Study › Runes & Norse › Jotunheim
Jotunheim is the land of the giants, the jotnar, in Norse mythology: a wild world of mountains, forests and cold beyond the edge of the human world. The gods often travel there, to fight the giants or to win wisdom from them.
What is Jotunheim?
Jotunheim is the wild homeland of the jotnar, the giants, a rugged country of mountains, forests and deep cold beyond the fences of Midgard. It is the great 'outside' of Norse myth, everything untamed and older than the gods' order.
Gods and giants
Many of the gods' adventures are journeys into Jotunheim: Thor goes there to battle giants or reclaim his hammer, and Odin to win wisdom. Yet the line between god and giant is not simple — gods take giantesses as wives and lovers, and Loki himself is of giant blood. Jotunheim is both the enemy's country and, in a sense, the gods' own extended family.
Ruled by: the jotnar themselves. Utgarda-Loki and Thrym are named as kings among them, but no god rules here.
Thor fights the giants here, and Loki is of giant blood. It hangs with the other worlds in Yggdrasil, the World Tree.
Questions
Who lives in Jotunheim?
The jotnar, the giants of Norse mythology.
Who rules Jotunheim?
No single ruler. Utgarda-Loki and Thrym are named as giant kings.