Skadi

Skadi

Appeal: Hunt, Mountains, Revenge, Winter

 

In Norse mythology, Skadi is a jotunn and Goddess associated with bow hunting, skiing, winter and mountains.  Skadi lives in the highest reaches of the mountains, where the snow never melts.  She is often depicted hunting while on skis/ snowshoes or on a snow-capped mountain.  She is the present wife of Uller and the former wife of the Vanic God Njord.

Skadi is a Goddess of skiing, hunting, revenge, protection of the clan, and those women who follow the path of the 'Maiden Warrior'.  This Giantess was elevated to the status of a Goddess at an early date, skalds have long called her the Goddess of the ski and snowshoe, and is a well-known bow-wife and huntress.  These characteristics, along with her name - meaning shadow - point to a mistress or Goddess of the darker half of the year: winter.

When the Gods killed her father Thjazi, she journeyed to Asgard in full armor to avenge him.  Settling for compensation for her father's death, Skadi agreed that she would renounced a blood feud if they allowed her to choose a husband among them and if they succeeded in making her laugh.

The Gods allowed her to choose a husband, but she had to choose him only by looking at their feet; she choose Njord because his feet were so beautiful that she though he was Baldur.  Then Loki succeeded in making her laugh, so peace was made, and Odin made two stars in the nights sky from Thjazi's eyes.

After a while, she and her husband Njord separated, because she loved the mountains while he wanted to live near the sea.  Njord couldn’t stand the cold and dreariness of the mountains, and Skadi couldn’t stand the light and noise of Njord’s home by the seashore.  She is the Goddess who tied the serpent above Loki's body when he was bounded to the three rocks in the Elder Edda, Lokasenna.

 

Taking her name from that of the Goddess, Skadi is the main character in a web comic by Katie Rice and Luke Cormican on the weekly webcomic site Dumm Comics.  Modern works of art depicting Skadi include Skadi und Niurd (1883) by K. Ehrenberg and Skadi (1901) by E. Doepler d. J. Skadi also appears in A. Oehlenschlager's poem (1819) Skades Giftermaal.  A moon of the planet Saturn (Skathi) takes its name from that of the Goddess.  

 

I hail the warrior Goddess Skadi,
who is called Lady of Winter,
and the shining bride of the Gods.
May I always feel your courage within me,
that I may act with honor,
when injustices threaten good people.
For it is you, bright lady of the mountain,
who dons all the weapons of war
when the were-gild must be paid.
Let the song of the wolves kindle within my spirit,
the fortitude to stand against the tide,
and see that the wrongs are righted.