Njörðr is the god of the seas and the wind inNorse mythology. A member of theVanir, he is the father of the twin godsFreyr andFreyja by an unnamed sister of his. He is married to thejötunnessSkaði, daughter ofÞjazi.
Skadi's father Þjazi caughtLoki, and forced him to lure out thegoddessIðunn, keeper of the apples which grant the Æsir their phenomenal youth and longevity. As the gods began to age, they sought out the one responsible for taking Idunn; discovering it was Þjazi, they killed him and freed Iðunn. Angered at the offense, Skaði came to fight the gods, but they did not want to fight her. The Æsir instead offered Skaði compensation, allowing her to choose a husband among the gods, but only by looking at their feet. Skaði wished to marryBaldr, the most handsome of the gods, but the feet she picked belonged to Njörðr, whose feet were shining and clean. (Odin later took Þjazi's eyes and placed them as stars in the night sky). When Skaði moved to her new husband's home near the sea, she missed hermountain home. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she only spends half her time with her husband. When Skaði is away, Njörðr is sad, causingstorms at the sea.
