In Norse mythology, Skadi (Old Norse: Skaði) is a jötunn, a giantess, who is counted among the goddesses of Asgard. She is the goddess of skiing and hunting, the daughter of the giant Thiazi and the wife of the sea god Njord.
She did not come to the gods as a friend. Skadi arrived in Asgard in full armor to avenge her father, and the gods had to pay a high price to make peace with her. Her conflict with Loki would last long after the deal was done.
Why Did Skadi Come to Asgard?
Skadi’s life changed dramatically when her father was killed by the Aesir. Like so many troubles in Norse mythology, it all started with Loki. Thiazi had caught him in the shape of an eagle and forced him to lure the goddess Idun and her apples out of Asgard. Without the apples, the gods began to grow old, so they made Loki bring her back.
Loki flew to Thiazi’s home in Freya’s falcon shape, turned Idun into a nut, and carried her home in his claws.
Thiazi soon found out and flew after them as an eagle. The gods were ready for him, though. They had piled up wood shavings inside the walls of Asgard, and as Loki flew in, they set the pile on fire. Thiazi could not stop in time, so his feathers caught fire, and the gods killed him right inside their gates.
Skadi did not sit at home and grieve. She put on a helmet and a mail coat, took all her weapons, and went to Asgard to avenge her father. The gods did not want to fight her, so they offered her compensation instead.
How Did Skadi Choose Njord as Her Husband?
The first part of the deal was a husband. Skadi could choose any of the gods, but there was a catch: she was only allowed to see their feet. She picked the most beautiful pair, because she was sure that they belonged to Baldur.
Her choice made sense. Baldur was the most beautiful of all the gods, and as Skadi put it, there could be little that was ugly about him. So the finest feet had to be his. She may also have seen more than the feet. The Old Norse word fótr can mean both the foot and the leg up to the knee.
The feet were not Baldur’s, though. They belonged to Njord, the god of the sea from Noatun. The translator Jesse Byock explains that his feet looked the best because they were clean. That makes sense for a god who spends his days by the water.
The scholar John Lindow points out how the roles are turned around here. Skadi takes the role of the man who seeks revenge, while Njord is the one who is given away, as if he were the bride. Njord did not choose his wife. He was chosen, and Lindow notes that he and his son Frey are the two gods who are married to giantesses.
The same kind of story shows up elsewhere. The Danish historian Saxo tells of the hero Hadingus, whose wife chose him by looking at his lower legs. Later, they had the same quarrel as Njord and Skadi. He missed the sea and could not stand the howling wolves, and she could not stand the screaming seagulls.
How Did Loki Make Skadi Laugh?
The second part of the deal was harder. Skadi said that the gods could not make her laugh, and the gods needed someone who did not mind making a fool of himself. That was, of course, Loki.
Loki tied one end of a rope to the beard of a goat and the other end around his testicles. Then the goat and Loki pulled each other back and forth, and both of them screamed loudly. In the end, Loki let himself fall into Skadi’s lap, and she laughed. With that, the deal was done.
As a last gift, Odin took Thiazi’s eyes and threw them up into the sky, where they became two stars. Skadi now had a husband, and her father’s eyes shone in the sky. But the marriage would soon show that the deal was not as good as it looked.
Skadi and Njord: The Mountains or the Sea?
Skadi wanted to live in her father’s home, Thrymheim, high up in the mountains. Njord wanted to live by the sea at Noatun. They agreed to spend nine nights in each place, although some manuscripts say nine nights in the mountains and only three by the sea.
It did not work for either of them. When Njord came back from the mountains, he said that he hated them. The howling of the wolves sounded ugly to him next to the song of the swans. Skadi had the same problem at Noatun. She could not sleep by the sea, because the gulls woke her up every morning with their screaming.
So Skadi went back to Thrymheim and stayed there. The poem these lines come from is lost, and only the two short verses survive in Snorri’s Edda.
What Is Skadi the Goddess Of?
Back in the mountains, Skadi is in her own element. She travels on skis, carries a bow and shoots wild animals. That is why she is called the ski goddess (Old Norse: öndurgoð or öndurdís), a name that was already used by the early skalds.
In books about Norse mythology, Skadi is often called the goddess of winter today, and with skis, snow and mountains, it is easy to see why. The old texts never call her that, though. They know her as a hunter and a skier, and the winter goddess is a modern picture built from her home in the snow.
She was not only a figure in stories either. In the poem Lokasenna, Skadi speaks about her own holy places, and place names show that she was worshipped, especially in Sweden. Lindow notes that the god Ullr is also called a ski god, so some scholars see a special link between the two.
Did Skadi Marry Odin?
The marriage with Njord was not the end of Skadi’s love life. According to Ynglinga saga, she did not want to live with Njord as his wife, so she later married Odin instead. They had many sons, and one of them was called Sæming.
This was not just a family detail. The poem Háleygjatal, made for the powerful jarls of Hlaðir in Norway, names Odin and Skadi as the ancestors of their family. A giantess who came to fight the gods ended up as the mother of a line of Norwegian rulers.
Skadi’s Revenge on Loki
Of all the gods in Norse mythology, Loki was the one Skadi had the most reason to hate. He was the one who led Idun out of Asgard, and that was what got her father killed. Despite her marriage, her hatred for Loki remained strong, and Loki did nothing to calm it.
At the feast in the poem Lokasenna, Loki insulted every god in the hall, and Skadi got her share. He bragged that he had taken the lead when her father was killed. As if that was not enough, he also claimed that he had slept with her.
In the end, Skadi got her chance. After the death of Baldur, the gods hunted Loki down and bound him to three stones with the guts of his own son. Then Skadi took a poisonous snake and fastened it above him, so the venom would drip onto his face.
His wife Sigyn stays by his side and holds a bowl under the drops. But every time she leaves to empty it, the venom hits his face, and Loki shakes so hard that the whole earth trembles. According to Snorri, that is what we call an earthquake, and there Loki will lie until Ragnarok. Skadi came to Asgard in armor because of her father. And it was her snake that made Loki pay for his part in it.
Skadi in Modern Games
Skadi still shows up in modern popular culture, and especially in games. For instance, Skadi has been featured in the game Smite, a multiplayer online battle arena where players can take on the roles of different gods from various mythologies. In the game, she is a hunter with a wolf called Kaldr at her side, which fits well with the howling wolves Njord could not stand.
World of Warcraft took the name in a different direction. In the dungeon Utgarde Pinnacle, Skadi the Ruthless is a boss who rides a frost-breathing proto-drake called Grauf. But in the game, Skadi is a man, one of the giant Viking-like vrykul. That is less strange than it sounds, because Lindow points out that the name Skadi is actually grammatically masculine in Old Norse.
Quick Answers About Skadi in Norse Mythology
Who is Skadi in Norse mythology? Skadi is a giantess who became a goddess in Norse mythology. She is the daughter of the giant Thiazi, the wife of Njord, and the goddess of skiing and hunting.
Is Skadi a goddess or a giant? Skadi is both. She was born a jötunn, but she joined the gods when she married Njord, and Snorri lists her among the goddesses.
What is Skadi the goddess of? Skadi is the goddess of skiing and hunting. The texts call her the ski goddess, and she hunts in the mountains with a bow.
Who is Skadi’s husband? Skadi’s husband is Njord, the god of the sea, whom she chose by looking only at his feet. According to Ynglinga saga, she later married Odin.
Why did Skadi and Njord split up? Skadi and Njord split up because neither could live in the other’s home. Njord hated the howling wolves in the mountains, and Skadi could not sleep with the screaming gulls by the sea.
What are Skadi’s symbols? Skadi is associated with skis and a bow, although the texts give her no fixed set of symbols. They describe her traveling on skis and shooting animals in the mountains around her home, Thrymheim.
Does Skadi have children? Skadi has many sons with Odin according to Ynglinga saga, and one of them is called Sæming. The poem Háleygjatal makes the two of them the ancestors of the jarls of Hlaðir.
Sources:
