Njörðr

Njörðr, father of the deities Freyr and Freyja by his unnamed sister, was in an ill-fated marriage with the goddess Skaði,[1] lives in Nóatún and is associated with the sea, seafaring, wind, fishing, wealth, and crop fertility.

Veneration of Njörðr survived into the 18th or 19th century Norwegian folk practice, where the god is recorded as Njor and thanked for a bountiful catch of fish.

[5] Njörðr's name appears in various place names in Scandinavia, such as Nærdhæwi (now Nalavi, Närke), Njærdhavi (now Mjärdevi, Linköping; both using the religious term vé), Nærdhælunda (now Närlunda, Helsingborg), Nierdhatunum (now Närtuna, Uppland) in Sweden,[4] Njarðvík in southwest Iceland, Njarðarlög and Njarðey (now Nærøya) in Norway.

Additionally, in Old Icelandic translations of Classical mythology the Roman god Saturn's name is glossed as "Njörðr".

In the poem, the god Odin, disguised as "Gagnráðr" faces off with the wise jötunn Vafþrúðnir in a battle of wits.

After Loki has an exchange with the goddess Freyja, in stanza 33 Njörðr states: That's harmless, if, besides a husband, a woman has a lover or someone else; what is surprising is a pervert god coming in here, who has borne children.

[12] Loki responds in the stanza 34, stating that "from here you were sent east as hostage to the gods" (a reference to the Æsir-Vanir War) and that "the daughters of Hymir used you as a pisspot, and pissed in your mouth.

"[12] In stanza 35, Njörðr responds that: That was my reward, when I, from far away, was sent as a hostage to the gods, that I fathered that son, whom no one hates and is thought the prince of the Æsir.

In this chapter, Njörðr is described by the enthroned figure of High as living in the heavens at Nóatún, but also as ruling over the movement of the winds, having the ability to calm both sea and fire, and that he is to be invoked in seafaring and fishing.

[15] High further states that Njörðr's wife is Skaði, that she is the daughter of the jötunn Þjazi, and recounts a tale involving the two.

[17] In chapter 37, after Freyr has spotted the beautiful jötunn Gerðr, he becomes overcome with sorrow, and refuses to sleep, drink, or talk.

Expecting to choose the god Baldr by the beauty of the feet she selects, Skaði instead finds that she has picked Njörðr.

This is followed by an excerpt from a composition by the 11th century skald Þórðr Sjáreksson, explained as containing a reference to Skaði leaving Njörðr: Gundrun became her son's slayer; the wise god-bride [Skadi] could not love the Van; Kialar [Odin] trained horses pretty well; Hamdir is said not to have held back sword-play.

In the saga, Njörðr is described as having once wed his unnamed sister while he was still among the Vanir, and the couple produced their children Freyr and Freyja from this union, though this custom was forbidden among the Æsir.

[26] Chapter 5 relates that Odin gave all of his temple priests dwelling places and good estates, in Njörðr's case being Nóatún.

[31] In the Saga of Harald Graycloak, a stanza is given of a poem entitled Vellekla ("Lack of Gold") by the 10th century Icelandic skald Einarr skálaglamm that mentions Njörðr in a kenning for "warrior".

In stanza 17, Egill writes that all others watch in marvel how Arinbjörn gives out wealth, as he has been so endowed by the gods Freyr and Njörðr.

[33] Veneration of Njörðr survived into 18th or 19th century Norwegian folk practice, as recorded in a tale collected by Halldar O. Opedal from an informant in Odda, Hordaland, Norway.

[35] Njörðr is often identified with the goddess Nerthus, whose reverence by various Germanic tribes is described by Roman historian Tacitus in his 1st CE century work Germania.

[36] This has led to theories about the relation of the two, including that Njörðr may have once been a hermaphroditic god or, generally considered more likely, that the name may indicate an otherwise unattested divine brother and sister pair such as Freyr and Freyja.

[38] Parallels have been pointed out between Njörðr and the figure of Hadingus, attested in book I of Saxo Grammaticus' 13th century work Gesta Danorum.

[39] Some of these similarities include that, in parallel to Skaði and Njörðr in Skáldskaparmál, Hadingus is chosen by his wife Ragnhild after selecting him from other men at a banquet by his lower legs, and, in parallel to Skaði and Njörðr in Gylfaginning, Hadingus complains in verse of his displeasure at his life away from the sea and how he is disturbed by the howls of wolves, while his wife Regnhild complains of life at the shore and states her annoyance at the screeching sea birds.

[40] In stanza 8 of the poem "Fjölsvinnsmál", Svafrþorinn is stated as the father of Menglöð by an unnamed mother, who the hero Svipdagr seeks.