Everything about Jotuns totally explained
» The anglicized form Jotun
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A
jǫtunn, sometimed anglicized as
jotun (pronounced yōtən), is a
giant in
Norse mythology, a member of a race of nature spirits with superhuman strength, described as standing in opposition to the races of
Æsir and
Vanir, although they frequently mingled with or were even married to these. Their otherworldly homeland is
Jötunheimr, one of the nine worlds of
Norse cosmology, separated from
Midgard, the world of humans, by high mountains or dense forests. Other place names are also associated with them, including
Niflheimr,
Utgarðr and
Járnviðr. In some legends and myths they're described as having the same height as humans.
In later
Scandinavian folklore, the nature spirits called
trolls (deriving from the term for 'magic') takes over many of the functions of the more ancient concept of the jǫtunn.
The mountain range of southern Norway is likewise called in Norwegian
Jotunheimen or the Jotunheim Mountains.
Etymology
In
Old Norse, they were called
jǫtnar (
sing.
jǫtunn), or
risar (sing.
risi), in particular
bergrisar, or
þursar (sing.
þurs), in particular
hrímþursar ('
rime-giant'). A
giantess could also be known as a
gýgr.
Jǫtunn (Proto-Germanic
*etunaz) might have the same root as "eat" (Proto-Germanic *etan) and accordingly had the original meaning of "
glutton" or "man-eater", probably in the sense of personifying chaos, the destructive forces of nature. Following the same logic,
þurs might be derivative of "
thirst" or "blood-thirst."
Risi is probably akin to "rise," and so means "towering person" (akin to
German Riese,
Dutch reus, archaic
Swedish rese, giant). The word "jotun" survives in modern Norwegian as giant (though more commonly called trolls), and has evolved into
jätte and
jætte in modern
Swedish and
Danish. In modern Icelandic
jötunn has kept its original meaning. In
Old English, the cognate to
jǫtunn is
eoten, whence modern English
ettin. Old English also has the cognate
þyrs of the same meaning.
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A Finnish sea monster and possible god of war was called
Tursas which may be related to the word
þurs.
The
Saami languages, also Finnic, have in their mythology
jiettanas, which were man-eating people with several wives. They could be captured and eaten by humans, and their stomachs were filled with gold and silver. Whether or not this word came from Germanic languages is unknown.
The Viking
rune ᚦ, called
Thurs (from Proto-Germanic
*Þurisaz), later evolved into the letter
Þ.
In Scandinavian folklore, the Norwegian name
Tusse for a kind of
troll or
nisse, derives from Old Norse Þurs.
Norse giants
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, and his two feet procreated 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 (for example water) deluged Niflheim and killed all of the giants, apart from one known as
Bergelmir and his spouse, who then repopulated their kind.
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 at the cost of eternal vigilance.
Heimdall perpetually watches the
Bifröst bridge from
Asgard to
Midgard, and
Thor being too heavy to cross the Bifrost Bridge often ventures into
Jötunheimr to get to Midgard, slaying as many of the giants as he's able on the way.
As a collective, giants are often attributed a hideous appearance – claws, fangs, and deformed features, apart from a generally hideous size. Some of them may even have many heads, such as
Thrivaldi who had nine of them, or an overall non-
humanoid shape; so were
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're often given the opposite characteristics. Unbelievably old, they carry wisdom from bygone times. It is the giants
Mímir 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, breeds with
Járnsaxa, 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 other giants occupying Jotunheim. None of these fear light, and in comfort their homes don't differ greatly from those of the gods.
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
Surtr ("the black one") and his queen
Sinmore.
Logi, 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
Hel shall launch an attack on the gods, and kill all but a few of them. During
Ragnarök, the fire giants (or Muspeli) ride on great horses and burn Midgard killing all the people, some of the gods, and all the fire giants themselves except a man and a woman set by
Odin in a great forest that didn't burn down.
Further Information
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