Monday, March 16, 2009

Gefion


Yesterday I wrote about the area near Langelinie. Another statue or fountain in the area is the one of Gefion. In Norse mythology Gefion was a young maid to the goddess Frig. She was promised a morning gift by the Svea King Gylfe; as much land as she could plough in 24 hours. She plowed out the island of Zealand from Swedish soil by transforming her four sons by a giant to oxen, leaving a hole in Sweden that became the lake Mälaren.

This grand fountain was made in 1908 by Anders Bundgaard originally for the City Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen) but it was decided to place it near the water instead. It has recently been restored with new water supply and lights so it can be enjoyed at nighttime too. In my opinion it's one of the finest fountains in Copenhagen especially in the summer when the water is running.

Wikipedia about Gefion

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous17/3/09 02:58

    I agree; Gefion is a beautiful fountain in a great location.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like it a lot except for the crowds of tourists at the place - they make it really hard to get a decent photo of only the fountain :-) But then nighttime is an option too thanks to the lights.

    ReplyDelete

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