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A jötunn (also jotun; plural jötnar; in the normalised scholarly spelling of Old Norse, jǫtunn ; or, in Old English, eoten, plural eotenas) is a type of being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, jötnar are often contrasted with gods (the Æsir and Vanir) and with other non-human figures, such as dwarfs and elf, although the groupings are not always mutually exclusive. The entities included in the jötunn category are referred to by several other terms, including risi, þurs (or thurs) and troll if male and gýgr or tröllkona if female. The jötnar typically dwell across boundaries from the gods and humans in lands such as italic=no.
The jötnar are frequently attested throughout the Old Norse records, with eotenas also featuring in the Old English epic poem Beowulf. The usage of the terms is dynamic, with an overall trend that the beings become portrayed as less impressive and more negative as Christianity becomes more influential over time. Although the term "giant" is sometimes used to gloss the word "jötunn" and its apparent synonyms in some translations and academic texts, this is seen as problematic by some scholars as jötnar are not necessarily notably large.
The terms for the beings also have in later folklore such as the English folklore yotun, Danish folklore jætte and Finnish jätti which can share some common features such as being turned to stone in the day and living on the periphery of society.
Terms for jötnar are also found in Old Norse compound words such as bergrisi, ("mountain-risi") and hrímþurs ("rime-þurs", or "frost-þurs").
The cognates jötunn and eoten, and þurs and þyrs have been equated by scholars such as J. R. R. Tolkien and Rudolf Simek, with the words being used to describe the being in either Old Norse or Old English respectively.
As the influence of Christianity grew, jötnar became demonisation and typically portrayed as less intelligent, easier to outwit and more monstrous, as is common with giants in later Germanic folklore. In some later sagas, such as Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss, risar are clearly distinct from jötnar however in others the terms are used interchangeably, albeit with an overall trend that jötnar have begun to be seen negatively relative to risar.
Troll has a much wider semantic scope in Old Norse literature than solely jötnar, also including individuals with unusual or supernatural traits such as witches, abnormally strong, large or ugly people, ghosts and berserkers.
Later, he was killed by the first gods, resulting in a Flood Myth of Ymir's blood, in which all jötnar drowned except Bergelmir and his family, who survive this event by way of sailing upon a luðr. This has been linked to a runic inscription on a sword hilt in Beowulf which describes the eotenas being killed in an ancient flood and has been proposed to derive from Germanic and wider Indo-European mythology.
According to Gylfaginning, after Ymir was killed, his body was wrought into the world and a sea surrounded it. The gods then gave the surviving families jötnar lands along the shore to settle, placing them in the periphery. Ymir's brows were then used to build Midgard and protect it from the jötnar due to their known aggression.
A common motif is the journeying to obtain secret knowledge from the jötnar. In the Eddic poem Hyndluljóð, Freyja travels to the gýgr Hyndla to obtain understanding of the lineage of Ottar, and the "ale of remembrance" () so that he does not forget it. In the Eddic poem Vafþrúðnismál, Óðinn travels to the jötunn Vafþrúðnir whereupon they engage in a wisdom contest. He also travels to the jötnar to obtain from Suttungr the Mead of poetry, which imparts skill in poetry to any who drink it. The völva who tells the Völuspá prophecy to Óðinn, while not explicitly described as a jötunn but was raised by them.
Cosmology in Germanic mythology, as with other oral cultures, has many apparent contradictions when viewed from a naturalistic standpoint. Despite this, a system of motifs repeat when travelling to the jötnar. In the Prose Edda that the jötnar dwell in Jötunheimr which is at points located in the North or East and in Þrymskviða can only be reached by air, however jötnar are also found South and across water. Jötnar such as Suttungr and Skaði live in mountains, which is further reflected in the terms (mountain risar) and (mountain dweller), a kenning for jötunn. Their lands of inhabitation are not restricted to this, also including forests, underground, and the shore. Sometimes they are referred to as living in specific geographical locations such as Ægir on Læsø. These motifs are also seen in the section of Beowulf concerning the fight with mother of the eoten Grendel which has been noted by scholars to closely resemble the fight between a trollkona and Grettir in his eponymous saga, wherein the female beings may only be reached by crossing through water. The seemingly ununified location of the jötnar has been suggested to be an outcome of their intrinsically chaotic nature. Even within the same story, what seem like contradictions have been noted by scholars, prompting the proposal of a model that the otherworld where the jötnar dwell can be reached from a number of passages or boundaries that cannot be traversed under normal conditions, such as the mountains, darkness and "flickering flame" crossed by Skírnir in Skírnismál.
In Eddic sources, jötnar present a constant threat to gods and humans, often leading them to confrontation with Thor. Hárbarðsljóð and Þrymskviða tell that if it was not for Thor and Mjöllnir, jötnar would soon overrun Midgard and Asgard respectively. Nonetheless, Thor also has a positive relationship with some gýgjar, such as Gríðr and the unnamed wife of Hymir, who provide magical items and council that enable him to overcome other jötnar.
Hræsvelgr is told in Vafþrúðnismál (37) and Gylfaginning to be a jötunn in an arnarhamr (eagle-guise) who creates the wind by beating his wings. Other jötnar, such as Þjazi and Suttungr are able to become eagles by wearing their arnarhamir, or resemble them like Griðr in Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra who has hands like eagle talons.
As with jötnar, Germanic giants live outside of human communities, in woods and mountains. They commonly show an aversion to Christianity, often showing a disdain for the ringing of church bells. Similarities are also both seen in their role in the construction of stoneworks. Akin to the Old Norse tale of the nocat=y who built the wall of Ásgarðr, giants often enter into wagers involved in the building of churches which they later lose, as with the tale of Jätten Finn who is attributed with the construction of Lund Cathedral. Ruins are also attributed to the works of both beings, as in the Old English poem The Ruin and the aetiological story of Wade's Causeway in Yorkshire.
Some standing stones in northern Europe are explained as petrified giants such as the Yetnasteen in Orkney which derives its name from ( Jötunn's stone). According to folklore, it awakens every New Year at midnight whereupon it visits the Loch of Scockness to drink. Orcadian folklore also explains the Ring of Brodgar as dancing giants who were turned to stone by the morning sun. This motif is also seen in Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar, in which the gýgr Hrímgerðr engages in a senna with Helgi Hundingsbane until the sun rises and she is turned to stone.
The Orcadians tradition of Gyro Night derives its name from and consisted of two older boys dressing up as masked old women one night in February and chasing smaller boys with ropes. Similar to this are the and popular customs of dressing up as giantesses referred to as Grýla (plural grýlur), or other similar terms, in costumes traditionally made from a combination of animal skins, tattered clothes, seaweed, straw and sometimes featuring masks. Grýla is a female creature described in Sturlunga saga as having fifteen tails, and listed as a tröllkona in the Nafnaþulur section of the Prose Edda who features in folklore throughout the North Atlantic islands settled by Scandinavians.
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