Njord was the Norse god of the sea, seafaring, wind, fishing and wealth — the chief of the Vanir, the father of Freya and Frey, the deity to whom sailors and fishermen prayed for fair winds, safe voyages and abundant catches. A god of the coast and the harbour rather than the wild deep, he was above all a giver of prosperity, the divine source of the wealth that comes from the sea and the calm that lets ships sail.
The God of the Sea and Wealth
Njord (Old Norse Njörðr) was the foremost of the Vanir, the race of fertility-gods, and he came to live among the Aesir as a hostage after the war between the two divine families, becoming an honoured god of Asgard. He ruled over the sea and the winds, and especially over the calm coastal waters, the harbours and the fishing-grounds; he could still the sea and the fire and grant safe passage, and he was so associated with prosperity that it was said he could grant wealth in land and goods to those who prayed to him. He dwelt in a hall called Nóatún, “the ship-enclosure,” by the shore.
The Father of Frey and Freya
Njord was the father of the two greatest of the Vanir gods, the twins Frey (god of fertility, sunshine and prosperity) and Freya (goddess of love, beauty and magic), born to him by his own sister in the old Vanir custom (for among the Vanir, unlike the Aesir, marriage between siblings was permitted). Through these famous children, Njord stands at the head of the Vanir line within the Norse pantheon, the patriarch of the gods of fertility and abundance.
The Mismatched Marriage to Skadi
Njord's most famous tale is his ill-fated marriage to the giantess Skadi. When the gods killed her father, the giant Thiazi, Skadi came to Asgard armed and demanding recompense; among the settlements offered, she was allowed to choose a husband from among the gods — but only by looking at their feet. Hoping to choose the beautiful Baldr, she picked the fairest pair of feet, which turned out to belong to Njord. The marriage was doomed by their natures: Skadi was a goddess of the high snowy mountains and loved the howling of wolves, while Njord was a god of the seashore and loved the cry of the gulls. They tried to live in each other's homes — nine nights in Skadi's cold mountains, then by Njord's shore — but neither could bear the other's country. Njord could not sleep for the howling of the wolves; Skadi could not bear the screeching of the seabirds. And so the sea-god and the mountain-giantess parted, each returning to the home they loved.
The Giver of the Sea's Bounty
Njord endures as the benevolent god of the sea's gentler face — not the storm and the drowning deep, but the harbour, the fair wind, the full net and the wealth that the sea brings to those who live beside it. He was fated to survive Ragnarök and return to the Vanir at the end of the world. He embodies the Norse seafarer's relationship with the ocean as a source of life and prosperity, the god you prayed to for the calm sea and the safe return, the patriarch of the gods of plenty.
The sea-god and the mountain-giantess loved each other, but he could not sleep for the wolves and she could not sleep for the gulls — and so each went home alone.