Spark [Kathleen_N._Daly]_Norse_Mythology_A_to_Z,_3rd_Edi | Page 74

jotunheim  59 the serpent but was himself poisoned by the deadly venom. J otun   (Giant)  The beings who lived in Jotun- heim, which was the land of the giants. Jotun were the main enemies of the Aesir gods and goddesses, although the two races often intermarried. The first generation of giants was formed from the original giant, Ymir. They were known as the rime-giants, hrimthurssar (thursar means “giant”), or frost giants. Among the people of the north, they were said to represent the threat of winter, darkness, and sterility. The Jotun are the descendents of one of these first giants, Bergelmir, and his wife. This single rime-giant and his family survived the flood that killed all the other giants when the divine brothers, Odin, Vili, and Ve, killed Ymir. Famous characters among the Jotun are: Gerd a, beloved of the god Frey; Jarnsaxa, a wife or mistress of Thor; Hrungnir, who duels with Thor; and Hymir, with whom Thor goes fishing for the Midgard Serpent. J otunheim   (J otunnheimar ; Giant Land)  The mountainous, freezing lands of the Jotun, a race of giants. Many manuscripts of Norse myths use the plural form, Jotunnheimar, to refer to the lands of these giants. Some scholars suggest that people viewed the giants as living in places that surrounded the edges of the world of humans. Others say that people saw Jotunheim as one single place, just as they regarded Asgard, the realm of the gods, as one place. One of the three huge roots of the World Tree, Yggdrasil, reached into Jotunheim. The great thun- der god, Thor, traveled often to Jotunheim to battle the giants.