   the jÃ¶tnar (anglicized jotunn or jotun, plural jÃ¶tnar; , , or ; icelandic: ; from old norse jÇ«tunn ; often glossed as giant or ettin) can be seen throughout norse mythology. the jÃ¶tnar are a mythological race that live in jÃ¶tunheimr, one of the nine worlds of norse cosmology. they were banished there by the Ãsir who refuse them entry to their world, asgard. the jÃ¶tnar frequently interact with the Ãsir, as well as the vanir. they are usually in opposition to, or in competition with, them but also interact with them in a non-hostile manner. some jÃ¶tnar even intermarry with the Ãsir and vanir. this very complex relationship between these two comparable races develops most notably in the prose edda and the poetic edda. ==etymology== in old norse, the beings were called jÇ«tnar (singular jÇ«tunn, the regular reflex of the stem jÇ«tun- and the nominative singular ending -r), in particular leirjÃ¶tnar ("clay-jÃ¶tnar", i.e. hrungnir, aurgelmir) and eldjÃ¶tnar ("fire-jÃ¶tnar", i.e. surtr, muspell); or risar (singular risi), in particular bergrisar ("mountain-risar") and sjÃ³risar ("sea-risar", i.e. Ãgir, rÃ¡n); or Ã¾ursar (sing. Ã¾urs; anglicized as thurs), in particular hrÃ­mÃ¾ursar ("rime-thursar") and vindÃ¾ursar ("wind-thursar", i.e. kÃ¡ri, hrÃ¦svelgr). giantesses could also be known as gÃ½gjar (singular gÃ½gr) or Ã­viÃ°jur (singular Ã­viÃ°ja). jÇ«tunn (proto-germanic *etunaz) might have the same root as "eat" (proto-germanic *etan) and accordingly had the original meaning of "glutton" or "man-eater", probably due to their enormous diet because of their size. following the same logic, Ã¾urs might be derivative of "thirst" or "blood-thirst." risi is probably akin to "rise," and so means "towering person" (akin to german riese, dutch reus, archaic [[swedish language|swed
JAPtnar