By: Maranda Wabik
Femme Fatale Friday, Legend, , ,

Skadi, Norse Goddess of Winter

To continue our Wintery themes for this Holiday season I have decided on Skadi for this week’s Femme Fatale Friday.    She is the Norse Goddess of Winter!   Her name could mean either harm or shadows.   This makes a lot of sense for a Goddess who is associated with a very dark and scary time of year.

She was depicted as a giantess, who would go on to marry the Sea-God Njord.   She is very powerful and also presided over bow-hunting, skiing, and the mountains!    Skadi can also be called the snowshoe Goddess due to her association with the sport of skiing and of Winter.   She has rule over revenge, damage, justice, and independence!    In this way she can be seen as an empowered figure who is able to help her devotees become more self-confident.

Skadi resides in the highest part of the mountains where the snow never melts.   It can be said that she forever lives within Winter, her most sacred time of year!    She is a Goddess who is most powerful during the darkest time of the year.    This dark Goddess aspect within her can see her as being linked to other Goddesses of death and the Underworld.

Skadi may be able to help seekers of inner wisdom dig deep into their own inner world.   Winter is a time of reflection and soul searching.    This powerful search for inner wisdom is one that all spiritual seekers should work through.   Walking a path into the darkness of the soul, and even into the Underworld, is a prime way of becoming more spiritually developed!

Although she is a giantess, and has associations with death, Skadi is seen as more gentle and benevolent than her other giant kin!   She is even welcomed into Asgard, and this is how she goes on the marry Njord, as she was offered a husband.   The catch was she had to choose her spouse by his feet, and Njord had the best shoes!   She had wanted to marry the handsome Baldur, and was disappointed to end up married to the ugly Sea-God.

The marriage of Njord and Skadi lasted only about half of a month.   This was due to Njord not being able to stand the cold and isolated mountains where Skadi made her home!    There is debate over who she married after Njord and she divorced.   In some it was Ullr, a god of Winter and archery.   Yet in others it is claimed that she would go on to marry Odin and give him many children!   I do not know why it would be Odin that she married given he was already married to Frigga (or in some versions Frigga is a version of Freya).    But, I felt I should include it as some sources state this as being a fact!

Skadi is remembered as the personification of strength, courage, and endurance.   I hope that you have enjoyed learning about this Wintery Goddess.   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note: I hope everyone has a very happy New Year!    I will see you all next year (aka tomorrow)!

 Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a lovely image of Skadi.   I found the image on http://ydalir.ca/norsegods/skadi/.

Further Reading