Giants
The first of the giant’s was named Ymir. He was sometimes called Orgelmir or Aurgelmir. In Guerber’s, Myths of the Norsemen pg. 217, it says that Fornjotnr is the same as Ymir.
Ymir was formed from the rime. That was made by the meeting of the cold icy flows from Niflheim. And the hot fiery flows coming from Muspellsheim. That came together in the middle of Ginnungagap, over the bubbling spring Hvergelmir.
There was a giant cow, that was formed from the same rime. The cow was called Audhumla. Ymir found that Audhumla had rivers of milk flowing from her teats. And found nourishment.
While Audhmula was licking at the salts from the rime, Ymir fell asleep. And from the sweat under Ymir’s armpits, a man and a woman was born. From his feet a six-headed giant called Thrudgelmir was born.
It was not long before Thrudgelmir had fathered a giant called Bergelmir. In Guerber’s Myths of the Norsemen pg. 217. It says that Bergelmir is the same as the giant Farbauti, the father of Loki. It is from Bergelmir all the evil frost giants are descended from.
They are the inhabitants of Utgardr which lies outside the area settled by man and the gods and which is cold and full of dangers ( Simek, Dictionary of Northern Mythology pg. 107 ). They usually embody the forces antagonistic to human kind – the forces of raw nature which Thunar and Fro Ing ward us against ( Gundarsson, Teutonic Religion pg 116-7 ).
They are all collectively called Etins or Etin-Kind. The etins (Old Norse jotunar , singular jotunn) are primeval beings of great wisdom, able to meet with the god/esses on equal terms – and to breed with them. The rises (ON risir) are mountain-giants of folklore; the thurses (ON thursar) are also elemental giants of various sorts: rime-thurses, cliff-thurses and so forth. The rises may occasionally be helpful to humankind; the thurses are always foes to Middle-Garth. By and large, rises are not terribly intelligent and thurses are downright stupid (Gundarsson, Teutonic Religion pg. 117).
Robert James Etter June 21, 2007