Þjazi

Þjazi (Old Norse: Þjazi; also anglicized Thjazi or Thiazi) is a jötunn (giant) in Norse mythology, often depicted as a king of the giants in Jötunheim. In some traditions, Skaði is described as his daughter, linking Þjazi to the mythic figures associated with winter and the giant-hunt cycle.

One of the best-known tales involving Þjazi is his abduction of Idunn, the goddess who tends the apples of immortality that keep the Æsir youthful. By stealing Idunn, Þjazi deprives the gods of their sustenance and threatens their agelessness. Loki is charged with recovering Idunn, and various tellings describe the retrieval in different ways. The episodes culminate in Þjazi’s death at the hands of the Æsir, following the Idunn affair; the precise circumstances vary between sources.

Þjazi appears in both the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda, where he is referenced not only for the Idunn incident but also as a key figure in the constellation of stories surrounding the gods and giants. In some later retellings and scholastic summaries, his role is connected to the broader themes of deception, pursuit, and the dangers posed by the giants to Asgard.

In scholarship and tradition, Þjazi is thus remembered as a prominent giants’ king whose actions trigger one of the central episodes concerning the immortality apples and the vulnerability of the gods to giant-kind.