Loki vs Skadi

A complex figure, blood brother to Odin but frequently causing trouble for the gods. A shape-shifter and trickster who fathers monstrous children including Fenrir, Jormungandr, and Hel.

Loki is not one of the Aesir by birth but a giant, the son of the giant Farbauti and the giantess Laufey (or Nal). Despite his giant heritage, he was accepted among the Aesir after becoming blood brothers with Odin in ancient times. The details of this pact are lost, but it bound Odin to never drink unless Loki was also offered a cup. Loki married the goddess Sigyn, who bore him sons Narfi and Vali. With the giantess Angrboda, he fathered three monstrous children: Fenrir the wolf, Jormungandr the World Serpent, and Hel, ruler of the dead.

Loki is a shape-shifter and the catalyst for most Norse myths. Sometimes a helpful ally, often a malicious nuisance, his actions drive the plot of the gods' lives.

A giantess who came armed to Asgard to avenge her father Thjazi and was offered a husband in compensation, choosing Njord by his feet alone. She is the huntress of the snowy mountains who travels on snowshoes with her bow.

Skadi is the daughter of the giant Thjazi. After the gods killed him, she came to Asgard in arms to avenge him and accepted a marriage to Njord, chosen by his feet, as part of the settlement.

Skadi's father, the giant Thjazi, abducted the goddess Idunn and her apples of youth and was killed by the gods when he pursued Loki back to Asgard. Snorri Sturluson's *Skaldskaparmal* tells how Skadi took up helmet, mail, and weapons and went to Asgard to avenge him. The gods offered compensation: she might choose a husband from among them, seeing only their feet. Hoping for Baldr, she chose the most beautiful feet, and they belonged to Njord, god of the sea. The gods also had to make her laugh, which Loki managed with a crude trick, and Odin threw Thjazi's eyes into the sky as stars.