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It has been suggested that Hrimthursbemerged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2012. |
The jötnar (anglicized jotunnorjotun, plural jötnar; pron.: /ˈjoʊtən/, /ˈjoʊtʊn/, or /ˈjɔːtʊn/; Icelandic: [ˈjœːtʏn]; from Old Norse jǫtunn /ˈjɔtunː/; often glossed as giantorettin) can be seen throughout Norse mythology. The Jötnar are a mythological race that live in Jötunheimr, one of the nine worlds of Norse cosmology, separated from Midgard, the world of humans. They were banished there by the Aesir who refuse them entry to their world, Asgard. The giants frequently interact with the Aesir, as well as the Vanir. They are usually in opposition to, or in competition with, them but also interact with them in a non-hostile manner. Some Jötnar even intermarry with the Aesir and Vanir. This very complex relationship between these two comparable races develops most notably in the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda.
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InOld Norse, the beings were called jǫtnar (singular jǫtunn, the regular reflex of the stem jǫtun- and the nominative singular ending -r), or risar (singular risi), in particular bergrisar ('mountain-risar'), or þursar (singular þurs), in particular hrímþursar ('rime-thurs'). Giantesses could also be known as gýgjar (singular gýgr) or íviðjur (singular íviðja).
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 due to their enormous diet because of their size.[1] 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, while in Faroese they are called jatnir [jaʰtnɪɹ]/[jaʰknɪɹ] (Singular: jøtun [jøːtʊn]). In modern Icelandic jötunn has kept its original meaning. In Old English, the cognate to jötunniseoten, whence modern English ettin.
The Elder Futhark rune ᚦ, called Thurs (from Proto-Germanic *Þurisaz), later evolved into the letter Þ. It is associated with dark magic, which could be why the jötnar have a negative connotation, or vice versa.[2] In Scandinavian folklore, the Norwegian name tusse for a kind of trollornisse, derives from Old Norse Þurs. Old English also has the cognate þyrs of the same meaning.
The first living being formed in the primeval chaos known as Ginnungagap was a giant of monumental size, called Ymir. When the icy mists of Niflheimr met with the heat of Múspellsheimr Ymir was born out of the joining of these two extreme forces from either world in the great void. Contained within Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning, Ymir's creation is recounted:
Just as from Niflheim there arose coldness and all things grim, so what was facing close to Muspell was hot and bright, but Ginnungagap was as mild as a windless sky. And when the rime and the blowing of the warmth met so that it thawed and dripped, there was a quickening from these flowing drops due to the power of the source of the heat, and it became the form of a man, and he was given the name Ymir.[3]
When he slept a jötunn son and a jötunn daughter grew from his armpits, and his two feet procreated and gave birth to a son, a monster with six heads. These three beings gave rise to the race of hrímþursar (rime thurs, frost giants), who populated Niflheim. 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 jötnar, apart from one known as Bergelmir and his spouse, who then repopulated their kind. It is mentioned in Vafþrúðnismál From Ymir's flesh the earth was formed, and the rocks from out of his bones; the sky from the skull of the ice-cold giant, and the sea from his blood."[4]
Some of the jötnar are attributed with hideous appearances – 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.
Yet when jötnar are named and more closely described, they are often given the opposite characteristics. Many of the jötnar are described as beautiful, Skaði being described as the “bright bride of the gods".[5] Although some jötnar are said to have been of considerable size, many were of no difference in size than that of the Æsir or Vanir.[6] The Jötunn do appear to have some shared characteristics between a few of them, "according to well established skaldic precedents, any figure that lives on, in or among rocks may be assumed to be a giant".[7] This is most likely due to their association with the creation of the earth. The Jötunn are an ancient race, being the first beings created, they carry wisdom from bygone times. It is the jötnar Mímir and Vafþrúðnir Odin seeks out to gain ancient knowledge about Fimbulvinter, the great winter that marks the start of the end of times, Ragnarök. In Vafþrúðnismál Odin was wary to visit the giant's hall, as he was described by Frigg as being the most powerful giant she knows.[8] This is a clear testament to the comparable levels of ability between this ancient race and the gods. Many Aesir claim ancestry with the giants: Odin’s parents are Buri, an Aesir, and Bestla, a giantess; Loki claims ancestry from Laufey, an Aesir, and Farbauti, a jötunn. It is often referenced in skaldic texts that the giants married or formed relationships with many of the Æsir and Vanir. In Snorri Sturluson's Haustlöng, Njörðr is married to the giantess Skaði as part of the compensation provided to her by the Æsir for killing her father, Þjazi.[9]InSkírnismál (also referred to as För Skírnis) Gerðr becomes the consort of Freyr after he becomes enamored with her.
Frey, the son of Njörd, had seated himself on Hlidskjálf, and looked out across all the worlds. He saw into Giant's Domain and saw there a beautiful girl... From that he had great sickness of heart.[10]
Her relationship with Freyr is noticeable in the fact that it is not consensual. Freyr's page, Skírnir, first attempted to bribe Gerðr then subsequently had to threaten Gerðr with banishment and a life devoid of pleasure in order to convince her to lie with Freyr. This shows that the Jötunn were not always acting as the aggressor in Norse mythology, but sometimes quite the opposite. Odin gains the love of Gunnlod, and even Thor, the great slayer of their kind, produces a child with Járnsaxa; 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 jötnar.
As a whole, the Aesir-Jötnar relationship is a complex one, with a deep history embedded in murder. Odin, Villi, and Ve killed Ymir, the primordial giant, and then killed the rest of the race, save Bergelmir, by spilling Ymir’s blood and flooding Niflheim. Then, there are many myths of hostilities over resources, women, and valuable objects: Odin steals the mead of poetry from Suttung and Gunnlod; the Aesir trick a giant out of his prize; Utgarda-Loki tricks Thor, Thialfi, and Loki into losing many contests. Throughout the mythology, the Aesir subordinate the Jötnar and steal their wealth, knowledge, and women, even when the Jötnar are given some of the most important roles in the world.
Many giants play greatly influence the natural world; they could even equate with gods of nature.[11] Odin and his brothers used Ymir’s body to make the physical world. Hraesvelgr, a jötunn in the form of an eagle, flaps his wings to create the wind. The giantess Jord, the mother of Thor, is the mother of animal and plant life and has fertility powers. Thor sees Gialp, a giantess, straddling a river and urinating, raising the water level. Aegir is the sea personified in the shape of a giant. Also, summer, winter, night, the sun, and the moon all claim Jötnar heritage. In folklore, people have attributed violent weather and even land formations to giants.[12] Stories tell that giants can move and create mountains, form lakes, move islands, and uproot trees. Half-finished buildings destroyed by harsh winds are attributed to giants blowing them over. They believed that smoke from a giant’s pipe causes mist and shaking, fighting, and sneezing cause earthquakes. Jötnar are constantly described as less than the Aesir, but their natural powers cannot be ignored.
A certain class of jötnar are the fire jötnar (Múspellsmegir, "sons of Muspell", or eldjötnar), said to reside in Muspelheim, the world of heat and fire, ruled by the fire jötunn Surtr ("the black one"). The main role of the fire jötnar in Norse mythology is to wreak the final destruction of the world by setting fire to the world at the end of Ragnarök, when the jötnar of Jotunheim and the forces of Hel shall launch an attack on the gods, and kill all but a few of them.
Jötunn, along with many other elements of Norse mythology associated with the superhero Thor, exist in the Marvel Universe in publications by Marvel Comics. Frost giants are featured in the 2011 Marvel Studios film Thor, as well as several animated films, television series and video games.
Jotnar and various other "species" of trolls appear in the 2010 Norwegian fantasy film Trollhunter. The Jotnar live in Jotunheimen, making their homes inside the mountains.
Frost giants play a major part in the plot of the third volume of the Iron Druid Chronicles, Hammered.
There are also several varieties of jotun enemy NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in the Guild Wars (GW) MMORPG family. In the original Guild Wars game set, they are accessible with the Eye of the North expansion pack, which introduces the Norn, themselves a giantish, human like race clearly modeled on Norse and other Scandinavian motifs (see Norns). There, as in Guild Wars 2 (where they are again seen in the Norn areas), the Jotun are portrayed as somewhat dim-witted, but highly aggressive and dangerous giants who often travel in groups of three or more. In the GW mythos, the jotun (who are very distinct from other giant-like races, such as the ettins) inhabit ancient jotun dwellings that strongly suggest that in the past, the jotun enjoyed a much more civilized form of life. It is indicated that these ways were lost as a consequence of the greed of its decadent leaders, which led to civil wars, anarchy, and ultimately a regression to a far more primitive and barbaric existence.
The Swedish melodic death metal band In Flames made a song called "Jotun," which appears on their third album Whoracle from 1997.
The titans from the manga and the anime Attack on Titan seem to be based on Jötnar with many names from related Norse myths being mentioned in relation to them.
This article contains content from the Owl Edition ofNordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926, now in the public domain.
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