The primordial race preceding the gods. Dwell in Jötunheimr. Progenitors: Ymir (rime giants) and Bergelmir (after the primordial flood).
The jotnar, or giants, constitute one of the oldest forces in Old Norse cosmology. Their primordial progenitor is Ymir, the being who arose from the meeting of fire and ice in Ginnungagap. From Ymir's body the gods shaped the world: his flesh became the earth, his bones the mountains, his blood the seas, and his skull the vault of the sky. The origin of the jotnar is thus literally intertwined with the structure of the cosmos.
Among the jotnar's own origin traditions, Bergelmir stands out as the sole giant who survived the great flood of Ymir's blood. In Vafþrúðnismál 29 and 35 it is said that Bergelmir and his wife escaped and became ancestors of a new generation of jotnar. This narrative echoes the motif of a primordial catastrophe leaving a single survivor, with parallels in other Indo-European traditions.
The relationship between the jotnar and the Aesir is complex and far from purely hostile. Odin, Thor, and Loki travel regularly to Jotunheimr, and several Aesir have giantess mothers or take giant women as wives. Skadi and Gerdr are both of giant descent yet are venerated as divine figures. The wisdom of the jotnar is clearly demonstrated in Vafþrúðnismál, where the giant Vafþrúðnir challenges Odin to a contest of knowledge about the world's origin and end.
At Ragnarok the jotnar play a decisive role as powerful adversaries of the gods. Hrymr leads the frost-giants from the north, while Surtr advances from the south with fire. The Völuspá's vision of the world's end portrays the confrontation between these primordial forces and the Aesir order as inevitable and cosmically necessary.
Sources in the Eddas
- Völuspá 3
- Mentions the primordial age and the earliest history of the giants in the seeress's vision.
- Vafþrúðnismál 21, 29-33
- Vafþrúðnir recounts Ymir's origin and Bergelmir's escape from the primordial flood.
- Grímnismál 40-41
- Describes how the parts of the world were fashioned from Ymir's body.
- Hymiskviða
- Narrates Hymir, a powerful giant and Thor's host during the fishing adventure.
- Gylfaginning 5-8
- Snorri's prose account of the giants' origin and Ymir's demise.
Interpretive traditions
A What we know
The jotnar arose from Ginnungagap and predate the Aesir, confirmed by the oldest skaldic strophes.
Ymir is their cosmological primal figure, whose body literally constitutes the world.
Bergelmir survived the flood and founded the current line of jotnar.
B What we think we know
It is debated whether jotnar should be understood as evil demons or as morally neutral natural forces.
The relationship between jotnar, risar, and þursar is terminologically unclear in the sources.
C What we do not know
It is unknown whether the Ginnungagap myth reflects an older, shared Indo-European creation scheme or is a Norse innovation.
The jotnar's internal social organization and any pre-Christian cult are largely unknown.