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J arl (nobly born; earl)
Ragnarok. This story is according to the V oluspa ,
the first poem in the P oetic E dda .
Some scholars argue that if the hag who lives in
Jarnvid is a giantess, then her children by Fenrir are
themselves giants.
Jarnvid is also mentioned in G rimnismal , another
poem in the Poetic Edda, as a place to which Skoll
often runs.
Jarl was the third and last
son conceived by the god Heimdall on his journey
through the land of humans. Heimdall travelled in
the disguise of a man named Rig, according to the
poem R igsthula .
After having conceived Thrall and the race of
slaves and Karl and the race of free men, Heimdall
slept between the wealthy and gracious Fadir and
Modir (father and mother). Nine months later, Modir
gave birth to a blond, bright-eyed son she named
Jarl.
Jarl learned to use lances, shields, and the bow
and arrow. He rode horses, brandished swords, and
raised dogs. Rig claimed Jarl as his son and taught
him the mysteries of the runes. Jarl married Erna the
wise, the beautiful daughter of a distant lord, a girl of
noble birth. Jarl and Erna gave birth to the race of the
nobles, the rulers of the people sired by his brothers
Karl and Thrall.
J ord (J Ör Ð ; J orth ; Earth)
A giantess and the
mother of the thunder god Thor and wife of his
father, Odin. Jord was the daughter of Nott and her
second husband Annar. Snorri Sturluson says Jord
was included among the Asynjur. Her name occurs
most often in skaldic poetry and Eddic poetry in
phrases that refer to Thor as “the son of Jord.”
Some confusion exists, however, for in some
places in the P oetic E dda , the word F jorgyn appears
in phrases referring to Thor, such as in the poem
V oluspa , where Thor is described as the “son of
Fjorgyn.” Scholars explain the confusion by point-
ing out that fjorgyn, as an Old Norse noun, means
“Earth” when used in the feminine form and refers
to Odin when used in the masculine form.
J arnsaxa (Iron Sword)
A giantess. Jarnsaxa was
the mistress of the thunder god Thor and said by
some scholars to be one of his two wives (the other
being Sif). Jarnsaxa was the mother of Thor’s sons
magni and modi. This relationship is mentioned
in skaldic poetry and by Snorri Sturluson in
S kaldskaparmal .
Jarnsaxa is also named as one of the nine giant-
ess mothers of the Aesir god Heimdall, according
to H yndluljoth , a work in the P oetic E dda . As
Heimdall’s mother, Jarnsaxa is a grandmother of the
classes of humans.
J ormungand The giant serpent—also known
as the Midgard Serpent, Midgard Snake, or Midgard
Worm—offspring of Loki and the ogress Angrboda.
Jormungand is the brother of the wolf Fenrir and
Hel, the goddess of death.
The huge serpent was cast into the sea by Odin
and doomed to encircle the Earth, his tail in his
mouth. Jormungand and Thor were mortal enemies.
On one occasion, Thor caught the serpent using an
ox head for bait, but the giant Hymir snipped the
line and the serpent disappeared beneath the waves.
The serpent appeared again at Ragnarok and made
his way onto the land, spewing venom. Thor killed
J arnvid (J arnvi Ð ;
Ironwood) The home of a
giantess, witch, crone, or old lady who raises her
offspring, the wild, monstrous wolves that are the
children of the great wolf Fenrir. One of these is
the wolf Skoll, who eats the Sun from the sky at
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