Forgotten Ground Regained
Skaði and Njörðr
Author's Notes
Skaði: giantess from Norse mythology associated with skiing, hunting, and wild mountainlands
Njörðr: Norse god associated with seafaring and wealth
Nóatún: Njörðr's hall
Þrymheimr: Skaði's home in Jötunheimr
Jötunheimr: the realm of the giants
After nine winters together in Þrymheimr , Skaði noticed that Njörðr had become increasingly anxious. She asked her husband what reason he had to complain. Thus answered Njörðr:
Many a season · I’ve sunk in the snowAs the years drag on · in Jötunheimr’s wilds.There is little to marvel at, no mirth to be madeIn the rime-clad forests · on the frozen frontier.
The feasts are few · and far between,And the guests distrust · a traveler’s tales.It’s no wonder the wolves · with wounded hearts,Whine and wail · through winter nights.
Lonely are the lodges · and long the sighsWhen the ice sets in · and the spirit idles.
Skaði asked Njörðr what might make him happier. Njörðr replied that he was homesick:
Happiest were the days · with hand on helm,Bounding over whitecaps, bouncing on the brine.There was wealth to be won · crossing the whale-roadsWith a salt-breeze commanding · the sails to swell.
But always the waves · would return me to the wharvesWhere neighbors would gather · from the nine worlds’ nations.More treasured to those travelers · than the goods that were tradedWere the stories that were spoken, the friendships that were sealed.
In Nóatún was never · a monotonous hall—The roost of gulls · glimmered with gold.
Skaði agreed to go with Njörðr to Nóatún. After nine summers together, Njörðr noticed that Skaði had grown glum and listless. He asked his wife what reason she had to complain. Thus answered Skaði:
I’ve squandered my homeland, my heart’s inheritance,Gained in Nóatún · only noise and nonsense:The stench of seaweed · stuffs my nostrilsAnd the gulls’ gossip · gluts my ears.
My spirit languishes · by the salty sea,By these bustling boatyards · where braggart merchantsGab about gold · and exchange of goods.What do they know · of the wildlands’ wealth?
I flounder like a fish · flung up from the waterTo die on these docks, to drown in this air.
Njörðr asked Skaði what might make her happier. Skaði replied that she missed the land she once called home.
The boulders were my brothers · at the base of the sky;The streams, my sisters · skipping down slopes.I sang to the mountains · and the mighty moss,Gave comfort to spruce · in a summer storm.
And on winter days I’d wander · on my wooden skisTill twilight called me · to that cozy hallWhere father and I would sit · in our furs by the fire,Waiting to hear wolf-song · warbled through the night.
I had all I could ask for · in the upland halls—The backwoods were sacred · and the soother of my soul.
Skaði and Njörðr saw then that their hearts were in different places. And so they separated.
Copyright © Judd Bemmels, 2025
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