Skaði

The tale of Skaði

Skaði is a giantess of the mountains, a huntress who travels the snowy peaks on skis with her bow, and the goddess of winter, of skiing and of the hunt. Her home is Thrymheim, a hall high among the icy mountains, where the wolves howl at night.

Revenge for her father

Her father was the giant Thjazi. He once kidnapped the goddess Idun, keeper of the golden apples that keep the gods young. Without the apples the gods grew grey and wrinkled, and they forced Loki, who had helped the kidnapping, to bring her back. Loki turned Idun into a nut and flew off with her in Freya's falcon cloak. Thjazi chased them as a giant eagle, but the gods lit a fire on the walls of Asgard, and his wings caught fire. The gods killed him.

So Skaði put on her armour, took up her weapons and marched alone to Asgard to avenge her father. The gods did not want to fight her. Instead they offered her a settlement. She could choose a husband from among them. And they would make her laugh, something she swore no one could do after her father's death.

Choosing by the feet

There was a catch. She had to choose her husband by looking only at their feet. Skaði wanted beautiful Baldr, so she chose the most beautiful pair of feet she saw. They belonged to Njörd, the old god of the sea, ships and wind, whose feet were clean and smooth from walking in the sea foam.

To make her laugh, Loki tied one end of a rope to the beard of a goat and the other end to a very sensitive part of himself. Both squealed, both pulled, and finally Loki fell into Skaði's lap. She laughed, and the peace was made. As a last gift, Odin took Thjazi's eyes and threw them into the sky, where they became two stars.

Sea and mountain

The marriage did not work. They tried nine nights in Thrymheim and nine nights in Njörd's home by the sea. Njörd hated the howling of the wolves in the mountains. Skaði could not sleep for the screaming of the seabirds at the shore. So they parted, and Skaði went back to her mountains to hunt on skis. As the game's Skaði says: she chose her husband by his feet; she chooses her targets more carefully.

Skaði in Battle of Myths

Skaði is a cost 2 Norse hunter and assassin. Her ability, Avalanche, brings down snow on her target and every enemy next to it, dealing magic damage and chilling them. Like every Norse hero, she grows stronger with Ragnarök the longer a fight lasts.

Did you know?

• Some scholars think the name Scandinavia may be connected to hers.
• It was Skaði who later hung the venomous serpent above the bound Loki, as punishment for his part in her father's death.