*scaðin – aujo” (Helle 2008, p. 1) or “Scadin-avia” (Dumézil 1973, p. 35) that would have translated as “the dangerous island” (Helle 2008, p.1) or "island of the goddess Skaði" (Dumézil 1973, p. 35), with the first syllablesʻscaðinʼbeing a reconstructed Germanic form ofʻskaðiʼ.[71]
Which sounds wonderfully convincing, especially when put alongside evidence from Sami songs that refer to Scandinavia as "Skadi's Island". The word Skadi appears to be a loan-word, presumably Germanic, so perhaps the idea of Scandinavia as Skadi's land was too.
However, we have three different sources to pour cold water on this theory. First, Jan de Vries, in his Altnordisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch was unconvinced of the connection: “Die Etymologie ist zweifelhaft” ("the etymology is doubtful"). Second, Rudolf Simek, who says in his Dictionary of Norse Mythology: "Because of her name, Skadi has even been considered as the eponymous mistress of Sca(n)dia (=Schonen) and thus of Scandinavia, but this, however, is not totally convincing."[72] Finally, Welshbach points out in her thesis on Skadi that a work written by a Roman who'd never been north himself is the only source for the Scatinavia/Scadinivia name. Every other source gives an "n" before the "d" in the first syllable.[73]
Which is too bad. McKinnell's elegant synthesis of the two ideas about Skadi's name is very appealing. And, as you can tell by the goddesses and giantesses I compare her to, I think that Skadi does have a dark side. Whether she is an embodiment of Scandinavia is another question entirely, and if she was, you have to wonder how that fact managed to escape the record so totally. I don't think we can blame the Christians for that one, because it sounds like just the sort of etymology that Snorri would have enjoyed.
There is something a little Phillip Pullman-like about the dark goddess from the dark island, and if you believe some, like Else Mundal and Jurij K. Kusmenko, Skadi's nearest comparison would be Serafina Pekkala, who seems to be based on Sami witches. They and others, like Lois Bragg, see Skadi and her father as symbolic of the alien Sami people, rather than an embodiment of Scandinavia.
However, we do know that, as Skadi herself reminded Loki, there were cult places dedicated to her, and place-names in Sweden and to a lesser extent Norway bear this out. Skadavi, Skedvi, Skea and names based on Ska- and Skada- may well bear witness to a Skadi-cult, although Simek cautions that the latter are less trustworthy.[74] Once again it seems that Skadi managed to combine otherness with insiderness in a way that few others did.
Ski-Dis
Skadi, we are told in Gylf, is known as the ski-goddess. In the original, ǫndurdis. The word dis connects Skadi, at least by implication, to a broadly defined group of divine females known as the disir. The disir were important enough to have their own festival in the fall, known as the disarblot.
Apart from Skadi, the only major feminine powers known by the -dis title are Freyja, who is called the vanadis, or lady of the Vanir, and Hel, who is called Jódís in Yt, which is assumed to mean "horse-goddess", perhaps referring to an old idea that the death-goddess rode a horse.[75] (The disir sometimes appear on horseback.)
Apart from these three, there is evidence in the Poetic Edda of other beings that are disir. In Gudrunarqvida in fyrsta a group of valkyries are called Herians disir (Odin's ladies), and in Atlamal in groenlenzco a group of dead women are called disir, while in Grimnismal the nornir seem to be a stand-in for the disir. "Therefore, calling Skadi ondurdis does not necessarily mean that she was perceived as a goddess but perhaps rather as a powerful female."[76] The primary function of the disir was to protect a person or family, rather like a fylgur, or deified ancestors, and if that category could stretch to valkyries, a goddess, and a giantess-turned-goddess, it was a pretty broad one.
The disir and the idises (another group of divine females, from the southern Germanic regions, who are usually linked to the cult of the Matronae and Matres that flourished in Roman times[77]) have both a warlike function (both hampering and helping, depending on which side they're on) and a nurturing, protective one for the person of family that they are associated with. We know that they were called on in a birth-charm (Sigdrifa). Their darker side is revealed in the Greenlandish Lay of Atli: Glaumvor has dreams in which dead women she calls disir are coming for her husband, the doomed Gunnar.[78]
In the case of Skadi, the -dis title makes me think of her role as ancestress of the Norwegian royal line. Freyja is a little bit less obvious, but her role in Hynd. helping Ottar to learn his lineage and claim his inheritance could tie in here. Also, perhaps her title of vana-dis means that just as Snorri describes norns of different aetts, there were disir from the different races/species of Norse myth. (It also makes me think of Thorgerdr and her association with Jarl Hakon.) Hel is also referred to as jodis, "horse-dis", perhaps associated with the darker side of the cult.[79]
Whether Skadi and Freyja were honoured as part of the disarblot we'll never know, but that the disir were so honoured is not in doubt.
Skadi and Hrimgerdr
24. 'Wake up, Helgi, and compensate Hrimgerd,
since you've had Hati cut down;
if she could spend but one night by the prince
she'd have compensation for her griefs.'
(Orchard)
Sound familiar? If I tell you that Hrimgerdr was a giantess, and Hati was her father, killed by Helgi, the parallel with Skadi should be obvious. To underline the point, there is another parallel in verse 17:
'My name is Hrimgerdr, my father's name Hati,
whom I knew as the most mighty of giants,
many a bride he had snatched from their homes,
till Helgi hewed him down.'
(Orchard)
Thiazi, anyone? Hati is an interesting name because it means "Despiser, Hater"[80], and it is also the name of the wolf that chases the moon and will devour it at Ragnarok. So clearly the name is associated with cosmic destruction, and the end times, although since this is the only reference to the giant Hati that we have, it wouldn't be wise to draw too many conclusions. Still, it is likely that Hati is meant to be more the Thiazi sort of giant rather than the big dumb troll type.
In fact, this is yet another Hrimgerdr - Skadi - Gerdr parallel, because we know that the gods killed Skadi's father, and Gerdr makes reference to her brother's slayer when Skirnir arrives. It is nowhere stated that Gerdr's brother was killed by the Aesir, but when a representative of them turns up, it is the first thing she thinks of, which is interesting. So it's speculative, but I think each of them has lost a relative to the same people they are sexually involved with, or in Hrimgerdr's case, attempt a sexual liaison with.
The whole of the story of Hrimgerdr is even more of a burlesque wooing than Skadi's. She makes her proposal to Helgi during a flyting with Helgi's friend Atli, whom she has already insulted sexually. Atli and later Helgi pretend to go along with her, but in reality Helgi gets the information he wanted from her, and keeps her talking until sunrise, when she is turned to stone. (Which is odd, as it's usually dwarves who are affected by the sun's rays.)
Hrimgerdr, like Skadi has a name that betrays her nature. As Simek points out, "Frost-Gerdr" makes a link between the Hrimthursar (frost-giants), and the goddess/giantess Gerdr. The poem makes another connection between Hrimgerdr and Gerdr, in verse 25, when Atli replies to Hrimgerdr's demand for sexual compensation:
'He's called Shaggy, and he'll have you,
since you're loathsome to men,
the ogre who lives on Tholley;
the very wise giant, and worst of rock-dwellers:
he's a suitable mate for you.'
(Orchard)
And in verse 29, Atli says that since "Helgi has struck you with fatal runes" (Larrington) she will be defeated.
So Hrimgerdr is threatened by runic magic, and the prospect of marriage with a particularly disgusting giant, just as Skirnir threatened Gerdr. The difference is that Gerdr surrenders, and if we believe Snorri, marries Freyr and bears his son. Hrimgerdr suffers a very different fate; she is tur
ned to stone. This underlines the uniqueness of Skadi's case - the Aesir actually do compensate her, whereas it would have been reasonable to expect that her fate would be similar to Hrimgerdr's, or that Thor would have simply killed her, since he has no problem killing giantesses.
Skadi and Thorgerdr holgabrudr
Both Skadiand Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr are giantesses, and both had cults. Both are connected to the Haleygjar (earls of Hladir in Norway) since in some versions Hǫlgi gave his name to Hålogaland, where the Haleygajar originated. Saxo grammaticus says that Þorgerðr was the wife of Hǫlgi, so she is a foremother of the Hákon family. As well as being a supernatural ancestor, she had a cult in Hålogaland, according to Skáldskaparmál, Færeyinga saga and Jómsvíkinga saga.
Snorri, however, gives Hǫlgi as her father, which falls in with the Skadi (and saga) pattern of giants and their daughters.
They say that a king known as Holgi, after whom Halogaland is named, was Thorgerd Holgabrud's father. Sacrifices were offered to them both, and Holgi's mound was raised with alternately a layer of gold or silver-- this was the layer of earth -- and a layer of earth and stone.[81]
(Skld, Faulkes trans.)
(Note that both Thiazi and Holgi were wealthy, enough that both could feature in kennings for gold.)
Her sister Irpa, who appears with her in some sagas, could be an embodiment of that dark side. Her name means "Swarthy" or "Dark Brown" and she could very well be an embodiment of the dual nature of giantesses; like Skadi whose name is close to "Scathe" and is associated with winter and darkness, but who becomes the "shining bride".
Þorgerðr is also described as a bride, and McKinnell thinks that -brúðr means just that. He interprets the "Hǫlgabrúðr" as "bride of the (rulers of) Hålogaland" and that Hǫrðabrúðr, a variant of her name, may mean "bride of the (rulers of) Hörðaland.[82] He connects this to the sacred king and dark goddess pattern that he sees in the Ys.[83]Most commentators, in fact, assume that the relationship between and Hǫlgi was a sexual one, although Snorri says her was her father. There may have been differing traditions.
There may have been a more intimate relationship between Thorgerdr and Jarl Hakon; Olaf Tryggvason refers to Jarl Hakon as her bóndi, husband, when comparing her present state with the protection she had when the Jarl was alive.[84] (Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar (Flatey.) ch. 326) The faldr or veil that one of Þorgerðr's idols wears is also an indication of married status, which fits with this idea.
The most obvious thing that Þorgerðr and Skadi have in common is attested cult. Wikipedia has an entry that instances each reference to Thorgerdr and her sister Irpa, many of which either focus on her worship or on some Christian tearing down her image and destroying it. So we know that she had an active cult at the time of Christianization. We know that people offered Þorgerðr gold and silver. We also know that you crossed her at your peril. In Harðar saga ok Hólmverja, the godi Grimkell receives unwelcome news from Þorgerðr, and he burns down her temple in retaliation. Þorgerðr had told him he didn't have long to live, and sure enough he dies at dinner that night.[85] For Skadi, of course, we have the much-discussed line from Lks about her fields and temples, but no actual accounts of anyone consulting her or giving her offerings.
According to at least one source, Thorgerdr's cult involved human sacrifice, the ultimate offering. In Jómsvíkinga þáttr, Jarl Hákon, who was a particular follower of Thorgerdr's, goes into a dark forest and prays to her, but she isn't receptive. He offers her sacrifices, which she refuses, then human sacrifices, which she still refuses. Finally he tells her to choose amongst his own men, except himself and his two sons. It turns out he also has a younger son, Erlingr, who ends up as the sacrifice. (He does win the battle after this, with Þorgerðr coming to his aid with a storm.) Another interesting point is that after Jarl Hákon calls on Þorgerðr and her sister Irpa, thunder comes from the north, and he kneels to the north to invoke her. This ties in with their giant nature.[86]
A final note: H. Munro Chadwick observes that the poem Haleygjatal traces Hakon's descent from Odin and Skadi, rather than Holgi and Thorgerdr. He thinks this may be due to three things: first, that Yt may have influenced Hakon into emulating it, second, that he may have wished to trace his descent from deities that were popular and known to everyone, and third, he might have wanted to substitute Skadi, a goddess of Sami character, for Thorgerdr, whom Munro describes as "hated" (although he doesn't specify who it was that disliked her so; Christians would presumably dislike Odin and Skadi just as much).[87]
Odin
The very brief version: Odin is head god of the Aesir, and king of Asgard.
His wife is Frigg, and their son is Baldr, the one who was killed by a mistletoe dart.
He is usually described as gray-bearded, and one-eyed. Several of his by-names, such as Harbard, or Hoary-Beard, refer to this. Odin spends a great deal of time wandering the worlds, gathering knowledge and power against the day when the Ragnarok, or Doom of the Gods, comes. Magical knowledge is his speciality, even in his capacity as a war-god. Even the act of flinging a spear, as he does in Vsp, has a magical element, as it was a way of dedicating the other side to Odin in advance of actually killing them.
Odin was the patron of warriors, especially berserkers, as well as poets, who owed their inspiration to him, and aristocrats, who saw him as one of their own. This means he turns up in a great many poems and sagas, and is frequently named as a royal ancestor. His name, which means "furious" is connected to both battle-frenzy and poetic inspiration.
Half of those slain in battle went to him (the other half went to Freyja) and this gave him an equivocal reputation. Since Odin needed good warriors to fight at Ragnarok, he was often accused of killing warriors and chieftains he favoured, so that he could have them in Asgard. It should be noted that the myths and sagas do bear this out; a lot of his favourites do come to an untimely (and in some cases, unlikely) end. These often involve trickery of some kind. (The mock hanging of King Vikarr in Gautreks saga is an example of this; at the last moment the thin rope and the frail twig it was tied to turn into a stout rope and a strong branch. Vikarr dies.)
He certainly maintains his position. He insults and outwits Thor in Harbardsljod, often seen as a duel between the two cults. Odin uses his ecstatic wisdom when the king Geirrod has him hung in front of two fires, so that Geirrod falls on his own sword, and his son Agnar succeeds him. This assures us that Odin intervenes in human dynasties, too.
To be fair, Odin seems willing to travel anywhere, or sacrifice anything, to gain wisdom and magic power. He learns the "unmanly" art of seidr from Freyja, sacrifices his own eye to gain wisdom, and in Havamal, recounts how he hung for nine nights to learn the runes. He wagers his head in a wisdom-contest with the giant Vafthurdnir, although he wins by a trick. (His last question: what did Odin whisper in Baldr's ear on his funeral pyre? The giant immediately realizes he's doomed; only one person knows that.)
Why Does Odin Have Such a Small Part in this Myth?
That's what makes his appearance in the Thiazi myth so odd. He and Loki and Hoenir go wandering, and Thiazi starts using magic on them, and you expect Odin to step in and do something. But then the story veers off in a completely different direction. It may be that those three were chosen for the story because they are in several other stories together (see Hoenir for more on this). Odin does seem to appear as part of a triad a lot, either Odin-Loki-Hoenir or Odin-Vili-Ve.
I think the secret to Odin's participation in the Thiazi myth lies in a more structuralist interpretation. Odin, depending on how you count, is either half or three-quarters giant himself, and despite this spends a lot of his time trying to outwit them and plotting their downfall. In the mythology, he is a force for order, while the giants are forces for chaos.
Why do I say that Odin is part-giant? Because he is. In the Norse creation myth, the first creature was Ymir, a giant, who was born in the space between the ice-world and fire-world. He created a man and woman from his armpi
t, and another creature from between his feet. So Ymir was the ancestor of all the giants. Meanwhile, the cow Audhumla also appeared, and as she licked the ice around her, she freed a man named Buri, who was beautiful and strong. He had a son Bor, although Bor's mother is unnamed. (Presumably she's a giant, since there's no one else around.) Their son, Buri, married Bestla, whose father was the giant Bolthorn, and they had three sons, Odin, Vili and Ve. So at the least Odin's mother is a giant, which makes him a half-giant, and if Bor had Buri with a giantess, then Odin is three-quarters giant. (Odin is at least half-giant, while Loki is half-god; it would be neat if the "pure as", Hoenir, was all god, but that's another unknown.)
Odin and his brothers killed Ymir, and formed the cosmos from his body. Gylf tells us that the blood that gushed forth from Ymir's body nearly drowned all the giants, except for one Noah-like giant called Bergelmir, who climbed up on a wooden box (or coffin) with his wife, and escaped the flood. So the race of giants continued.
As Rasmus Kristensen points out, the line between the gods and the giants isn't so much in the blood, as it is a chosen affinity. The gods decide to be other than the giants, and to create an ordered cosmos, and build first Asgard for themselves and then Midgard to shelter the humans they've made, and to put more space between themselves and the giants.[88] Once Odin has done that, he can't go back. Having set himself against the giants, he has divorced himself from his kin. So he and Frigg create a new aett for themselves, the Aesir. (Maybe that's why Odin has so many sons scattered about - the more kin the better, from his point of view.)
If you accept this, then Odin's many acts of cheating, seducing, and raping giants and stealing their wisdom and goods become necessary, if not ethical, acts. You could say he's carrying on the black ops part of the war against the giants, while Thor is out there battling them in public.
Njord and Skadi Page 6