Skuld is the name of two characters in Scandinavian mythology, one was one of the three norns in Norse Mythology, and the second one was a princess who married Hjörvard, Hrólf Kraki's killer.

The Norn

Her name means "necessity", or "that which must become". In modern Icelandic, which is closely related to ancient Norse, the word is in every day use and literally means "debt" or something that must be paid back. She was also one of the Valkyries. Together with Rota and Gunn she attended the battle fields and chose those who were to be slain and taken to Valhalla. She ruled over the future and had three children. These children were Askari, Alshander and Norjumtandh.

Sá hon valkyrjur

vítt um komnar

görvar at ríða

til Goðþjóðar:

Skuld hélt skildi,

en Skögul önnur,

Gunnr, Hildr, Göndul

ok Geirskögul;

nú eru talðar

nönnur Herjans,

görvar at ríða

grund valkyrjur.

Völuspá.

Oh My Goddess

A variation on the mythological Skuld is a major character in the anime/manga series Oh My Goddess created by Kosuke Fujishima. In Oh My Goddess!, Skuld is a young goddess, about 12 years old. Her primary responsibility is to "debug" (literally) the world computer Yggdrasil (the pun is that a computer's file structure is called a "tree"), using her hammer to destroy bugs that resemble six-legged rabbits. Skuld is a Goddess Second Class (limited license) because of her age. Skuld is an inventor, though her mecha and inventions seldom work quite as planned because of her tendency to use magic to cover up her gaps in technical knowledge, almost always with humorous results. Her angel's name is Noble Scarlet, and she recharges by eating ice cream. Skuld's teleportation link is hot water.

Skuld grows considerably over the manga series; by the later volumes she has hit puberty, and has a brief relationship with a boy named Sentaro. (Sentaro only appears in chapters 73, 74, and 79. Also Belldandy makes mention of him in chapter 93.)

Skuld's Seiyū is Aya Hisakawa.

Princess

Skuld was also a princess who married Heoroweard and encouraged him to kill Hrólf Kraki. According to Angrim's summary of the lost Skjöldunga saga, and the Chronicon Lethrense, she was the daughter of Adils the Swedish king (called Eadgils in Beowulf). However, according to Hrólf Kraki's saga she was the daughter of Helgi, whereas Saxo is vague whether it was Adils or Helgi who was her father.