The jötunn are the giants of Norse mythology — and if you're picturing massive humanoid creatures stomping around causing trouble for the gods, you have the right general idea, but you're also missing most of the story.
The jötunn are older than the gods. They are woven into the fabric of creation. Several of them are the parents or grandparents of the most important Norse deities. And at Ragnarök, they bring everything to an end. They are not just the antagonists of Norse mythology. They are, in many ways, its backbone.
What Does Jötunn Mean?
The Old Norse word jötunn (plural jötnar) is typically translated as giant, but that translation is misleading. Physical size isn't the defining characteristic. The jötnar are defined more by their nature and origin than by their dimensions. In the texts, jötnar sometimes fight gods as equals; they sometimes appear in human form; they sometimes have children with gods. Size is variable. The defining quality is something older and wilder than the Aesir.
They are also called risi, thursar, and troll in the sources, with slightly different connotations. Thursar (related to the Thurisaz rune — the rune of chaos and raw force) are particularly associated with threat. But jötunn is the most general and common term.
The Origin of the Giants
The jötnar predate the gods. The first being to emerge from the primordial void was Ymir, the proto-giant, from whose body the world was made after the gods killed him. When Ymir's blood flooded the earth, it drowned all giants except Bergelmir and his wife. All subsequent jötnar descend from Bergelmir.
This origin matters because it means the jötnar are the first inhabitants of the universe. They have a prior claim on existence. The gods built their world on something they killed and didn't make.
The Different Kinds of Giants
Frost Giants (Hrimthursar)
The frost giants of Niflheim and Jotunheim are perhaps the most familiar type — enormous, cold, associated with winter and ice. Thrym, the frost giant king who steals Mjolnir and demands Freyja as his bride in the Thrymskviða, is a frost giant. Most of the adversaries that Thor encounters in the myths are frost giants.
Fire Giants (Eldjotnar)
The fire giants of Muspelheim are led by Surtr, the being who carries the flaming sword that will burn the world at Ragnarök. Fire giants are less numerous in the surviving myths but no less significant. Surtr is one of the most important beings in all Norse mythology — older than the gods, present at both the beginning and the end of the world.
Mountain Giants (Bergrisar)
Mountain giants inhabit rocky places and are associated with the raw power of stone and earth. The builder who attempts to construct Asgard's walls in exchange for the sun, the moon, and Freyja — the deal Loki talks the gods into accepting — is a mountain giant whose horse Svaðilfari does most of the work.
Sea Giants
Ægir and Rán are the sea giants who rule the ocean. They're not quite jötnar in the hostile sense — Ægir hosts legendary feasts for the gods where he brews the ale in a giant cauldron. Rán drags drowning sailors to the bottom with her net. They have nine daughters who are the waves.
The Giants' Home: Jotunheim
Most jötnar live in Jotunheim, one of the nine worlds, located east of Midgard. It's a wild, vast realm of rocks, forests, and extreme weather. Utgard is its great stronghold, where the giant king Utgard-Loki rules and where Thor's famous journey takes him: a trip that ends with him discovering the illusions the giants used to make him look weak.
The rivers that flow from Jotunheim into the Norse cosmos are the source of much of the world's water. Jotunheim is not just a threat — it's a source of power and life that the Norse world depends on.
Giants and Gods: A Complicated Relationship
The relationship between gods and giants is not simply adversarial. It is deeply entangled in ways that the myths never fully resolve.
Thor's mother is Jörð — the earth herself, a giantess. Odin's mother is Bestla — a giantess. Freyr's wife Gerðr is a giant's daughter, and their love story is one of the most beautiful in the Norse sources. Skadi, the ski-goddess, is a giantess who married the sea god Njord. The gods regularly sleep with, marry, and have children with jötnar. The boundary is not absolute.
At the same time, Thor spends much of his mythology killing giants. He protects Midgard and Asgard from giant encroachment with Mjolnir, and the myths describe him as having slaughtered enormous numbers. This creates an interesting tension: the gods both come from the giants and fight them continuously.
The Giants at Ragnarök
At Ragnarök, the giants finally win the argument they've been making since the world was made from Ymir's body. The frost giants and fire giants sail together to the last battle. Surtr's fire burns the world. The gods die. The world sinks into the sea.
But the jötnar don't survive Ragnarök in triumph. The new world that rises from the water after the catastrophe is inhabited by surviving gods and the first humans — not by giants. What the Ragnarök myth seems to describe is not a giant victory but a reset: the chaos and wildness of the primordial world overwhelming the ordered cosmos the gods built, so the cycle can begin again.
Famous Giants of Norse Mythology
Beyond those already mentioned: Skrymir (the enormous giant whose glove Thor mistakes for a cave), Hymir (from whose cauldron the gods stole the ale-brewing vessel), Thrym (who stole Mjolnir), Hrungnir (the stonehearted giant who fought Thor in single combat and was killed, though his stone fragment remained lodged in Thor's head), and Geirröðr (who tried to trap Thor and was killed with his own glowing iron weapon).
Related Reading
- Ymir: The First Giant and the Origin of the Norse World
- Surtr: The Fire Giant Who Will Burn the World
- Asgard: The Realm of the Norse Gods Explained
- Hel: The Norse Goddess Who Rules the Dead
- Loki's Children: Family, Relationships, and Ragnarök
- Norse Mythology Creatures: The Complete Guide
Wear the Wild Norse Spirit
For those drawn to the primordial forces of Norse mythology, our Heathen Norse shirt and Valhalla Awaits shirt carry the spirit of the old world.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are all giants evil in Norse mythology?
No. The jötnar range from actively hostile to neutrally powerful to helpful. Ægir brews ale for the gods. Skadi is a goddess. Gerðr is beloved by Freyr. Giants provide wisdom, resources, and genetic material for the gods. The hostile stereotype applies to a subset, not the whole category.
What is the difference between giants and gods in Norse mythology?
The distinction is partly genealogical and partly cosmological. The gods (Aesir and Vanir) represent the ordered world; the jötnar represent the primordial forces of nature that existed before and will outlast that order. But because the gods have giant ancestry, the boundary is blurry.
How big are Norse giants?
Size varies enormously in the sources. Some giants are described as physically enormous; others are human-sized and appear indistinguishable from humans until they reveal their nature. Physical size isn't the defining characteristic of jötunn status.