Not long was I there,
Only nine nights;
The howl of the wolves
Methought sounded ill
To the song of the swans.”
Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson).
Parting of Niörd and Skadi.
For some time, Niörd and Skadi, who are the personifications of summer and winter, alternated thus, the wife spending the three short summer months by the sea, and he reluctantly remaining with her in Thrym-heim during the nine long winter months. But, finding at last that their tastes would never agree, they decided to part forever, and returned to their respective homes, where each could follow the occupations which custom had endeared.
“Thrym-heim it’s called,
Where Thjasse dwelled,