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Jotun
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Image:Giants_and_Freia.jpg thumb|230px|The giants [[Fafner and Fasolt seize
Freyja in
Arthur Rackham's illustration to
Richard Wagner's version of the Norse myths.]]
In
Norse mythology, the ''
Giant (mythology) 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 worlds other than their own, they seem to prefer caves and dark places.
In
Old Norse, they were called '''jötnar''' (
singular sing. ''jötunn''), or '''risar''' (sing. ''risi''), in particular ''bergrisar'', or '''þursar''' (sing. ''þurs''), in particular ''hrÃmþursar''. 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 "
Gluttony 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 language 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''. [http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50078384?query_type=word&queryword=ettin&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=2] Old English also has the cognate ''þyrs'' of the same meaning. [http://dontgohere.nu/oe/as-bt/read.htm?page_nr=1086 ]
"
Thurs (rune) Thurs" is also the name of the
rune ᚦ, which later evolved into the letter
Þ.
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 copulated and gave birth to a monster with six heads. Supposedly, these three beings gave rise to the race of ''hrÃmþursar'' (''
Rime (frost) 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.
Character of the giants
Image:Grotti.jpg thumb|220px|right|Giantesses [[Fenja and Menja from the ''
Grottasöngr''.]]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 Bifröst bridge from
Ã?sgard 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 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 are often given the opposite characteristics. Unbelievably old, they carry the wisdom from bygone times. It is the giants
MÃmir 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'.
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.
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
Hel (realm) Hel 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.
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
Scandinavian folklore 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.
List of giants and giantesses in Norse mythology
#
Ægir
#
Baugi
#
Beli
#
Bergelmir
#
Bestla
#
Bolthorn
#
Geirröd
#
Gerd
#
Gilling
#
Gjálp and Greip
#
Gunnlod
#
Gymir
#
Hrod
#
Hrungnir
#
Hymir
#
Ivaldi
#
Jarnsaxa
#
Kari
#
Narve
#
Loki
#
Olvaldi
#
Saxa (Norse mythology) Saxa
#
Skaði
#
Surtur
#
Suttung
#
Thiazi
#
Thrudgelmir
#
Thrym
#
Útgarða-Loki
#
Vafþrúðnir
#
Ymir
{{NorseMythology}}
{{Ugglan}}
Category:Norse mythology
Category:Giants
Category:Nordic folklore
ca:Jötun
da:Jætte
de:Jötun
el:ΓιοτοÏ?ν
es:Jotun
fr:Géant (mythologie nordique)
ja:霜�巨人
ka:ი�ტუნები
no:Jotun
ru:Ð?туны
sv:Jätte
uk:Йотун
fi:Jättiläinen
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