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Skadi, the Goddess of the Hunt and Skiing
Skadi waits in mountain home;
she sits alone in Thrymheim.
Her father gone to bring back Idunn;
the apple bearer freed by the Crafty One.
She waits for days for father's return,
but he never comes back.
She deeply felt he was dead,
and that the Gods of Asgard ambushed him.
Anger rose within her
and she sought out revenge against the gods.
She clothed herself with chainmail and helmet.
Selecting the finest of her father's weapons
she took off towards Asgard.
The Gods, forewarned by Heimdall of her coming, meet;
the gods took their council.
They could have destroyed Skadi in battle,
but what would that accomplish?
The daughter sought to honor her father
an example to be rewarded.
So they sought to give her blood money;
they offered her much gold.
She rejected their offer;
the halls of Thrymheim were already filled by gold hoards;
she had no need for gold.
They asked what she wanted then,
and she asked for a god to be her husband.
The gods agreed that this was right
and she became the bride of Niord.
She was then taken into the clan of the Vanir;
a goddess she became, tho an etin woman.
Yet she was unhappy in Noatun by the seas;
she longed for the cold, hail swept halls of her ancestors.
With her husband she returned to the mountain fortress,
but after nine days Niord returned to his home.
Tho they agreed to live apart;
she remained the bright bride of the gods.
Carrying a powerful bow
she hunts in the snow covered forests;
much game does she shoot
as she skis amongst the trees.
Skadi often visited Asgard
and was present at all great feasts.
© Jim Davis
Published in: "Drunk on the Mead
of Inspiration", March 1997.
Author of "Basic
Anglo-Saxon Paganism".
Image: "Sketch", © John Howe, www.john-howe.com