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GIANTS and GIANTESSES a Study in Norse Mythology and Belief by Lotte Motz - Hunter College, N.Y

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GIANTS and GIANTESSES a Study in Norse Mythology and Belief by Lotte Motz - Hunter College, N.Y GIANTS AND GIANTESSES A study in Norse mythology and belief by Lotte Motz - Hunter College, N.Y. The family of giants plays apart of great importance in North­ Germanic mythology, as this is presented in the 'Eddas'. The phy­ sical environment as weIl as the race of gods and men owe their existence ultimately to the giants, for the world was shaped from a giant's body and the gods, who in turn created men, had de­ scended from the mighty creatures. The energy and efforts of the ruling gods center on their battles with trolls and giants; yet even so the world will ultimately perish through the giants' kindling of a deadly blaze. In the narratives which are concerned with human heroes trolls and giants enter, shape, and direct, more than other superhuman forces, the life of the protagonist. The mountains, rivers, or valleys of Iceland and Scandinavia are often designated with a giant's name, and royal houses, famous heroes, as weIl as leading families among the Icelandic settlers trace their origin to a giant or a giantess. The significance of the race of giants further is affirmed by the recor­ ding and the presence of several hundred giant-names in the Ice­ landic texts. It is not surprising that students of Germanic mythology and religion have probed the nature of the superhuman family. Thus giants were considered to be the representatives of untamed na­ ture1, the forces of sterility and death, the destructive powers of 1. Wolfgang Golther, Handbuch der germanischen Mythologie, Leipzig 1895, quoted by R.Broderius, The Giant in Germanic Tradition, Diss. Univ. of Chicago 1933, p. 6. Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 11:17:11PM via free access 84 wintertime2 , or an older dynasty of gods3 . In these efforts scho­ lars have not treated the female members as aseparate group and have not attempted to ascertain whether giant-women might not have their own distinct and special qualities. The paper at hand wishes to examine just this issue and therefore looks to the inter­ family relationships between male and female trolls to find those aspects which are shared and those which are special to each sex4 . I have observed that indeed giants and giantesses hold many qualities in common, such as their custom of dwelling in the wil­ derness, or their occupations. Both sexes may show themselves as menacing or protective, both in command of magic skills and in possession of generative powers. It is also clear, however, that there is differentiation, that male giants appearmorefrequently as ancestral and giantesses more often as erotic beings, that the woman's action and emotions unfold more frequently in the con­ text of a personal relationship. The woman is envisioned also as a fiercer and more warlike creature, and the man more strongly as generative power and as ruler over his domain. The most conspi­ cuous relationship is between an aged giant and his daughter. Let us now consider the source material taken from the 'Eddas' and the Sagas, and the kennings of skaldic poets. The meaning of the giants' names has also yielded information. 1. We shall first consider the Sagas5 1.1. Habitation. Giants as weIl as giantesses are firmly settled in the rocks and glaciers of the wilderness. They also may inhabit a 2. E.O.G.Turville-Petre, Myth and Religion of the North, London 1964, p. 177. Anne Holtsmark considers the giant Piazi as the representative of the icy storms of wintertime who had in this capicity seized the goddess Iöunn, apower of fruitfulness: "Myten om Idun og Tjatse i Tjodolvs Haustlong, in: ANF 64 (1949) pp. 1-73. 3. J acob Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, reprint of the fourth edition, E.H.Meyer ed. Graz 1953, III p. 150. 4. Members of the family are designated by such names as: jötunn, risi, purs, all masculine and troll, neuter; the woman may also be a gygr or a skessa. 5. In this study I used the narratives contained in the twelve volume edition of the 'Islendinga sögur', Gu5ni Jonsson, ed. Reykjavik 1953, and the four volume set of the 'Fornaldar sögur', Gu()ni J6nsson, ed., Reykja\'ik 1959. Though these sagas were recorded in late medieval or even in early modern time they oontain much orally transrnitted material which had been extant in Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 11:17:11PM via free access 85 special region - the World of Giants or they are seen as mlers of a certain kingdom, such as Geirrö~argaröar, or Glresisvellir6. 1.2. Family grouping. Both, the male and the female spirit, may live alone, as does Valdi of Valadalr or the giantess Hit of Hunda­ hellir7. More frequently we meet with an entire household with father, mother and their offspring. Thus live Hrimnir, Hyrja and their daughters Kleima and Feima of 'Grims saga loÖinkinna' (eh. I) and Syrpa and Surtr with their sons and daughters of 'Jökuls pattr Buasonar' {ch.2)8. It would seem that in such a nuclear fa­ mily the man is master of the household. The family may be more extended or contain some retinue; Dofri of 'Illuga saga Tagldarbana' lives with his mother, his daugh- mueh more archaie periods. The two sets of Sagas would eomprise, moreover, a signifieant part of Ieelandie literature so that valid eonclusions might be drawn from the corpus. 6. Jotunheimen - Giantland - designates, still today, the largest mountain range of Central Norway. In the Sagas Giantland may lie to the North of the White Sea, as in the Saga of 'King Heidrek the Wise' (U Text), Christopher Tolkien, ed. London 1960, eh. 1, or to the North ofNorway, as in 'Hversu Noregr byggdist', f 2, eh. 1. The kingdoms Geirrödargardar and Glaesisvellir are named in several Sagas, as in 'Porsteins pattr baejarmagns', f, 4, eh.5, or in 'Helga pattr P6rissonar', f 4, eh. 2. 7. 'Armanns saga inn fyrri', is 12, eh. 11; Bitrdar saga Snaefellsass, is 3, eh. 13. Other lonely giants are Geitir of 'Fljotsdaela saga', is 10; Selr of 'Halfdanar saga Eysteinssonar', f 4; Armann of 'Armanns saga og Porste ins ghla; is 12; Surtr of 'Ketils saga haengs', f 2 ; nameless giants of 'Egils saga einhenda', f 3; 'Yngvars saga vidförla', f 2. The giantesses Hetta, and Torfar-Kolla of 'Baroar saga Snrefellsass' , is 3, live alone as do Skinnbrok and Skinn- hetta of 'Armans saga inn fyrri', and Torfa, Hildr, and Homnefja of 'Sturlaugs saga starfsama, f 3. 8. Other such farnilies are: Hildir, Hildirior and their ehildren Hildi­ gunnr and Goomundr, 'Orvar-Odds saga', f2, eh.18; Kula, Oskruor and their eighteen daughters, 'Egils saga einhenda', eh. 12; Skdmnir, Mana and their sons, 'Sörla saga sterka', f 3, eh.3; Jap1skjöldr Skjald­ vör and their ehildren, Hak, Haki, and Skjalddls of 'Porste ins saga uxafots', is 10, eh. 10; Dalmann, Svafrlaug and their sons Armann and Gramann, 'Armanns saga inn fyrri', eh. 1 ; Gramann, his wife and two daughters, 'Armanns saga inn fyrri', eh. 15; Sknimr, Glamdis and their daughter Hergerdr, 'Asmundar saga Atlasonar', is 4, eh.4; Dumbr Mjöll and their son Barör, 'Bardar saga Snrefellsass', eh.I. We also meet a number of small, intaet farnilies in the eontext of genealogies; these farnilies are not dramatically presented. Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 11:17:11PM via free access 86 ter and his fosterson (eh.3). Surtr of 'Hellismanna saga~ seems to share his eave with a erowd of giants - jötna /Ji6d - (eh.13)9, and thirty trolls defend the eave of Tjösnir of 'Illuga saga Tagldar­ bana' (eh.9). Three sisters, Flanka, F16rsokka and Flannhildr form a household in 'Armanns saga og porsteins gala' (eh.S), and some­ times, though rarely, a eave is shared by a married eouple, as by Svalr and Pufa of 'Bar6ar saga Snrefellsciss' (eh.4), or by Sleggja and Jarnnefr of 'Hälfdanar saga Brönufastra' (eh.4). These giants are settled with their mother: Kolbjörn with the hag Skrukka 10 , and Skröggr and Skramr with their mother Mella ('Illuga saga Tagldarbana', eh. lS). We meet a mother with her daughter, named Arinnefja and Skinnefja, in 'Egils saga einhenda' (eh.S), and Gri6r and her daughter Hildr in 'Illuga saga Griöar• fostra' (eh. 4). Most frequently eneountered, however, is a father-daughter pair. The Sagas thus present, among others, Dofri and his daughter Fridr ('Kjalnesinga saga', eh.13), Porir and his unnamed daughters ('Gret­ tis saga', eh.6l), or GUdmundr and Ingibjörg ('Helga pcittr Paris­ sonar', eh.2). In some instanees the mother is not even mentioned; in others she is named in passing but not dramatically presented, as in 'Ketils saga hrengs', where Bruni is the father of Hrafnhildr (eh.3). Or the mother may be dead, as in 'Hrana saga hrings', and here three daughters forage for their father (eh.6)11. 9. Twelve trolls reside in the eave of the Giant Queen Tögld, 'Illuga saga Tagldarbana', is 3, eh. 4; Gunnarr enters a eave erowded with trolls in 'Gunnars saga Keldugmipsflfls', is 10, eh.7; the eave of Kald­ rani of 'Ketils saga hamgs', f 2, eh.2, is densely populated. Orvar-Oddr enters a eave inhabited by many trolls, 'Orvar-Odds saga', f 2, eh.6. 10. 'Baröar saga Snrefellsass\ eh.15; Brosi dweIls with his mother who is in the form of a eat, 'Orms pättr Storolfssonar', is 11, eh.B. 11. There are more instanees of a prominent father-daughter re­ lation, as of Hallmundr and his daughter, 'Grettis saga', is 6, eh.57; GaIa and FaIa and their father Sknimr, 'Gunnars saga Keldugnupsfifls', eh. 7, in this saga a mother is mentioned but not brought to the fore; Hildir and his daughter~Hildigunnr, 'Orvar-Odds saga', f 2, eh.18, the mother here also is merely mentioned; Broni and his daughter Hrafn­ hildr, 'Ketils saga hrengs', f 2, eh.3, again a mother is mentioned and not presented; Hrauönir of 'Hjälmpes saga og Ölvis', possesses 10 daughters, f 4, eh.12; Mana, Molda, and Brana and their father Jarn­ hauss, 'HaIfdanar saga Brönuf6stra', f 4, ehs.6,7; Ag6ir and his daugh- Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 11:17:11PM via free access 87 The most vividly portrayed interaction between members of a family of trolls thus is between the father and his daughter; the girl may range through the countryside to bring hirn food, as does Nipa of 'Hrana saga hrings'.
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  • Gylfaginning Codex Regius, F
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