Land of the giants, beyond Midgard's wall. Also called Útgarðr in some sources.
Jotunheimr, also called Útgarðr, is the land of the giants, situated to the east or beyond the boundaries of Midgard. The name's literal meaning, 'home of the giants,' marks it as a primordial zone of chaos and original force, in contrast to the ordered worlds of gods and humans. Jotunheimr encompasses various regions and giant kings and is far from a homogeneous place.
Þrymskviða is set largely in the hall of Þrymr in Jotunheimr, where Þórr and Loki travel in disguise to recover Mjölnir. Hymiskviða takes Þórr and Týr to the giant Hymir's home to retrieve the cauldron for the gods' brewing of ale. Skírnismál depicts Freyr sending his servant Skírnir to Jotunheimr to win the giantess Gerðr.
Jotunheimr is conceived as a dangerous and wilderness-like territory, but the gods visit it regularly on missions or to gain wisdom. Odin engages the wise giant Vafþrúðnir in contests of wisdom, and Þórr appears to travel there almost routinely. These journeys underscore that the boundary between the world of the gods and the world of the giants is permeable.
In the prose tradition that Snorri summarizes in Gylfaginning, Útgarðr emerges as an even more remote inner citadel within Jotunheimr, whose ruler Útgarða-Loki deceives Þórr with illusory tricks. The narrative illustrates the giants' association with magic and deception.
Sources in the Eddas
- Þrymskviða 1-32
- Þórr's and Loki's journey to Þrymr's hall in Jotunheimr.
- Hymiskviða 1-39
- Þórr's visit to the giant Hymir in Jotunheimr.
- Skírnismál 1-42
- Skírnir's courtship journey to Jotunheimr to win Gerðr for Freyr.
- Vafþrúðnismál 1-55
- Odin's wisdom contest with the all-wise giant Vafþrúðnir.
- Hárbarðsljóð 28-30
- References to Þórr's battles against giants in the east.
Interpretive traditions
A What we know
Jotunheimr is the giants' homeland, located eastward beyond Midgard's boundaries.
The gods travel there regularly, attested in Þrymskviða, Hymiskviða, and Vafþrúðnismál.
Útgarðr functions in certain texts as an inner citadel within Jotunheimr.
B What we think we know
Whether Jotunheimr and Útgarðr are identical or distinct places varies between sources and is debated by scholars.
The giants' exact cosmological status as primordial beings versus adversaries of the gods is disputed.
C What we do not know
Whether Jotunheimr was considered one of the nine worlds in all traditions, or whether that is a later systematization, is unknown.
The precise geography and internal topography of Jotunheimr are never specified in the primary sources.