Asgard - Home of the Aesir - 8th Part

Noatun

In the previous post I wrote about Freyja's hall, and as she is one of the Vanir also living in Asgard, now it is time to also write about her father, another Vanir deity that has a hall in Asgard.


Njörd's hall in Asgard is called Noatun and it is located outside the walls of the realm in the coastal zone to the west and southwest. In this coast his hall stands in a small bay and ships from the distance can see the hall of Njörd, a white structure with a few ships anchored in the bay below it. This structure is filled with open windows and the ceilings are different from the ones of all the other halls in Asgards, these are arched, resembling the bottom of a ship. 
There are fishing tools all over the place even hanged on the walls, and a salty wind blows inside. There are many seabirds around the area and often fly to the insides of the structure. Most of the furniture is made out of parts of ships, even the tables, and there are many colums that were once masts.

In this hall along with Njörd, others live there, most of them are sailors. Apart from the hall and the docks, there are also workshops behind the hall and all manners of sea working is made there, such as woodcarving, shipbuilding, net-mending, barrel-making and so on.

As you might imagine, this is the harbour where many ships from different lands take rest after great voyages, the many denizens of the Nine norse worlds come here, and others as well. This is a haven for those who love the sea and everything connected to it.

Sokkvabek

There is a goddess that few know, she is called Saga, the goddess of lore and knowledge through learning from the lore and study. This goddess also lives in Asgard by the sea. Her hall is called Sokkvabek. This is also a place of learning while relaxing at the same time, for those who love the sound of waves and seabirds and the whales during the night, and of course, refreshing the body and the soul in the waters which are near the hall, in fact, the hall is so close to the water, that there isn't sand or rock to place the feet, the hall goes directly into the water.
Inside this hall, there are many written memories such as poetry, songs, tales of old and so on. This goddess keeps the records of the past, some important, some irrelevant.

Thrymheim II

The tale of Skadi is one that people have heard so often, but summarizing it, there was a giant called Thjatsi who married an Aesir woman, by doing so he inherited all that was hers when she died. Thjatsi was slain by the Aesir but he had a daughter called Skadi who came all the way from Jotunheim to demand her inheritance and have her vengance upon the Aesir for killing her father.
She also wanted a husband of Aesir blood, so she could be accepted quickly into the Aesir tribe. She was married with Njörd but it didn't work out, but she still owns and lived in her father and stepmother's hall. Being a goddess who loves winter and can't stand another type of weather, during the summer of Asgard (which is quite long) she leaves the mountains of Asgard and goes back to her halls in Jotunheim.
Her hall in Asgard is called Thrymheim in honor to the giant Thrym the king of Jotunheim. Her hall in Jotunheim is also called by this name.
Her hall, is found in the great mountain chain of Asgard to the north and all the way to the east. There weather there is cold and snowy, but in lighter proportions, nothing compared to the weather of the mountains of Jotunheim where her other hall is placed.

Ydalir

Ydalir is the home of the god Ullr, the god of winter and hunting and also skiing. It is more like an hunting lodge in a grove surrounded by trees.


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Working with the gods: Skadi

Well, now that the spring finally came, i had to talk about Skadi, the Norse goddess of Winter, as in a farewell to her powers, while she can take some rest. I will not hide that my favorite season is Autumn, when the world is changing in flaming colours, the preparation for winter, another season i love so much and my spirit is comfortable with.

Skadi is the Norse goddess of hunt, winter and archers, the queen of ice and frost, fair and cold as the chill winter winds. The wolves howl calling upon her while the snow falls from her mantle which brings arsh blizzards and storms.

One interesting thing, is that people don't know much about giants, or the Jotun folk, but one of the most famous giants of all time is Skadi, the frost-giantess, not only for her greatness and her powers, but beause she gained her place among the Aesir gods. She is the goddess of winter, and she is often seen as a huntress, with bow and arrow in a sled pulled by while wolves in the cold regions. She is the figure which gave inspiration to so many writters while speaking of the Winter Queen of the Frost maiden.
Skadi is the daughter of Thjassi the son of Olvalde, the one who captured Idunn and he was killed during the event of her rescue. The story of Thjassi is an unusual one for a Jotnar, apparently he was married with one from the Aesir, but he didn't came to Asgard to live with her, she went with him, living in his fortress in Jotunheim, but she died of cold and being the husband of an Aesir, he cold go to Asgard, claming his position, but he hasn't done it, however, his daughter, Skadi, claimed that estate for her own even not having any connection with the dead Aesir wife of her father, and she also did that when her father was killed. She marched to the gates of Asgard fully armed, ready to take her vengeance for her father's murder, she demanded a reward, her father's inheritance and a husband. She wanted Baldur to be her husband, but some say that Odin blindfolded her and made her choose an husband from all the unmarried males in Asgard, by feeling their feet, others say that all of them hid behind a curtain with only their feet showing, and she had to choose by looking at them. Whatever was the way to choose an husband, she chose the one with the finest feet believing he might be the beautiful god Baldur, but it was Njord, the Vanir sea king. They married, but after some time together, they came to the conclusion that they were not made ​​for each other. Skadi's dwellings made Njord uncomfortable, in her homeland Thrymheim in Jotunheim and in place she got in Asgard, were both in the mountains, these where the places she preferred to live in and Njord couldn't stay so far away from his own dwellings, he couldn't stand the cold, the snow nor could he sleep with the holwings of the wolves, on the other hand, Skadi wasn't comfortable where Njord dwells, his home in Asgard, Noatun, by the sea and also in Vanaheim on the other side of the ocean, she was always complaining about the noises of the sea-birds and the sound of the waves. The two separated after a time but Skadi got her place in the council of Asgard, the first Jotun to do so.
It seems that shortly after this, she had an ill-fated affair with Loki. Some sources claim that Odin sent Loki to her in order to cement her bonds with Asgard; others merely suggest that the opportunistic Loki saw a chance to take advantage of the depressed Skadi. Apparently she had fallen into sadness, and Loki decided to cheer her up by making a spectacle of himself. He tied his testicles to a goat, and let the goat pull him around screaming and staggering, much to the amusement of the onlookers. At some point the rope snapped, and he fell headlong into Skadi's lap, and she laughed, finally. This rite is echoed in legends of sacrificial rites to the cold, implacable death goddess, where a man is castrated and flung bleeding into her lap, with the idea that only blood, not semen, can fertilize a death goddess. It may be that Loki was deliberately mimicking this rite as a way of offering himself to Skadi. At any rate, she seems to have taken him more seriously than he took her, for they had an affair that did not last, and it filled her with a rage against him so bitter that when he was caught and bound after Baldur's death, Skadi placed a poisonous serpent over his head, to drip venom onto him until he was released. One senses not only the wrath of a woman scorned, but that of a priestess/goddess who was cheated.

Hunters and Archers can pray to her to gain, maintain or improve the skills in that matter. A person might also call upon her to find his way back home when lost in the wilds, to survive the cold weather and the arsh trials of winter. Having been married with Njord, both of them help in terms of divorce, keeping things at peace and revolving it the best way possible without many problems, annoyances, discussions or disputes. Skadi also helps women when they pass through difficult times, keeping a sane mind without losing their nerves.

Nott - goddess of the night

Nott is the goddess of the night in the Northern and Germanic pantheon, she is Mani's herald and she rides a black horse called Hrimfaxi. She is the granddaughter of Bergelmir whose son is Norfi, the famous giant who designed Asgard, Thrymheim and the halls of Utgard-Loki. Her first husband was a Jotun called Nagifari and together they had a son called Aud. Her second husband was Annar, a water-giant, and they had a daughter called Jord the mother of Thor. Her third husband is Delling, a red Alfar and their son is Daeg, the god of Day. Nott is a very old giantess, one of the oldest as a matter of fact. There are rumors that she had an affair with the old Vanir god Frodi, and with that union they had Njord, the god of sailors and seas. As her story is told and the many children she had, we can see she is not a maternal goddess, leaving her children to be raised by the fathers. But she is a very wise goddess and can be called by those who are in the dark, seaching for answers.