Norse

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Norse

Skadi

The Goddess of Winter and the Hunt

Domain: Winter, Hunting & Mountains
Alignment: True Neutral
Element: Air
Relics of Power: Bow of the Frozen Peaks

Speak with Skadi

The full Codex

5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

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The People

People

Norse & Germanic peoples

Region

Scandinavia & northern Europe

Period

Viking Age, 8th–11th c.

The gods of Asgard were worshipped by the Norse peoples of Scandinavia and by the Germanic tribes, especially during the Viking Age. Warriors sought to die in battle to reach Odin's Valhalla, and the myths were preserved in the Icelandic Eddas. The cult declined with the region's Christianization around the year 1000.

The Norse celebrated blóts, seasonal sacrifices with feasts of meat and mead, such as the Yule of the winter solstice. The great temple at Uppsala, in Sweden, hosted every nine years one of the largest sacrificial festivals of the Viking world.

At a glance

Skaði is the Norse goddess of winter crags, ski locomotion, archery hunting, and lineage retribution. Daughter of the slain giant Þjazi, she marched armed into Ásgarðr to extract compensation, securing marriage to Njörðr and testing the divine court through the challenge of laughter. Her subsequent placement of the venomous serpent above the bound Loki solidifies her unforgiving sovereignty and singular transition from mountain jötunn to an integrated ásynja of active worship.

5 min read · Reviewed on September 25, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

Bow, skis, snowshoes and the mountain wolves

Family

Parents

Thjazi

Skadi

Unions

Njord Odin

Children

Saeming (with Odin, per Háleygjatal)

Genealogy according to Edda em Prosa (Gylfaginning, caps. 23 e 50; Skáldskaparmál, cap. 56); Heimskringla (Ynglinga saga, cap. 8); Háleygjatal, estrofes 2-4

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda. translation: Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur. read
Anonymous, The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson. translation: Benjamin Thorpe. read
Snorri Sturluson, The Heimskringla: A History of the Norse Kings. translation: Samuel Laing. read

Studies

Rudolf Simek, Dictionary of Northern Mythology. 1993.
John Lindow, Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. 2001.
Gabriel Turville-Petre, Myth and Religion of the North. 1964.
H. R. Ellis Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. 1964.

Name and epithets

The theonym Skaði connects with the Proto-Germanic substantive *skadwaz, meaning 'shadow' or 'darkness', historically related to the geographical name Scandinavia (*Skaðinawjō). Öndurgoð: Ski Deity. Öndurdís: Ski Dís.

In the ancient sources

Prose Edda: Skáldskaparmál, c. 1220 AD. Recounts Skaði's armed arrival at Ásgarðr in mail armor, Loki's farcical feat with the wild goat, and the elevation of Þjazi's eyes into celestial stars.

The myths

The Wergild Quest and the Ordeal of Laughter. Detailed in chapter 56 of Skáldskaparmál, following the killing of the storm giant Þjazi by the Æsir, his daughter Skaði donned a iron helmet, fastened a chainmail coat, gra…

Worship and archaeology

Toponymic evidence in Norway and eastern Sweden demonstrates that Skaði received organized worship, often independently of the vanir fertility cults.

How the god was depicted

Skaði's visual attributes comprise wooden skis (öndurr), a heavy hunting bow, quivers of arrows, and winter garments crafted from bear or wolf pelts.

What scholars debate

Etymology and the Designation of Scandinavia. Philologists extensively debate the linguistic connection between Skaði's name and the geographic designation of Scandinavia itself (Proto-Germanic *Skaðinawjō, recorded by…

After antiquity

During the nineteenth-century national romantic era, Skaði was celebrated by northern writers as a manifestation of unyielding wilderness freedom and feminine physical strength.

Did you know?

Her hunting skis were specifically denoted as 'öndurr', an asymmetric design comprising one long ski for gliding and a shorter, fur-lined ski for thrust.

Codex relic

Bow of the Frozen Peaks. A yew bow and her enchanted skis that cross snow and ice without leaving a trace.

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