In the ancient days of the North, when the world was shaped by the wills of the Aesir, the Vanir, and the Jötunn, there arose a conflict that would lead to one of the most poignant tales of domestic discord in mythology. The story begins not with love, but with blood and vengeance. Thjazi, a powerful giant and the father of the goddess Skadi, had been killed by the gods of Asgard after a series of transformations and thefts involving the golden apples of youth. When Skadi, the daughter of the fallen giant, learned of her father’s demise, she did not weep in the shadows. Instead, she donned her coat of mail, took up her spear and her bow, and fastened her skis to her feet. With cold fury burning in her heart, she descended from the highest peaks of Jötunheimr and marched toward the gates of Asgard, the home of the gods.
The gods, seeing the formidable warrior-woman at their gates, realized that a cycle of endless vengeance would serve no one. Odin, the All-Father, sought to offer Skadi a settlement to atone for the death of her father. He offered her gold, but Skadi, who valued the purity of the mountains over the glitter of metal, refused. She demanded a husband from among the ranks of the gods, and she demanded that the gods make her laugh—something she believed was impossible in her grief. The gods agreed to her terms, but with a clever condition of their own: she could choose any of the male gods to be her husband, but she had to choose them by looking only at their feet. The rest of their bodies would be hidden behind a thick curtain.
Skadi looked at the various pairs of feet visible beneath the drape. She saw one pair that was exceptionally beautiful, clean, and shapely. Convinced that such perfect feet must belong to the handsome god Baldr, the most beloved of all the Aesir, she pointed her finger and declared her choice. However, when the curtain was pulled back, she was startled to find that she had not chosen Baldr, but Njord, the elder god of the sea. Njord was a member of the Vanir, a separate tribe of gods who had come to Asgard as hostages following an ancient war. He was the master of the winds and the protector of seafarers, and though he was wise and noble, his skin was weathered by the salt and sun of the coast, far removed from the youthful radiance of Baldr. To fulfill the second part of the bargain, Loki performed a series of absurd and painful antics involving a goat and a rope that finally forced a reluctant laugh from Skadi. Thus, the bargain was sealed: the mountain giantess and the sea god were wed.
At first, the couple attempted to settle into a life of shared domesticity, but the fundamental differences between their natures soon became apparent. Skadi was a creature of the high, frozen wastes. She belonged to Thrymheimr, her father’s ancestral hall, which sat amidst the jagged crags where the snow never melted and the air was thin and sharp. Njord, conversely, was a creature of the tides. His home was Noatun, the 'Ship-Haven,' located on the edge of the world’s waters where the waves lapped against the docks and the smell of salt and drying fish hung heavy in the air. For a time, they tried to live together in Asgard, but the hall of the gods felt stifling to them both. They decided they must find a way to honor both of their heritages through a compromise.
They agreed upon a cycle: they would spend nine nights in the mountains of Thrymheimr, followed by nine nights in the harbor of Noatun. The number nine, sacred in Norse tradition, would be the measure of their patience. The first nine nights were spent in the mountains. For Skadi, it was a homecoming. She spent her days gliding across the glaciers on her skis, hunting the great elk with her bow, and listening to the familiar roar of the mountain winds. To her, this was the music of the universe. However, for Njord, the experience was a nightmare. The god of the sea was accustomed to the rhythmic swaying of the ocean and the soft murmur of the waves. In Thrymheimr, he found the silence of the peaks to be oppressive, broken only by the terrifying howls of the mountain wolves that echoed through the valleys. The cold was not the refreshing chill of the sea breeze, but a biting, dry frost that chilled his bones. He could not sleep, and he grew increasingly morose.
When the nine nights were finally over, Njord expressed his misery in a famous lament. He cried out that the mountains were loathsome to him. He complained that he could not bear the howling of the wolves, and that the sound of the wind in the pines seemed like a dirge compared to the songs of the swans he loved. He missed the sight of the ships coming into the harbor and the feel of the sand beneath his feet. Skadi, though she loved her home, agreed that it was time to move to the coast, hoping that her husband would be happier in his own element and that she might find beauty there as well.