Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained.
In today’s video, we’re going to discuss nine of the most powerful giants in Norse
mythology, especially those who contribute to defeating the Gods and Destroying the world
during the fire and flood of Ragnarok, the great age-ending conflict that looms near
in the mythic future.
Alright, Let’s get into it.
Starting off our list is Ymir
To speak of Ymir is to speak of the beginning of the universe, for he drew breath before
any of the gods.
First, there was only Ginnungagap, the great void.
In it, two realms emerged: Niflheim, a world of ice in the North, and Muspelheim, a world
of fire in the South.
The Northern cold of Niflheim spread into the heart of Ginnungagap, and the heat from
Muspelheim emanated from the south.
Fire and frost met; droplets of water formed, and in these droplets there was a quickening.
Ymir, whom the giants called Aurgelmir, was given form and life.
He was the very first giant, and all the giants who dwell in Jotunheim, the realm of the giants,
are his descendants.
Later, Ymir began to sweat profusely in his sleep, a sweat of procreation.
Two giants, one male and one female, grew underneath his left arm, and his legs came
together, coupling to produce a second son.
Another being emerged, Audhumbla, the cosmic cow.
Four rivers of milk flowed from her udders, and it was from these rivers that Ymir drank
and nourished himself.
Though Audhumbla provided sustenance, it was she who would unearth the sire of Ymir’s
doom.
She subsisted on salty blocks of ice, and her incessant licking eventually thawed out
and freed Buri, the first god.
He sired a son, Bor, who took the giantess Bestla as his wife, and they, in turn, had
three sons: Odin, Vili, and Ve, who attacked Ymir, killing him, then tearing apart his
body into the material from which they made the world.
At number 2 is Hrungnir
Hrungnir makes this list for his prodigious strength.
He’s said to be the strongest giant in all of Norse mythology, so it’s fitting that
he and Thor, the strongest of the gods, faced each other in a duel to the death.
Thor launches his hammer, and Hrungnir launches his massive whetstone.
Both weapons collide mid flight.
The whetstone breaks in two: half of it lodging in Thor’s skull, where it remained permanently,
and half of it falling to earth, where it became the source of every whetstone that
would come after.
Thor’s hammer, being the most powerful weapon in Norse mythology, wasn’t so much as scratched
and wasn’t knocked off course.
It struck the middle of Hrungnir's head, shattering his skull and killing him instantly.
Up next we have Skrymir.
Unlike many of his giant brethren, the source of Skrymir’s power isn’t his strength,
but his mastery of the magical arts.
Thor and Loki encounter him when they go on an adventure to giant land.
This myth plays out like some malicious magician using his tricks to deceive, dismay, and dispirit
a child, in which Skrymir is the magician and Thor is the child.
The two of them first meet in the morning, and to Thor’s surprise, what he thought
was a great hall in which he and his group took shelter was actually only one of Skrymir’s
huge gauntlets.
The colossal giant suggested that they travel together and combine their provisions, an
idea to which Thor and his party are amenable.
When they make camp for the night, Skrymir, in the same instant, tosses the provision
bag to Thor and says that he’s going to bed.
To Thor’s surprise, he can’t untie any of the knots and access the food.
This enrages him, so he tries to kill the giant with his hammer on three separate occasions
throughout the night; but each blow, to Thor’s chagrin, inflicts absolutely no damage, managing
only to lightly rouse Skrymir from sleep, with him asking mildly each time if some light
object, like a leaf or an acorn, had fallen on him.
The giant departs the next morning, and Thor comes to the fortress of Utgarda-Loki, another
giant, where he is subjected to a series of challenges, all of which he fails.
The next morning, Utgarda-Loki comes by to see his visitors off, and it is here that
he reveals to Thor that he is Skrymir, the giant with whom he travelled just before coming
to the fortress, and that everything he experienced in the last day has been the product of illusion
and trickery.
He explains that Thor couldn't untie the provision bag because it was fastened with steel wire;
that Thor’s hammer blows in the middle of the night did no damage because he shielded
himself with a mountain each time; that Thor couldn’t finish his drink because it was
connected to the ocean; that Thor couldn’t lift a cat because it was the World Serpent
in disguise, and that Thor couldn’t win a wrestling match against an old woman because
she was the personification of old age, whom no man defeats.
And with that explanation given, the giant and the fortress vanish, leaving Thor momentarily
mystified, then livid, brimming with impotent fury, as he was without a foe to fell.
At number 4 is Loki
Though Loki lived in Asgard and kept company with the Aesir gods, he was a giant by birth,
which explains why he’s ultimately the linchpin of Asgard’s destruction, ushering in the
end of the age in which Norse mythology takes place.
Unquestionably, Loki was a gifted warrior; his and Heimdall’s duel to the death during
Ragnarok places this statement beyond dispute.
But Loki’s true power was of a more insidious nature.
Cunning, deceit, and manipulation were his true weapons.
Treachery was a part of his being as much as the blood that coursed through his veins.
His trickery landed Asgard in countless predicaments, and his guile and cleverness delivered Asgard
from nearly as many as he landed it in.
A story that exemplifies this turbulent dynamic is the story in which Loki shaved Sif’s,
Thor’s Wife’s, head.
Thor, his wife now bald, got ahold of Loki, but Loki was able to forestall his well-deserved
thrashing by promising to find Sif new hair.
Loki travelled to the domain of the dwarves, and many events ensued; after which, Loki
returned with six magical marvels, among them: Sif’s new hair, Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir,
and Odin’s spear, Gungnir.
Unfortunately, in the end, during the events that transpire in the mythic future, Loki
becomes the ultimate doom and the primary architect of Asgard’s and the world’s
destruction.
He tricked the blind god Hodr into killing Baldr with a mistletoe projectile, and later,
he prevented the other gods from resurrecting Baldr, whose death was said to be one of the
main events that heralded the coming of Ragnarok.
Most heinous of all, though, was Loki’s union with Angrboda; by her, he sired three
children, Hel, an enigmatic figure who was both giantess and goddess (giantess by pedigree
and goddess by purview), Jormungandr, the world serpent, and the monstrous wolf Fenrir.
It was foretold that during Ragnarok Loki would lead the hordes of Hel against Asgard,
that the world serpent and Thor would kill one another, and that Odin was fated to be
devoured by Fenrir.
Up next we have Fenrir
Of all the monsters in Norse mythology, Fenrir, a huge and ravenous wolf, was the chief bane
of the gods.
Born to Loki and the ogress Angrboda, Fenrir was the eldest of their three monstrous children.
The middle spawn was Jormungandr, the Midgard Serpent, and the youngest was the goddess
Hel, who held dominion over the underworld.
Fenrir and his two siblings were prophesied to bring much evil and destruction into the
world, so Odin sent the gods to seize them and bring them before him.
In an effort to preempt all of the death and destruction this trio of monsters would unleash,
Odin dealt with each in turn.
Jormungandr was cast down into the ocean; Hel was cast down to Niflheim - though, perhaps
this wasn’t the wisest decision; for this, inadvertently, gave her great power and put
her in position to cause problems later on - and Fenrir, unlike his two younger siblings,
wasn’t banished to some remote place.
No, the gods decided to raise him themselves in the very halls of Asgard, allowing them
to keep a close eye on him.
This burden fell mostly to Tyr, the most intrepid of the gods, for only he was bold enough to
feed Fenrir; but each day the wolf grew - prodigious in both size and strength - and because he
was destined to unleash great evil, the gods decided that he had to be bound.
Using their guile, they allayed Fenrir’s suspicions by presenting the chains they bound
him with as a contest to test his strength.
Each time Fenrir broke a chain, a subsequent stronger chain was used.
But it soon became clear that no chain they produced could hold him.
The gods turned to the dwarves, who crafted a restraint of unconventional make with an
appearance that belied how unbreakable it was.
Here’s the passage from the Prose Edda that describes how it was made:
“It was constructed from six elements: the noise of a cat’s footsteps, the beard of
a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish, and the spittle
of a bird.”
This newest restraint was different from the previous ones.
Soft, smooth, and supple, it more so resembled a ribbon than a chain.
Because of the dissimilarity, Fenrir became suspicious, so he wouldn’t allow himself
to be bound unless one of the gods placed a hand in his mouth.
Tyr, the only god bold enough to feed Fenrir, was the one who placed his hand in the wolf’s
mouth.
What happened next played out predictably.
Fenrir couldn’t break free; the gods wouldn’t let him go; and finally, the sequence was
punctuated by Fenrir biting off Tyr’s hand.
The gods then wedged a sword, hilt to point, in the wolf’s mouth, and the saliva that
poured out created the river Van.
Fenrir breaks free of his bonds at the onset of Ragnarok.
He charges forward - his lower jaw pressed against the earth, his upper jaw pressed up
against the sky - devouring everything in his path.
He kills Odin, who is later avenged by his son Vidar when he rips Fenrir’s head apart.
At number 6 is Jormungandr.
Also known as the Midgard Serpent, Jormungandr, meaning “Mighty Snake”, was one of three
monstrous children born of the unholy union between Loki and the ogress Angrboda.
Jormungandr was cast down into the ocean that encircled Midgard, the realm of humanity,
and he grew to such an incredible length that his bulk extended around the whole world so
that he could put the tip of his tail in his own mouth.
Following his birth and banishment, Jormungandr features almost exclusively as the arch-nemesis
of Thor.
In the myth in which Thor and Loki journey to the land of the giants, they find their
way to Utgard, an enormous fortress in the wilderness.
Inside, they’re subjected to a series of challenges; at the end of which, Thor is left
defeated, having failed each challenge in which he competed.
At the end of the story, though, it’s revealed to him that the series of challenges was actually
a series of deceptions.
In one, he couldn’t lift a cat off the floor, but as it turned out, the giant cat was actually
the world serpent disguised by magic.
To Thor’s eyes, he lifted the cat so that only one paw left the ground, but in reality,
he lifted the Midgard Serpent, its entire world-encircling bulk, so high that it almost
touched the sky.
In another myth, Thor goes fishing.
He baits his hook with the head of an ox, and it’s Jormungandr who takes the bait.
Thor was about to strike a mighty blow with his hammer, but his companion, the giant Hymir,
cut the line so that the serpent sank back into the depths unharmed.
The finale encounter between Thor and Jormungandr occurs during Ragnarok.
Thor strikes down his foe, but his victory is fleeting; for he is covered in such a copious
amount of venom during the fight that he drops dead after taking only nine steps.
Up next we have Hel, a giantess by birth and a goddess by power and province.
Here’s a passage from the Prose Edda to begin this entry:
“Hel he[, Odin,] threw down into Niflheim and made her ruler over nine worlds.
She has the power to dole out lodging and provisions to those who are sent to her, and
they are the people who have died of disease or old age.
She has there an enormous dwelling, with walls of immense height and huge gates.
Her hall is called Eljudnir (Sprayed with Snowstorms), her dish is Hunger, her knife
is Famine, her slave is Lazy, and Slothful is her woman servant.
The threshold over which people enter is a pitfall called Fallandaforad [falling to Peril],
her bed is named Kor [Sick Bed], and her bed curtains are named Blikjandabol (gleaming
disaster).
She is half black and half a lighter flesh color and is easily recognized.
Mostly she is gloomy and cruel.”
Hel’s own contribution to the defeat of the gods and the destruction of the world
is more subtle than that of her two siblings.
Rather than fight against the gods directly, the part she plays is in the events leading
up to Ragnarok, in disrupting the efforts of the gods to prevent this great cataclysm
from coming to pass.
After Loki tricks the blind God Hodr into inadvertently killing Baldr with a mistletoe
projectile, Odin is most deeply affected by this death - not just because Baldr was his
son, but because he alone knew that Baldr’s death was one of the main events that heralded
the coming of Ragnarok.
With Baldr dead, Odin knew that Ragnarok, all of the chaos and calamity entailed with
it, would not be long in coming.
Hermod, either a son or servant of Odin, galloped for nine days and nine nights through the
deep and dark places of the world.
Finally, enduring shadow and peril throughout this journey, he came upon the river Gjoll,
continuing on to the Gjoll Bridge.
He then rode to the hall of Hel, and inside he saw Baldr, seated in a place of honour.
Hermod beseeched Hel to allow Baldr to ride back to Asgard with him - that this would
lighten the hearts of all the Aesir gods, all of whom were in the depths of sorrow.
Hel replied that she would allow Baldr to return to the land of the living if everything
in all the world, both living and dead, wept for him - that if anyone or anything spoke
against him or didn’t shed tears, Baldr would remain as he was, trapped in her domain.
Hermod returned to Asgard and relayed what he was told, thus beginning a frantic effort
in which the gods sent messengers around the world, supplicating everyone and everything
to weep for Baldr.
In this they came tantalizing close, but unfortunately, there was one person who would not weep, Thokk,
a giantess who was found sitting in a cave.
Two comments on this: first, Baldr remained dead because Thokk would not weep, meaning
Ragnarok would not be forestalled by the resurrection of Baldr, and second, the gods came to believe
that Thokk was none other than Loki in disguise.
At number 8 is Surtr.
Come Ragnarok, everything that can go wrong goes wrong: two giant wolves devour the sun
and moon; a huge snake spits so much venom into the sky that the stars go dark; earthquakes
shake the land, even the World Tree; another huge wolf charges forward, lower jaw against
the ground, upper jaw pressed up against the sky, and consumes everything in its path;
and Surtr, his fiery forces in tow, appears to engulf the world in flame
Amid the din and upheaval of the world being unmade, the sky splits open, and through the
fiery gash of a portal come riding the warriors of Muspelheim.
Surtr, leading his forces, is the first to emerge.
He brandishes his flaming sword over his head, and fire radiates from him in every direction,
scorching the land.
All the armies and monsters poised to assail Asgard muster just past the rainbow bridge,
which shatters after their crossing.
Surtr and Freyr meet on the field of battle in single combat, but Freyr, because he gave
away his good sword, will be cut down.
Wrapping up our list is Hrym
Not much is said of Hrym, a frost giant, as he only briefly features in the cataclysmic
events of Ragnarok.
To discuss Hrym we have to discuss the Naglfar, a ship fashioned from the unclipped toenails
of the dead, that's destined to sail against Asgard when the last battle comes.
This is why people trimmed the toenails of the deceased: each foot tended to in this
way was thought to delay the construction of the Naglfar by denying it a pinch of trimmings.
When the Midgard Serpent maneuvers its colossal bulk and advances on Asgard, the ocean will
flood the land, and it is then the Naglfar, that dreaded ship, will loosen from its moorings.
It will be captained by Hrym, who will lead the frost giants against Asgard, as Loki will
lead the horde of undead, and as Surtr will lead the fire giants.
And that’s it for this video!
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