Of Giants, Gods, Chaos, and Magick

Sometimes articles appear fully formed in my mind before I commit them to the page. At other times they develop chaotically through a strange creative dance of research and revelation. This one, appropriately, developed through the latter method. Nietzsche wrote in Also Sprach Zarathustra that "one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star." This star appeared in the heavens during Yule 2020.

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Even within Ásatrú circles, some of the least understood of mythic beings are the giants. While their role in Norse cosmogony, eschatology, and even magick is essential, most Ásatrúars take an overly simplistic and perhaps naïve approach to these figures. In fact, most kindreds and tribes that I know mandate that no giants be toasted—no horn may be raised during the ceremony of sumbel to these awesome beings. The basic line of reasoning is that giants are opposed to the Æsir gods, that they play a destructive role in the events of Ragnarök, and ultimately represent chaos and evil.

Before exploring the role and nature of giants in the lore, it is necessary to examine some pertinent terms and definitions. There can be little doubt that the lack of clarity and even confusion on the matter of giants can be attributed to the complexities of language and translation. Most English translations of the Eddas use the word “giant” in place of jötunn and “giants” in place of jötnar. Jötunn is the normalized scholarly spelling of the Old Norse (ON) term jǫtunn (singular) and jötnar is likewise the normalized spelling of jǫtnar (plural). Jötunn is derived from the Proto-Germanic (PGmc) *etunaz which means “devourer.”[1]  The English term “giant” was derived from the Old French word geant which replaced the native Middle English terms eten and ettin that developed from the Old English ēoten. Hence, in some early translations of the Eddas, we find the term etin rather than “giant.” Etin is the cognate of the ON jötunn and while a better translation than “giant,” is a term that is no longer widely understood.

The French term geant had been used to describe the beings in Greek Mythology who were of enormous strength that were ultimately destroyed in a battle with the Olympian gods. In this context, geant appears to be a likewise useful term to describe the jötnar of Nordic lore. The term however was used in translations of the Old Testament replacing the Hebrew word, Rephaim, meaning a being of significant stature. The most well-known giant of the Bible is Goliath. Early texts state that Goliath was six feet nine inches tall, while later texts exaggerate his height to nine feet nine inches.[2]  Regardless of the height of Goliath, it is this definition that took hold of popular imagination and thought throughout Europe. In the nineteenth century, Richard Wagner further cemented this idea by depicting the jötnar Fafnir and Fasolt during performances of his Der Ring des Nibelungen as large but otherwise human-sized giants. The definition of the word was forever altered and rendered inappropriate as a proper descriptor of the Norse jötnar.

To make matters more challenging, the Eddas use another term that is generally also translated into “giant” or “frost-giant”; that term is thurs or hrímthursam. Thurs, the normalized spelling of the ON Þurs, is derived from the PGmc *thurisaz (*þurisaz) which means “powerful and injurious one.”[3]  We most often think of this term when considering Ymir (“Roarer”)—the primordial being who, when warmth met with cold in the magical and power-filled space of Ginnungagap,[4] took form. Snorri Sturluson calls Ymir a hrímthurs[5] but quotes from the “Short Seeress’ Prophecy” (Völuspá hin skamma) where it was written that all giants (jötnar)[6] come from Ymir.[7] Shortly thereafter, Snorri refers to Ymir himself as a jötun.[8] Therefore, while it might be tempting to differentiate thursam from jötnar, we see that the terms are used almost interchangeably. It may be fair however to say that while frost-giants (hrímthursam) are giants (jötnar), that not all giants (jötnar) are “frost-giants” (hrímthursam). But even that point provides little in the way of clarification. I will provide the original language terms throughout this article to aid in the understanding of cited texts.

Turning to the nature of giants generally, and Ymir specifically, it is useful to examine Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda. In Snorri’s text, the question as to whether Ymir was a god is addressed. High (Hárr)[9]  responds:

“Not at all do we acknowledge him to be a god. He was evil and all his descendants. We call them frost-giants (hrímthursa). And it is said that when he slept, he sweated. Then there grew under his left arm a male and a female, and one of his legs begot a son with the other, and descendants came from them. These are frost-giants (hrímthursar). The ancient frost-giant (hrímthurs), him we call Ymir.”[10]

Not only is a distinction drawn between god and giant, but also we learn of two key characteristics of the frost-giants. First, we note that they are described as “evil.” This may reflect the sensibility however of a Twelfth Century Christian. Nowhere in the texts of The Poetic Edda do we find the word “evil” used to describe Ymir. It may be more accurate then to describe such beings as powerful and even dangerous–as one might describe a force of nature like a volcano or a hurricane –but where the moral value judgment of “evil” is inappropriate. The second characteristic may be identified as “chaotic.” It is clearly chaotic –in violation of all known laws of nature—that beings are manifested from Ymir’s sweaty arms and legs. While it may not be accurate to describe the nature of giants as “evil,” the charge that frost-giants generally, and Ymir specifically, are chaotic beings seems entirely valid.

Ymir was formed in chaos (without normal causality) in the magical and power-filled space of Ginnungagap. While the Norse description of the origin of the universe and life may seem absurd to those raised in our modern-scientific age, philosophers and scientists have struggled to provide a satisfactory explanation to the causality of the origin of the universe. Peter Carroll rightly asserts in his classic study of Chaos Magick, Psychonaut:

“All events, including the origin of the universe, happen basically by magic. That is to say, they arise spontaneously without a final prior cause.”[11]

Following the spontaneous creation of Ymir came the formation of the Ur-cow Audhumla. Audhumla formed from the melting of rime. While Audhumla’s milk fed Ymir, Audhumla fed on salty rime-stones. As she licked these stones, the proto-god Buri appeared from within the melting ice. Buri begot a son named Bor. Bor married Bestla, the daughter of the jötun Bolthorn (“Evil thorn”). Bestla gave birth to three sons: Odin, Vile, and Ve. It is revealed then that Odin’s lineage defies the normal rules of causality as well and that he himself is half Jötunn – and, through his mother Bestla, a descendant of Ymir.[12]

Order, as we know it, was not established in the universe (the nine worlds) until Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve killed Ymir and fashioned it from his corpse. Odin and his brothers construct earth from Ymir’s flesh. The seas were made from his blood, and rocks were fashioned from his bones. The sky was made from Ymir’s skull. Further order was created as the directional points of East, West, North, and South were established. Uncontrolled sparks from world of Muspelheim were fixed in the sky as stars. Prior to Odin’s establishment of order, “The Prophecy of the Seeress” (Völuspá) reveals:

“the sun knew not what seat he had,
the stars knew not what stead they held,

the moon knew not what might she had.”[13]

Snorri describes the ancient murder and the survival of one remaining frost-giant, Bergelmir (“Bear-Yeller”), from whom all subsequent giants are descended:

“…so much blood flowed from his [Ymir’s] wounds that with it they drowned all the race (ON: ættir)of frost-giants (hrímþursa), except that one escaped with his household. Giants (jötnar) call him Bergelmir.”[14]

Throughout the lore, we read of many encounters with various jötnar. Each tale reveals something of the nature of the giants. During Thor’s lengthy encounter with Utgarda-Loki, we learn that things are not always as they seem. We discover that wildfire, old age, and even thought can take on the deceptive appearance of giants. Hearing of this adventure, Snorri’s protagonist Gangleri declares, “Very powerful is Utgarda-Loki, and he uses a great deal of trickery and magic.”[15] Indeed, giants are often described as wise and competitive. Such is the case of Vafthrudnir (ON: Vafþrúðnir)(“Mighty-Weaver”). Unknowingly this master in riddles and wisdom sets out in a competition of the knowledge of lore with the All-Father. Following many rounds of questions and riddles, Vafthrudnir concedes defeat to Odin.[16]

Jötnar are also often depicted as lustful. When a giant offers to build a fortification around Valhalla, he demands as payment the goddess Freya.[17] The giants in the lore frequently covet Freya and her fellow goddesses. When Thor’s hammer is stolen, the jötunn Thrym (ON: Þrymr) ("Uproar") demands:

"I have hidden Hlorrithi’s (Thor’s) hammer,
Eight miles down deep in the earth;
And back again shall no man bring it
If Freya I win not to be my wife.”[18]

The jötunn Thjazi (ON: Þjazi), demanded as payment for returning Loki to the ground after snatching him up and flying in eagle-form to great heights, the goddess Idunn and her precious apples.[19] During his encounter with the Æsir, the jötunn Hrungnir ("Brawler") announced that he would kill all the gods with the exception of Freya and Sif who he would bring back to Jötunheim with him. Beyond lust, the tale of Hrungnir reveals that giants are short-tempered, prone to excessive drinking, boastful, and violent.[20]

Despite their frequent encounters and battles, several prominent figures of Norse lore have a lineage that hearkens back to jötnar. One important example is the famous thrasher of giants, Thor. In “The Tricking of Gylfi” (Gylfaginning), Snorri writes that earth (Jörð) was Odin’s daughter and his wife. From her, “he begot the first of his sons, that is Asa-Thor” (Thor of the Æsir)[21] Earth is challenging to understand and classify. We read of earth as Ymir’s flesh but then also as a goddess or jötunn who was the mother of Thor. Snorri writes in “The Language of Poetry” (Skaldskaparmal):

“How shall earth be referred to? By calling it Ymir’s flesh and mother of Thor, daughter of Onar, bride of Odin, rival of Frigg and Rind and Gunnlod, mother-in-law of Sif, floor and base of winds’ hall, sea of the animals, daughter of Night, sister of Aud and Day.”[22]

Here, we do well to avoid too literal of an interpretation and recall the vagueness and “secret language”[23] of poetry. The use of the phrase “Odin’s daughter,” for example, is intended to remind us that Odin created earth from the corpse of Ymir –and not that earth was literally his child. This is further confirmed by the phrase “daughter of Onar” in Skaldskaparmal. Onar (Ónar) is an Old Norse term that means “gaping.”[24] We are reminded then that Odin, Vile, and Ve transported Ymir’s dead body to the middle of Ginnungagap and there fashioned earth from him. It is important to recall that Ginnungagap means, “gaping abyss.” Earth was therefore created in the “gaping abyss” or said to be the daughter of Onar (“Gaping.”) While Thor, the famous jötunn-slayer, is perhaps today the most well known of the Æsir, he, like others in his ancestral line, was begotten in an unusual manner outside of the normal rules of nature. His character and power have much in common with the jötnar that he so frequently battles. If his mother is indeed Earth then, in genealogical terms, he may be said to be three-quarters jötunn.

Turning to the chaotic and “evil” beings in the lore, we must consider Loki and his monstrous children. Loki is identified as the son of Fárbauti and Laufey. While called an As (Æsir god) by Snorri,[25]  we are also told that Loki is the son of the giant (jötuns) Fárbauti (“Dangerous Striker”).[26] Snorri writes that “Laufey (“Leafy”) or Nal” (“Needle”) is his mother.”[27] It is generally assumed that Laufey is a goddess of the Æsir. It may be Laufey’s status as goddess that results in Loki being identified as “Loki Laufeyiarson” (“Laufey’s son”) rather than being called after his father, Fárbauti the giant.

Loki is certainly a chaotic being. His punishment, by the Æsir for his plotting the murder of Baldr, was to be bound to three rocks by the guts of his son Narfi. A poisonous snake was placed over him in such a way that its poison would drip onto his face. To avoid this torture, Loki, “jerks away so hard that the whole earth shakes. That is what you call an earthquake.”[28] One should note that one of first indications of the beginning of Ragnarök was a violent earthquake that caused all fetters to snap. In a few of many examples, Loki uses magick to achieve his goals. He transforms himself into a mare—ultimately giving birth to Odin’s eight-legged, Sleipnir.[29] Following the death of Baldr, Loki takes the form of the giantess (ON: gýgr) Thökk (“Thanks.”)[30] On another occasion, he borrows a falcon shape from Freya in order to fly to Jötunheim.[31]

The most prominent of Loki’s children are Fenrir Wolf, Jormungand (the Midgard Serpent), and Hel—each of whom plays a significant role during Ragnarök. While often thought of as jötunn, there are no references in the Eddas that directly describe them as such. While all three share a jötunn mother, Angrbotha (ON: Angrboða) (“One who brings grief”), as we have seen, genealogy isn’t necessarily sufficient to be labeled jötunn. We do know that they were being raised in Jötunheim, which was cause enough for the Æsir to be concerned. Snorri tells of their origin:

“There was a giantess called Angrboda in Giantland (Jötunheimum). With her Loki had three children. One was Fenrir, the second Iormungand, the third is Hel. And when the gods realized that these three siblings were being brought up in Giantland, and when the gods traced prophecies stating that from these siblings great mischief and disaster would arise for them, then they all felt evil was to be expected from them, to begin with because of their mother’s nature, but still worse because of their father's.”[32]

One might then describe these nemeses of the Æsir as three-quarters jötunn and one-quarter god.

As we further consider the nature of giants, it is important to realize that not all are depicted in negative terms. Two such giants are Skathi (ON: Skaði) and Gerthr (ON: Gerðr). Skathi is a jötunn associated with winter and winter sports like bow hunting and skiing. She is the daughter of Thjazi (ON: Þjazi). As compensation for the murder of her father Thjazi by the Æsir, Skathi was given the opportunity to identify and marry one of the gods, but had to make the choice by viewing only their feet. Through this process she selected and married the sea god, Njord (ON: Njörðr).

Skathi, despite her jötunn heritage is later acknowledged and identified among the Asyniur.[33] This distinction is a result of her marrying into the Æsir. She is identified as the wife of Njord, who was originally of the Vanir, but is also counted as an Æsir. Skathi is later also identified as a wife or mistress of Odin. In the Ynglinga Saga, Snorri writes:

“[Njord] took a wife called Skadi; she would not live with him and afterwards gave herself to Odin. They got many sons…”[34]

Besides Njord, we find that other Vanir too have ancestry and relationships with jötnar and are similarly counted among the Æsir and Asyniur. The tale of Freyr’s love for the jötunn Gerth (ON: Gerðr) is well known. “The Lay of Skirnir” (Skírnismál) tells how Freyr came to sit on Odin’s high seat Hliðskjálf and look over the nine worlds. When he looked to the land of the giants, he became infatuated with a giantess (bergrisi[35]) Gerth. Freyr was so taken by Gerth’s beauty that he could not sleep. He sent his servant Skirnir to win Gerth’s love for him. Skirnir requests that Freyr give him his wondrous sword that can fight on his own –to protect him from the dangers associated with a trip to Jötunheim. It is through this series of events that Freyr comes to lose his sword resulting in his having no more than a stag’s antler to fight the battle of Ragnarök. Finally, after much negotiation Gerth offers her love to Freyr after a wait of nine long nights.[36]

It is less well known that Freyr and Freya have jötnar blood in their lineage. Askr Svarte reminds us, “Freya’s sister –the giantess Hyndla[37] (meaning the Bitch), shows us the Jötnar’s blood present in the goddess of love.”[38] Indeed, “The Lay of Hyndla” (Hyndluljóð) begins with Freya on mounted boar announcing,

“Maiden, awake! Wake thee, my friend,
My sister Hyndla, in thy hollow cave!
Already comes darkness, and ride must we

To Valhall to seek the sacred hall.”[39]

Interestingly again in “The Language of Poetry” (Skaldskaparmal), Snorri counts Yngvi-Freyr among the Æsir and Freya among the Asyniur.[40] Modern readers are again done a disservice by some of the more well-known translations. Many translators of the Eddas (especially those from the early Twentieth Century) used the word “race” to translate ættir[41] –a term used several times in the Eddas to describe the Æsir and Vanir. “Race” however is an Eighteenth Century term that was popularized only in the Nineteenth Century. A more precise and nuanced translation is “family” (including extended family), “kin,” or “tribe.”

Edred Thorsson provides a useful explanation of “tribe,”

“When most people think of a tribe, they think of people who are somehow genetically related to one another. This is really more true of a clan than a tribe. Tribes could be considered confederations of clans and, as mentioned, it is from clan to clan that contracts of marriage are usually made. But mythically, if not scientifically and biologically, all tribe members consider themselves part of an organic body. Entry into the tribe is by birth, marriage, adoption, or blood brotherhood/sisterhood.”[42]

This point is critical for understanding not only the relationship between Æsir and Vanir, but more importantly for the present study between gods and giants. We begin to see that there is not such a hard dichotomy between those associated with order in the universe and the chaotic beings that live outside such order. It also becomes clear that tribal associations were more significant than genealogical origins. It is for this very reason that the gods remove Loki’s monstrous children from Jötunheim and distribute them to three different worlds (Midgard, Niflheim, and Asgard). Their upbringing in Jötunheim would result in their being counted among the jötnar. Snorri describes the actions taken by Odin upon the realization that Loki’s children were being raised in Jötunheim:

“Then All-father sent the gods to get the children and bring them to him. And when they came to him he threw the serpent into that deep sea which lies round all lands, and this serpent grew so that it lies in the midst of the ocean encircling all lands and bites on its own tail. Hel he threw into Niflheim and gave her authority over nine worlds, such that she has to administer board and lodging to those sent to her, and that is those who die of sickness or old age… The Æsir brought up the wolf at home, and it was only Tyr who had the courage to approach the wolf and give it food.”[43]

While such an effort to remove these creatures from Jötunheim and to separate them might seem wise, the gods were fully aware of the prophecies of Ragnarök. The inevitable nature of the events to come were already established when the universe was ordered on chaos itself. One could say that the seeds of such order included its own destruction.

It is important to turn to the structure of the universe itself and the world tree Yggdrasil. For it is there that we see that the land of the giants, Jötunheim stands where the Ginnungagap once was. Of Yggdrasil’s roots we read,

“Three of the tree’s roots support it and extend very, very far. One is among the Aesir, the second among the frost-giants, where Ginnungagap once was. The third extends over Niflheim and under that root is Hvergelmir, and Nidhogg gnaws the bottom of the root.”[44]

Jötunheim then is precisely where the magical and chaotic space of Ginnungagap once was. It is revealing that Yggdrasil, representing order, conceals chaos but is also rooted upon it. This provides an answer to the riddle of “The Lay of Svipdag” (Svipdagsmál):

“Mimameith [Yggdrasil] its name, and no man knows
What root beneath it runs;
And few can guess what shall fell the tree,

For fire nor iron shall fell it.”[45]

It is also upon Yggdrasil that Odin famously sacrifices himself to himself.

“I ween that I hung on the windy tree,
Hung there for nights full nine;
With the spear I was wounded, and offered I was
To Othin, myself to myself,
On the tree that none may ever know
What root beneath it runs.
None made me happy with loaf or horn,
And there below I looked;
I took up the runes, shrieking I took them,

And forthwith back I fell.”[46]

When Odin, hanging on Yggdrasil, looks below and takes up the runes shrieking– he reaches into the chaotic and magical space of Ginnungagap. It is here that the world tree’s roots run. In his establishment of order, Odin “buried” the chaos of Ginnungagap beneath Yggdrasil and the chaos of Ymir in the Earth itself. Through Odin’s act of sacrifice, he offers the very order that he established to gain the original power of the Ginnungagap. The gods then transcend normal causality by harnessing the power of chaos to “make everything go in accordance with their will.”[47] Snorri’s character King Gylfi who becomes Gangleri (one of the many names of Odin) has all of his questions answered by Odin and thereby gains the wisdom of the gods. Through this process, Asgard disappears leaving Gangleri standing alone – having completed his self-transformation and understanding that the abilities of the gods are a result of their own nature.[48]

Odin’s act of sacrifice serves as a powerful model for those willing to follow his path. Indeed, he sacrifices not only himself, but also his entire idea of the universe –the very order that he established –through a profound act of initiation and transformation. We must recall also that the earth was fashioned from the corpse of the primordial frost-giant Ymir. The author of “The Lay of Grímnir” (Grímnismál) explains:

“Out of Ymir’s flesh was fashioned the earth,
And the ocean out of his blood;
Of his bones the hills, of his hair the trees,

Of his skull the heavens high.”[49]

It is of particular relevance that man and woman first existed as trees. Snorri writes:

“As Bor’s sons walked along the sea shore, they came across two logs and created people out of them. The first gave breath and life, the second consciousness and movement, the third a face, speech and hearing and sight’ they gave them clothes and names. The man was called Ask, the woman Embla, and from them were produced the mankind to whom the dwelling place under Midgard was given.”[50]

It is generally agreed that “Ask” refers to an Ash tree. The etymology of “Embla” is less decided. Some authors have suggested “elm,” while others have suggested, “willow” or even “vine.” Regardless of the precise meaning of “Embla,” these first humans were given human properties while in the form of trees. We see then that Midgard is populated by a people born of Ymir, who share something of this ancient thurs – and indeed have some amount of chaos within. Peter Carroll attempts to explain something of the spontaneous nature of consciousness:

“It is impossible for us to understand Chaos, because the understanding part of ourselves is built out of matter which mainly obeys the statistical form of causality. Indeed, all our rational thinking is structured on the hypothesis that one thing causes another. It follows then that our thinking will never be able to appreciate the nature of consciousness or the universe as a whole because these are spontaneous, magical, and chaotic by nature.”[51]

The ability to make change in the objective universe through one’s will is, therefore, not limited to gods and giants. It is not the exhibit of behaviors that support their established order, but rather those that violate it in which the gods serve as role models for those who are so inclined to learn to harness such energies. We, as humans, have chaos in ourselves through our ancestral ties to Ymir. The earth and the structure of the order of the universe too are rooted in chaos. With Odin as our model, we can learn to harness such powers through initiation, and by the runes wield such energies. Without Odin as a model, we run the risk of living unsuccessful and unhappy lives tossed about by the forces of nature and fate. Even worse, failing to harness the chaos could result in giving into the worst excesses of its power, then not unlike the jötnar, our lives will be ruled by the passions of anger, lust, violence, and even murder.

At the outset of this article, I indicated that many of the Ásatrú tribes I know object to a horn being raised to the jötnar during their rituals. In the case of most jötnar, they are correct to establish such a mandate. It would be wise however to exclude the Ás, Loki and his powerful and monstrous children from such ceremonies as well regardless of whether they are counted among the jötnar. There is nothing wrong however with toasting those jötnar who, like Skathi, are later counted among the Æsir or Asyniur.

For some, gods and giants represent diametrically opposed factions. We have seen however that such a strict dichotomy is false. Both demonstrate awesome powers and frequently behave in a way that defies the laws of causality. Both at times exhibit positive traits such as wisdom –and negative behaviors such as lust, violence, and murder. For others it may seem that line that separates gods and giants is quite fine. But gods and giants are not of an identical nature. The most ancient of giants lived in the charmed space of Ginnungagap with only chaos as its rule. However ambiguous it may seem, the gods established order in the universe and established boundaries and defenses to protect mankind from the dangers of the jötnar. For others still, the tales of gods and giants reveal a path of personal initiation –a path that ultimately leads to higher consciousness, transcendence of this world, and knowledge of chaos and the magick to not only control it, but to wield it. The latter is often referred to as the Odinic Path. It is clearly a demanding journey that is not intended for all.

Notes:

1. https://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/giants/ 

2. J. Daniel Hays, “Reconsidering the Height of Goliath,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48:4 (Dec 2005). https://www.galaxie.com/article/jets48-4-03 

3. https://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/giants/ 

4. Ginnungagap means, “gaping abyss.” 

5. For a side by side comparison of the Old Norse text to an English translation of the Snorra Edda, see: http://www.voluspa.org/proseedda.htm 

6. For a side-by-side comparison of the Old Norse text to an English translation of the Poetic Edda, see: http://www.voluspa.org/poeticedda.htm 

7. Snorri Sturluson, Edda, trans. Anthony Faulkes (North Clarendon, VT: Everyman, 1995), 10. 

8. Sturluson, 11. Specifically Snorri uses the term jötun when he explains “Bor’s sons killed the giant Ymir” (Synir Bors drápu Ymi jötun). 

9. One of the many names of the god, Odin. 

10. Sturluson, 11. 

11. Peter J. Carroll, Liber Null & Psychonaut: An Introduction to Chaos Magic (San Francisco: Weiser Books, 1987), 153. 

12. Sturluson, 11. 

13. Lee Hollander trans., The Poetic Edda (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990), 3. 

14. Sturluson, 11. 

15. Sturluson, 46.

16. Bellows, 83

17. Sturluson, 35.

18. Bellows, 176.

19. Sturluson, 60.

20. Sturluson, 77.

21. Sturluson, 13. 

22. Sturluson, 90. 

23. Snorri refers on several occasions to the “secret language” of poetry in his “The Language of Poetry” (Skaldskaparmal). See for example, page 61. See also my article, “Gylfaginning: Sealed in Secret Language,” https://talesfromtheironwood.blogspot.com/2019/12/gylfaginning-sealed-in-secret-language.html 

24. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annar 

25. Sturluson, 21. 

26. Sturluson, 26. 

27. Sturluson, 26. 

28. Sturluson, 52. 

29. Sturluson, 35-36. 

30. Sturluson, 51. 

31. Sturluson, 60. 

32. Sturluson, 26-27.

33. Asyniur is the feminine form of Aesir. Hence, the Asyniur are the goddesses of the Aesir. See especially Skaldskaparmal 75. Sturluson, 157. 

34. Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla or The Lives of the Norse Kings, trans. A.H. Smith, (New York: Dover Publications, 1990), 6. 

35. Bergrisi is yet another term commonly translated as “giant.” It is however of the specific variety “mountain giant” or “hill giant.” 

36. See especially, “The Lay of Skírnir” (Skírnismál). 

37. Hyndla is identified as jötunn in verse 34. 

38. Askr Svarte, Gap: At the Left Hand of Odin (Fall of Man, 2019), 63. 

39. Henry Adams Bellows trans., The Poetic Edda: The Mythological Poems (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2004), 218. 

40. Sturluson, Edda, 157. 

41. The singular form of ættir is ætt, a term commonly used to describe groupings or divisions of the runes. The Elder Futhark is divided into three groups of eight runes. Each group is called an ætt. 

42. Edred Thorsson, Re-Tribalize Now! A Step-by-Step Guide to Cultural Renewal (North Augusta, SC: Arcana Europa, 2020), 40. 

43. Sturluson, 27. 

44. Sturluson 17. 

45. Bellows, 242. 

46. Bellows, 60-61. 

47. Sturluson, 7. 

48. Sturluson 57 and 7. See also my article, “Gylfaginning: Sealed in Secret Language,” https://talesfromtheironwood.blogspot.com/2019/12/gylfaginning-sealed-in-secret-language.html 

49. Bellows, 100. 

50. Sturluson, 13. 

51. Carroll, 153.