DESCRIPTION:

The Gefion Fountain is located on the harbour front of Copenhagen, in an area called Nordre Toldbold. This is a small harbour from which the Royal family board a small boat which takes them to the Royal Yacht, which usually docks in the middle of the canal.

The statue features the goddess Gefjon and four oxen that are pulling what looks to be a plow. 

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The fountain was designed by the Danish artist Anders Bundgård and built by the Carlsberg foundation. It was gifted to the city of Copenhagen on the occasion of the brewery’s 50-year anniversary and it was first activated on July 14, 1908.

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The mythical story of Gefion is about the creation of the island of Zealand , the island that Copenhagen is located on. According to the legend, the Swedish king Gylfi promised the goddess Gefjon as much land as she could plow in a day and a night so she turned her four sons into oxen and started plowing . They plowed so hard that the land was torn and the piece was thrown into the Danish sea, the remaining hole being filled by water and becoming a lake.

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Strangely there are several other stories that identify Lake Mälaren as the mythical lake that Zealand came from, but Lake Vänern is generally identified as the mythical lake due to its similar size and shape to the island.