Study › Runes & Norse › Skadi
Skadi is a giantess who joined the gods as the Norse goddess of winter, mountains, skiing and the hunt. She came to Asgard armed to avenge her father, and the gods made peace by letting her choose a husband by his feet.
Who is Skadi in Norse mythology?
Skadi is a giantess who became one of the gods: goddess of winter, the mountains, skiing and the hunt, who travels on skis and hunts with a bow. Her home is Thrymheim, high among the snowy peaks where her father lived.
She is called the Ski Goddess because she travels the snowy mountains on skis and hunts with a bow. No other goddess is so tied to winter and the wild.
Skadi's revenge and her marriage
Her father was the giant Thjazi, killed by the gods after he stole Idunn and her apples. Skadi put on helmet and mail and came to Asgard alone to avenge him. To make peace the gods offered her a husband of her choice — chosen by looking at nothing but their feet — and she married the sea god Njord. Odin — or, as Thor boasts in the poem Hárbarðsljóð, Thor himself — also cast her father's eyes into the sky, where they shine as two stars.
In Skadi the old stories honour the North's own wild and cold country: the snowfield, the hunt, and a strength that does not bend to anyone.
She married Njord; her father stole Idunn and her apples.
Questions
Who is Skadi's husband?
The sea god Njord. Their marriage did not last.
Who was Skadi's father?
The giant Thjazi, killed by the gods after he stole Idunn.