Jotuns

Jotuns are a race of beings in Norse mythology. They inhabit Jötunheim, a realm separate from Asgard and Midgard, and are often described as giants. The English term jotunn is usually translated as "giant," but in the myths the jötnar are a broad and diverse group of beings who stand in tension with the gods.

Old Norse sources distinguish between various types, including the frost giants (hrímþursar) and other jötnar. They are not uniformly malevolent; many are wise or dangerous, and some form treaties or even parent-child relationships with the gods.

Jötunn feature prominently in the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. Notable figures include Ymir, the primordial giant who was slain to fashion the world; Surtr, the fire giant who is said to set the world ablaze at Ragnarök; Skadi, a winter-associated jötunn; Thrym, the frost giant who steals Thor’s hammer; and Utgard-Loki, who defeats Thor in a contest of strength. Loki is a trickster deity whose parentage is often described as jötunn: his father is Farbauti and his mother Laufey, a jötunn queen, making Loki part jötunn by blood.

Jötunn and gods relationship: The jötnar and the Aesir (and the Vanir) interact in many ways, including wars, alliances, and marriages. Their conflicts culminate in Ragnarök, where the giants fight the gods and much of the cosmos is destroyed, though some lines survive into a rebuilt world.

In modern usage, "jötunn" or "jotnar" appears in literature, video games, and popular media as the Norse equivalent of giants, retaining the sense of a varied, powerful, and often adversarial race.