MYTHOLOGY (noun.)
1. a collection of myths, especially one belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition.
2. the study of myths
─ IN WHICH THE ADMINS GIVE YOU INFORMATION PERTAINING TO THE MANY BELIEFS OF MULTIPLE MMYTHOLOGIES
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THE JÖTUNN
A Jötunn is a giant in Norse Mythology, a member of a race of nature spirits with superhuman strength, described as standing in opposition to the races of Æsir and Vanir, although they frequently mingled with or were even married to these.
Their otherworldly homeland is Jötunheimr, one of the nine realms, separated from Midgard, the world of humans, by high mountains or dense forests. This world is traditionally regarded to be a dark, foreboding place where winter never ceases, much like the fictional world of Narnia in the series by C.S. Lewis. Other place names are also associated with them, including Niflheimr, Útgarðar and Járnviðr. In some legends and myths they are described as having the same height as humans.
The status of the jötnar was not always negative, in fact it is a bit more ambiguous, as some of them have been portrayed in a more positive light. Some of the most well-known jötnar are Ymir, Skaði and Gerd.
Ymir is believed to be the father of all the jötnar. According to Norse belief, Ymir was the first being to exist, and was formed from the drops of water produced when the ice of Niflheim came into contact with the fire of Muspelheim.
Eventually, Ymir is said to have turned into an evil being, and Odin and his two brothers, Vili and Ve, were forced to kill him. Interestingly, the mother of these three brothers was Bestla, a descendant of Ymir, and therefore a jötunn.
Having slain Ymir, Odin and his brothers proceeded to dismember the jötunn, and created the world using the different parts of his body. His blood, for instance, became the sea, his skull, the sky, and his hair, the trees.
Skaði, was the daughter of a jötunn by the name of Þjazi. After her father was killed by the gods, Skaði sought to avenge him. The gods, however, offered to compensate her loss, and one of the promises they made was that she could marry any one of them, on the condition that she picked her husband based on his feet. In the end, the jötunn married the sea god Njord. Since hips don't lie, but feet do, they proved to be a disastrous match, and later separated.
