From Savages to Gentle Giants
How the Jötnar Embody the Living Tradition of the Norse myths
The tales of Norse mythology feature many fantastical creatures. Among the most recognizable is a race of giants called the Jötnar. These monsters hail from a land named Jötunheim, which is one of the nine realms associated with the world of Norse mythology.
Like so many elements of Norse mythology, the Jötnar are ambiguous at heart. Because Norse religion was mostly based around an oral tradition rather than a written one, relatively little source material has been passed down to us by the ancient Vikings. As a result, we have been forced to rely on our imagination in bringing the giants back to life.
And rely on our imagination we did. From the big screen to the interactive world of video games, the Jötnar have consistently emerged as a staple of the many Norse mythology-inspired stories that have been released into our popular culture.
Due to the murky background of the historical Jötnar, the characterization of these giants in fiction has differed drastically from story to story. In contemporary media alone, the depictions of the Jötunheim residents have ranged from a tribe of savage frost giants to a civilization of enlightened pacifists.
Consequently, the flexible role of the Jötnar is a reminder of just how malleable the tales of Norse mythology continue to be.
Savage Frost Giants
One of the most influential portrayals of the Jötnar was developed by the creators of the Marvel (Cinematic) Universe.
In Marvel comic books and movies (like those revolving around the superhero Thor), the Jötnar are typically depicted as a savage-like race of frost giants. Their culture is a violent one, and their home realm of Jötunheim is a cold and barren place. The hierarchy of their society is based on a survival-of-the-fittest ethos, and their leadership is formed by menacing chieftains.
As such, the giants of Jötunheim are usually portrayed as the polar opposites to the gods of Asgard. When the Asgardians are (falsely) thought of as noble people that lead by example, the Jötnar are conceived as primitive tribes folk. Where the architecture of the Realm Eternal is resplendent and luxurious, the aesthetic of Jötunheim is harsh and gritty. Asgard may represent the refined tastes of high culture, but Jötunheim embodies the grim realities of the warrior lifestyle.
In the first Thor movie, this contrast is a core element of the story. The scene then shifts to the splendor of the Asgardian city state. As a result, the sharp contrast between the two realms is quickly ingrained into the audience’s mind.
And it’s not just the Marvel movies that are eager to establish the Jötnar as generic villains. The company’s comic books also frequently deploy the frost giants as one dimensional savages hell-bent on terrorizing the Earth. Their leader, Laufey, is even established as one of prime supervillains of the Marvel continuity.
Gentle Giants
But the relationship between the Jötnar and the Asgardians doesn’t have to be this way.
In the universe of the video game God of War, for example, the Jötnar appear as an enigmatic and ancient race. At the beginning of the game’s story, all of the giants have vanished from the world without a trace, leaving the main characters to figure out what has become of these creatures.
As players progress through the game, the history of the giants is slowly uncovered. As it turns out, the peaceful Jötnar were mercilessly prosecuted by the Asgardians for their magical powers. Their ability to see the future sparked the interest of Odin and Thor, who used extreme violence in the pursuit to acquire this skill for themselves. Hence, the giants were forced to go into hiding in Jötunheim, where they all died off while “waiting for word that gods grew good.”
In other words: God of War reverses the Marvel-like dichotomy between the Asgardians and the Jötnar.
In the game’s universe, it’s not the giants that terrorize the realms — it’s the Asgardians that do so. Thus, God of War’s creators managed to maintain the tried-and-true contrast between the giants and the gods of Asgard, while still applying an original flourish to their world building.
A Living Tradition
In the end, the giants from Jötunheim are what we make of them. Just like the stories of Greek mythology continue to be defined by a process of cultural reappropriation, so are the Norse tales always up for interpretation. As such, neither the frost giants from the Marvel Universe nor the peaceful Jötnar from God of War represent the “correct” way of portraying these creatures.
Rather, the different approaches reflect the reality that all adaptations of Norse mythology are part of a living storytelling tradition, in which narrative elements are neither fixed nor given. In this context, the details of the historical Jötnar are but of limited relevance to the new stories we create today.
That is not to say that stories like Thor or God of War somehow desecrate the historical sources their creators draw from. They don’t. They’re simply the most popular in a long line of tales going back all the way to the Viking era.
And judging by the success of franchises like Thor and God of War, this tradition is here to stay for at least a little while longer.
