but was extremely large and hard to turn. The young women seemed willing to turn the grindstone, and only wanted some time away from their labors to rest and sleep. The greedy Frodi said they could only rest for the length of a song.

Fenja and Menja proceeded to prophesize his doom. “I see fire burning east of the city,” one of the women cried out. “Warfare awakened. Let us turn the stone more swiftly. We aren’t yet warmed by the blood of slaughtered men.”

Prisoner of a Sea King

Even then, Frodi didn’t allow Fenja and Menja to rest. The Danes were soon invaded and defeated by a sea-king named Mysing, who took the two women and the giant grindstone for his own. This new situation was no better for the two women. The only difference between the two kings was that Mysing used Fenja and Menja to grind out salt on one of his ships.

Mysing’s greed also caused his downfall. His ship was sucked into a giant whirlpool and all his salt was washed into the sea, which was how the sea came to be filled with salt. But the fate of the two women was not revealed, though there is reason to think that Menja, and perhaps Fenja as well, survived.

Fenja and Menja as Potent Symbols

Menja’s name in particular was associated with prized possessions. More specifically, mythologist Lee Hollander notes that “Menja’s meal” is a metaphor for gold. It would seem at least Menja lived on to have her name forever linked with that most precious of metals. (p. 260)

Far more often, though, the two women were mentioned together. During cold Northern nights, legend had it that they held each other very closely to keep warm. In Scandinavian countries, inseparable companions are still sometimes described as being as close as Fenja and Menja.

As a pair, Fenja and Menja are wonderfully versatile in their symbolic power. They represent the power of female friendship and the bond between women warriors, whatever their struggles might entail. And sleeping together, their precise relationship never defined Fenja and Menja are also apt symbols for same-sex love. Monique Wittig and Sande Zeig included their names in their classic 1979 Lesbian People’s Material for a Dictionary.

For another Norse giantess of note, see Gefion.

Mark Carlson-Ghost

Featured image is by Carl Larsson, rendered in 1886 and in public domain.

References

Hollander, Lee M., trans. (1962/1996). The Poetic Edda. Austin: University of Texas Press, pp. 154, 155, 157, 260.

Larrington, Carolyne, trans. The Poetic Edda, first edition. Oxford University Press. pp. 260-63, 297.

Sturluson, Snorri (1954). The Prose Edda: Tales from Norse Mythology, trans. Jean I. Young. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, p. 118.

Wittig, Monique and Zeig, Sande (1979). Lesbian People’s Material for a Dicitonary. New York, Avon Press, p. 54.