Jotun: Encyclopedia - Jotun

Jotun

In Norse mythology, the giants were a mythological race with superhuman strength, described as standing in opposition to the gods, although they frequently mingled with or were even married to these, both Æsir and Vanir. Their stronghold is known as Utgard, and is situated in Jötunheimr, one of the nine worlds of Norse cosmology, separated from Midgard, the world of men, by high mountains and dense forests. When living in other worlds than their own, they seem to prefer caves and dark places.

In Old Norse, they were called jötnar (sing. jötunn), or risar (sing. risi), in particular bergrisar, or þursar (sing. þurs), in particular hrímþursar. A giantess could also be known as a gýgr.

Jötunn probably derives from the same root as "eat," and accordingly had the original meaning of "glutton" or "man-eater." Following the same logic, þurs might be derivative of accutal "thirst" or "blood-thirst." Risi is probably akin to "rise," and so means "towering person." In Old English, the cognates to jötunn are eóten and eten, whence come the modern English ettin and J. R. R. Tolkien's creation Ent. Ettin is a false cognate with Yeti. [1] Old English also has the cognate þyrs of the same meaning. [2]

"Thurs" is also the name of the rune ᚦ, which later evolved into the letter Þ.

Jotun - Norse giants

Jotun - Origins

The first living being formed in the primeval chaos known as Ginnungagap was a giant of monumental size, called Ymir. When he slept a giant son and a giantess daughter grew from his armpits, his two feet copulated and gave birth to a monster with six heads. Supposedly, these three beings gave rise to the race of hrímþursar (rime giants or frost giants), who populated Niflheim, the world of mist, chill and ice. The gods instead claim their origin from a certain Búri. When the giant Ymir subsequently was slain by Odin, Vili and Vé (the grandsons of Búri), his blood (i.e. water) deluged Niflheim and killed all of the giants, apart from one known as Bergelmir and his spouse, who then repopulated their kind.

Jotun - Character of the giants

The giants represent the forces of the primeval chaos and of the untamed, destructive nature. Their defeats by the hands of the gods represent the triumph of culture over nature, albeit by the cost of eternal vigilance. Heimdall perpetually watches the Bifröst bridge from Ásgard to Jötunheimr, and Thor often makes a visit in the world of the giants, to slay as many of their kind as he is able.

As a collective, giants are often attributed a hideous appearance – claws, fangs, black skin and deformed features, apart from a generally hideous size. Some of them may even have many heads or an overall non-humanoid shape; so was Jörmungandr and Fenrir, two of the children of Loki, viewed as giants. With bad looks comes a weak intellect; the Eddas more than once liken their temper to that of children.

Yet when giants are named and more closely described, they are often given the opposite characteristics. Unbelievably old, they carry the wisdom from bygone times. It is the giants Mimir and Vafþrúðnir Odin seeks out to gain this pro-cosmic knowledge. Many of the gods' spouses are giants. Njord is married to Skaði, Gerðr becomes the consort of Freyr, Odin gains the love of Gunnlod, and even Thor, the great slayer of their kind, loves Jarnsaxa, mother of Magni. As such, they appear as minor gods themselves, which can also be said about the sea giant Ægir, far more connected to the gods than to the scum occupying Jotunheim. None of these fear light, and in comfort their homes do not differ greatly from the gods'.

Jotun - Ragnarök and the fire giants

A certain class of giants were the fire giants, said to reside in Muspelheim, the world of heat and fire, ruled by the fire giant Surtur ("the black one") and his queen Sinmore. Fornjót, the incarnation of fire, was another of their kind. The main role of the fire giants in Norse mythology is to wreak the final destruction of the world by setting fire to the world tree Yggdrasil at the end of Ragnarök, when the giants of Jotunheim and the forces of Helheim shall launch an attack on the gods, and kill all but a few of them. Perhaps influenced by Christian eschatology, a new world will purportedly arise after this event, where the giants shall be no more.

Jotun - Giants in Scandinavian folklore

In later times, giants were more commonly known as trolls in Scandinavia. They can't stand the sound of church bells, and therefore must live far from civilization, in the mountains or the most remote forests. When they sometimes travel to human society, their main objective seems to be the silencing of this clamor by throwing large boulders at churches.

The giants were however mainly seen as a race of the past, whose remains could still be seen in the landscape. Saxo Grammaticus attributed the raising of dolmens to the giants, and a large stone lying about seemingly randomly in the country (actually a remnant of the Ice Age) was called "a throw of the giants." This concept survived in folklore to a late date, demonstrated by a story from Swedish folklore, according to which a giant in elder times pulled up two huge chunks of land, forming lake Vänern and Vättern, and threw them out into the Baltic Sea, where they became the islands Gotland and Öland, respectively.

Jotun - List of giants and giantesses in Norse mythology

1. Ægir
2. Baugi
3. Beli
4. Bergelmir
5. Bestla
6. Bolthorn
7. Geirröd
8. Gerd
9. Gilling
10. Gjálp and Greip
11. Gunnlod
12. Gymir
13. Hrod
14. Hrungnir
15. Hymir
16. Ivaldi
17. Jarnsaxa
18. Kari
19. Narve
20. Loki
21. Olvaldi
22. Saxa
23. Skaði
24. Surtur
25. Suttung
26. Thiazi
27. Thrudgelmir
28. Thrym
29. Útgarða-Loki
30. Vafþrúðnir
31. Ymir

Norse mythology

This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904-1926 now in Public Domain.

Categories: Norse mythology | Giants | Nordic folklore

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Jotun", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki