The Sea God and His Mountain Wife

Why could they not agree on life by the sea or in the mountains?

Njord rules the movement of the wind and calms the sea and fire. People also ask him for help with sailing and fishing. He grew up in the land of the Vanir and was sent to the other gods as part of a peace agreement. His home is Noatun. His wife, Skadi, is a giant's daughter who prefers the mountains where her father lived.

The husband wanted to live near the sea, and the wife wanted to live in the mountains. So they agreed to spend 9 nights in the mountains and 9 nights by the sea. But when Njord returned from the mountains, he sang of how he disliked them. Compared with the song of swans, the wolves' howling was unpleasant to his ears.

Skadi found life by the sea just as difficult. Every morning, gulls calling from the sea woke her. She sang that the birds' cries kept her from sleeping by the shore. Later, Skadi returned to live in the mountains. There she travels by skiing and hunts animals with her bow.

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