What is "lofn"

In Norse mythology, Lofn ( Old Norse, possibly "comforter,") "the comforter, the mild," or "loving" is a goddess. Lofn is attested in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson and in kennings found in skaldic poetry. In the Prose Edda, Lofn is described as gentle in manner and as an arranger of marriages, even when they have been forbidden. Scholars have proposed theories about the implications of the goddess.

Lofn is a large relatively young impact crater on Jupiter's Galilean satellite Callisto. It was identified in 1997 and named after the goddess of marriage in Norse mythology. Located near the south pole of this moon, Lofn is classified as a flat floored or anomalous dome impact crater. It is superimposed on Adlinda multilayer structure obscuring about 30% of it. Another multi-ring structure—Heimdall is found to the south-west of Lofn.

Geologically Lofn is divided into a number of zones including the flat central floor zone, ring of massifs around it and the outer rings of bright and dark impact ejecta. Lofn was probably formed by an oblique impactor coming from the north-west. The relative shallowness of it is explained by either fragmentation of the impactor prior to the contact with the surface or by the post impact relaxation of Callisto's ductile crust.

Lofn may refer to

• Lofn, a deity of Norse mythology;
• Lofn (crater), a crater on the Jovian moon Callisto.