Skaði

Skaði

Know yourself. It is the most important of life's work. Express your independance. Let authenticity be your guide. Compromise is part of every relationship, but when compromise pushes you to be someone you are not, a change should be made. There is an easier way to do things. Speak plainly.

The horizon

Brings me joy.There is so much to discover.

Unfettered by what is not mine,

I speak my truth, and

I am heard and heeded.

I sing along with my wolves

In harmony. I am myself.

I am Skaði.

Skaði is the Norse goddess best known in the mountainous parts of the region. Beautiful, strong, resourceful and independant, her name is linked to the words for "unknown" and "darkness" and may even be the source of the word "Scandinavia" - a land dedicated to her. Skaði is a huntress, an archer, a keeper of wolves, and most of all, a lover of snow and of the highest mountains.

Her mythos tell us that once married - to a husband she demanded from the other gods as recompense for the death of her beloved father, Pjazi - Skaði tried to live in her new husband's house. But her new husband, Njörðr, was a sea god and lived on an island crashing with waves and smelling of seaweed. The incessant sound of the ocean and screaching of sea birds was too much for Skaði, who was used to the soft silence of the snow and the howling of her wolves. When she spoke of missing her true home and her desire to be independant, she and Njörðr agreed to try alternating homes every nine days. When dividing their time between Nóatún and in Þrymheimr didn't work out, they decided to live apart, but stay married. Skaði then returned to her beloved mountains, where she hunted from her skis - which she and the god Ullr invented!

The Norse ask Skaði for protection on winter journeys, for success in hunting and for survival in harsh times. When darkness was almost total in the Arctic winters, it was she they often refered to. She favoured those who love the snow and ice and who were honest, open, and plain speaking. Her cult extended to the Sámi Arctic region and the Arctic Circle, where people skied for survival, not just for fun.

Should Skaði step into your life with this card, she is reminding you that being honest, direct and respecting your own personal freedom is paramount. If you need courage to be who you really are, ask Skaði for assistance.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Norse mythology, Skaði (sometimes anglicized as Skadi, Skade, or Skathi) is a jötunn and goddess associated with bowhunting, skiing, winter, and mountains. Skaði is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the Prose Edda and in Heimskringla, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and in the works of skalds.

In all sources, Skaði is the daughter of the deceased Þjazi, and Skaði married the god Njörðr as part of the compensation provided by the gods for killing her father Þjazi. In Heimskringla, Skaði is described as having split up with Njörðr and as later having married the god Odin, and that the two produced many children together. In both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, Skaði is responsible for placing the serpent that drips venom onto the bound Loki. Skaði is alternately referred to as Öndurguð (Old Norse 'ski god') and Öndurdís (Old Norse 'ski dís').

The etymology of the name Skaði is uncertain, but may be connected with the original form of Scandinavia. Some place names in Scandinavia refer to Skaði. Scholars have theorized a potential connection between Skaði and the god Ullr (who is also associated with skiing), a particular relationship with the jötunn Loki, and that Scandinavia may be related to the name Skaði (potentially meaning 'Skaði's island') or the name may be connected to an Old Norse noun meaning 'harm'. Skaði has inspired various works of art.

In the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál, the god Odin (disguised as Grímnir) reveals to the young Agnarr the existence of twelve locations. Odin mentions the location Þrymheimr sixth in a single stanza. In the stanza, Odin details that the jötunn Þjazi once lived there, and that now his daughter Skaði does. Odin describes Þrymheimr as consisting of "ancient courts" and refers to Skaði as "the shining bride of the gods".[5] In the prose introduction to the poem Skírnismál, the god Freyr has become heartsick for a fair girl (the jötunn Gerðr) he has spotted in Jötunheimr. The god Njörðr asks Freyr's servant Skírnir to talk to Freyr, and in the first stanza of the poem, Skaði also tells Skírnir to ask Freyr why he is so upset. Skírnir responds that he expects harsh words from their son Freyr.

In the prose introduction to the poem Lokasenna, Skaði is referred to as the wife of Njörðr and is cited as one of the goddesses attending Ægir's feast. After Loki has an exchange with the god Heimdallr, Skaði interjects. Skaði tells Loki that he is "light-hearted" and that Loki will not be "playing [...] with [his] tail wagging free" for much longer, for soon the gods will bind Loki to a sharp rock with the ice-cold entrails of his son. Loki responds that, even if this is so, he was "first and foremost" at the killing of Þjazi. Skaði responds that, if this is so, "baneful advice" will always flow from her "sanctuaries and plains". Loki responds that Skaði was more friendly in speech when Skaði was in his bed—an accusation he makes to most of the goddesses in the poem and is not attested elsewhere. Loki's flyting then turns to the goddess Sif.

In the prose section at the end of Lokasenna, the gods catch Loki and bind him with the innards of his son Nari, while they turn his son Váli into a wolf. Skaði places a venomous snake above Loki's face. Venom drips from the snake and Loki's wife Sigyn sits and holds a basin beneath the serpent, catching the venom. When the basin is full, Sigyn must empty it, and during that time the snake venom falls onto Loki's face, causing him to writhe in a tremendous fury, so much so that all earthquakes stem from Loki's writhings.

In the poem Hyndluljóð, the female jötunn Hyndla tells the goddess Freyja various mythological genealogies. In one stanza, Hyndla notes that Þjazi "loved to shoot" and that Skaði was his daughter.

Prose Edda
In the Prose Edda, Skaði is attested in two books: Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál.

Gylfaginning

In chapter 23 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, the enthroned figure of High details that Njörðr's wife is Skaði, that she is the daughter of the jötunn Þjazi, and recounts a tale involving the two. High recalls that Skaði wanted to live in the home once owned by her father called Þrymheimr. However, Njörðr wanted to live nearer to the sea. Subsequently, the two made an agreement that they would spend nine nights in Þrymheimr and then the next three nights in Njörðr's sea-side home Nóatún (or nine winters in Þrymheimr and another nine in Nóatún according to the Codex Regius.). However, when Njörðr returned from the mountains to Nóatún, he said:

"Hateful for me are the mountains,

I was not long there,

only nine nights.

The howling of the wolves

sounded ugly to me

after the song of the swans."

Skaði responded:

"Sleep I could not

on the sea beds

for the screeching of the bird.

That gull wakes me

when from the wide sea

he comes each morning."

The sources for these stanzas are not provided in the Prose Edda or elsewhere. High says that afterward Skaði went back up to the mountains and lived in Þrymheimr, and there Skaði often travels on skis, wields a bow, and shoots wild animals. High notes that Skaði is also referred to as "ski god" (Old Norse Öndurgud) or Öndurdis and the "ski lady" (Öndurdís). In support, the above-mentioned stanza from the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál is cited. In the next chapter (24), High says that "after this", Njörðr "had two children": Freyr and Freyja. The name of the mother of the two children is not provided here.

At the end of chapter 51 of Gylfaginning, High describes how the gods caught and bound Loki. Skaði is described as having taken a venomous snake and fastening it above the bound Loki, so that the venom may drip on to Loki's face. Loki's wife Sigyn sat by his side and held a bowl out. The bowl catches the venom, but when the bowl becomes full Loki writhes in extreme pain, causing the earth to shake and resulting in what we know as an earthquake.

Skáldskaparmál
In chapter 56 of the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, Bragi recounts to Ægir how the gods killed Þjazi. Þjazi's daughter, Skaði, took a helmet, a coat of mail, and "all weapons of war" and traveled to Asgard, the home of the gods. Upon Skaði's arrival, the gods wished to atone for her loss and offered compensation. Skaði provides them with her terms of settlement, and the gods agree that Skaði may choose a husband from among themselves. However, Skaði must choose this husband by looking solely at their feet. Skaði saw a pair of feet that she found particularly attractive and said "I choose that one; there can be little that is ugly about Baldr." However, the owner of the feet turned out to be Njörðr.

Skaði also included in her terms of settlement that the gods must do something she thought impossible for them to do: make her laugh. To do so, Loki tied one end of a cord around the beard of a nanny goat and the other end around his testicles. The goat and Loki drew one another back and forth, both squealing loudly. Loki dropped into Skaði's lap, and Skaði laughed, completing this part of her atonement. Finally, in compensation to Skaði, Odin took Þjazi's eyes, plunged them into the sky, and from the eyes made two stars.

Further in Skáldskaparmál, a work by the skald Þórðr Sjáreksson is quoted. The poem refers to Skaði as "the wise god-bride" and notes that she "could not love the Van". Prose below the quote clarifies that this is a reference to Skaði's leaving of Njörðr. In chapter 16, names for Loki are given, including "wrangler of Heimdall and Skadi". In chapter 22, Skaði is referenced in the 10th century poem Haustlöng where the skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir refers to an ox as "bow-string-Var's [Skaði's] whale". In chapter 23, the skald Bragi Boddason refers to Þjazi as the "father of the ski-dis". In chapter 32, Skaði is listed among six goddesses who attend a party held by Ægir. In chapter 75, Skaði is included among a list of 27 ásynjur names.

Heimskringla
In chapter 8 of the Heimskringla book Ynglinga saga, Skaði appears in an euhumerized account. This account details that Skaði had once married Njörðr but that she would not have sex with him, and that later Skaði married Odin. Skaði and Odin had "many sons". Only one of the names of these sons is provided: Sæmingr, a king of Norway. Two stanzas are presented by the skald Eyvindr skáldaspillir in reference. In the first stanza, Skaði is described as a jötunn and a "fair maiden". A portion of the second stanza is missing. The second stanza reads:

Of sea-bones,

and sons many

the ski-goddess

gat with Óthin

Lee Hollander explains that "bones-of-the-sea" is a kenning for "rocks", and believes that this defective stanza undoubtedly referred to Skaði as a "dweller of the rocks" in connection with her association with mountains and skiing.