Skoll- Norse CreatureCreature · Beast
Also known as: Sköll and Skǫll
Description
A tireless wolf racing across the heavens in eternal pursuit of Sól. The reason the sun never slows her chariot. When his jaws finally close at Ragnarök, the sky goes dark and the stars vanish.
Mythology & Lore
The Chase
Every day, Sól drives her chariot across the sky, drawn by the swift horses Árvakr and Alsviðr. She never rests, never slows, because Sköll runs behind her. The Grímnismál names him plainly: "Sköll is the name of the wolf who follows the shining goddess to the protecting woods." His name means "treachery" or "mockery," as if the pursuit were a cruel jest played on the heavens.
His brother Hati Hróðvitnisson runs ahead of Máni, the moon. When either wolf drew close, Snorri says, men saw an eclipse.
The Ironwood
Völuspá 40 speaks of an old troll-woman sitting in Járnviðr, the Ironwood, a dark forest at the eastern edge of the world. She nurses the kin of Fenrir in wolf-shapes. Snorri in the Gylfaginning calls Sköll a son of Fenrir himself, grandson of Loki and Angrboða. Raised in darkness at the world's edge, he was born for one purpose: to hunt the sun.
The Catch
At Ragnarök, Sköll overtakes Sól at last. His jaws close. The sun goes dark, and Hati devours the moon in the same moment. The cosmos plunges into total darkness, and from that darkness the last battle begins.
Relationships
- Enemy of
- Slew
- Associated with