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Submitted: December 17, 2011
Image Size: 356 KB
Resolution: 453×800
Submitted with: Sta.sh

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Jotunnby *humon

Traditional Art / Drawings / Fantasy

This was supposed to be a quick silly drawing, but I ended up putting a lot more thought into it than I intended.
First of, as I've said many times, I hate the English word for Ice Giants in Nordic mythology because not all were giants an not all were associated with ice. So I'll use the Norse word jotunn.
Over the years I've been drawing them more and more feminine, and here's a long explanation why.

Because we live in a very Jewish/Christian/Islamic inspired world we tend to think that other religions divide the world into good and evil as well, but this is most certainly not true, especially for the old religions. The Norse people saw the world as a battle between nature/chaos/female and culture/order/male, and neither were seen as good or evil, though the Vikings preferred culture. Jotunns represented nature and the feminine, the gods represented culture and the masculine.
The jotunns were the oldest race in the world, older than the gods, because nature is older than culture, and a lot of the old stories are about the gods stealing things or knowledge from the jotunns, just like humans take things from nature to build tools, weapons, and houses.
Even Ragnarök symbolized how culture will end and nature will once again take over (as well as the jotunns taking revenge for the gods committing the first murder in history when they killed the first jotunn Ymir to use his body to create the world)

People tend to only remember the "powerful nature forces" aspect of jotunns because it has become popular to think of them as huge monsters, but the female connection was also very important. This is why Loki, who was part jotunn, is so keen on turning into female beings and giving birth, be it as a woman or a horse. Even Odin who was a god but spend a lot of time with jotunns preformed female magic and often turned into a woman himself (at least according to Loki).
So Ragnarök also symbolize how a man's strength is nothing compared to a woman's wrath. No, that is not man-hating. The vikings took angry women very seriously. When the goddess of love got angry the whole world shook and the other gods ran for cover.

So because of all that I've started putting jotunns in very female inspired clothes, giving them feminine hairstyles and so on. That is just my head-canon though.

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*xarockolipsekittenx Dec 29, 2012

OH how I hate . . .you . . . hate . . . . hate . . . . . . . .. . HES SO FREKEN CUTE!!!! -attacks and sticks a shrinking bag over him and runs away out of sight-

~Pokewarriorsegagon Dec 26, 2012 Hobbyist Artist

ITS FRANCE IN A DISGUISE!

~MorphoAdonis Oct 8, 2012 Student General Artist

"Even Ragnarök symbolized how culture will end and nature will once again take over."

Humon, you brilliant silly diva, you have just put together a final piece in the puzzle of my spiritual awakening that has been going on for... Well, for a while.

~Reddiamond29 Sep 1, 2012

Headcanon accepted. *nod*

~DeixTobiallyaoi Aug 11, 2012 Student General Artist

how do you know all these facts???

~cozzypaper Jun 15, 2012 Professional Filmographer

I really love how I always learn something new and fun form your art

you're a breath of fresh hair!

~GodIsAMultiGod Jun 9, 2012

interesting

~nadgamgee May 27, 2012

btw, wasn't Loki fully Jotunn, as both Laufey and Farbauti were Jotnar?

~nadgamgee May 27, 2012

Been a fan of Norse mythology as long as I remember myself, but now you change my perception of it forever! For which I'm actually thankful, I've learnt so much from you!

question: some Æsir survive Ragnarök, how would you interpret this?

~lionmml Apr 15, 2012

I have always loved the jotunns. I am learning to much about Nordic mythology - which I love - thanks to your drawings and explanations.

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