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JAFNHÁRR (“Equally High”): One of the names of Odin and perhaps that of another god cited in the triad of Hárr, Jafnhárr, and Þriði.

JARÐARMEN: NECKLACE OF EARTH

JÁRNGREIPR: IRON GLOVES

JÁRNSAXA (“The One with Stone Knife [or Iron Knife]”): A giantess with whom Thor fathers a son, Magni. She is described as one of the nine mothers of Heimdallr. Her name is clearly that of a giantess and refers to the mineral domain with which these beings exist in close relation.

JÁRNVIÐR: The place where giants who take the form of wolves and witches live. This forest separates the world of men (Miðgarðr) from that of the giants (Jötunheimr).

JAZIE: The Jazie of the Galicia region of eastern Europe are akin to the Didken and always depicted as hostile and malevolent creatures. It is said they live in wooded regions. Surrounded by beautiful young women abducted from men, they lure young men, kill them, and plant their heads on spikes that stand in front of their homes. They feed on human flesh—especially that of young children—and drink warm blood. It is thought they might be a mythical vision of the wild animals that haunt the Carpathian forests.

Vernaleken, Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Österreich, 238–40.

JEROME: In the romance Friedrich von Schwaben, written in late Middle High German in the fourteenth century, Jerome is the queen of the dwarves. Friedrich meets her in the forest, where she becomes infatuated with him, lures him into the hollow mountain, and keeps him there. He becomes her lover, and they have a daughter, Zipproner, who is not a dwarf. Friedrich marries Jerome after the death of her first husband. Jerome seems to possess magical powers: with a wave of her hand she can cause darkness to fall in her apartments.

JÓL: Winter solstice festival of Yule; today it is the name for Christmas in the Scandinavian countries. Sacrifices were made at this time to the gods and to the dead to obtain a fruitful and peaceful year. Odin is associated with this celebration, as is Freyr (the animal regularly sacrificed on this occasion is a male boar) and the elves. In fact, another name for Jól is “Sacrifice to the Elves” (álfablót).

Bø, Vår norske jul; Ronald Grambo, “Julen i Middelalderen: Hedenskap og Kristendom,” Mittelalter-Forum I (1996): 24–35; Jorma Koivulehto, “Fest und Zyklus des Jahres: Jul und Kekri,” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 101 (2000), 235–52.

JÓLNIR (“Master of Jól”): One of Odin’s names. There is no doubt whatsoever concerning this god’s association with Jól (the pagan celebration that was later conflated with Christmas), but it is almost certainly because this feast was also that of the dead. A long-surviving folk belief in Norway maintained that during this time of the year the dead traveled in bands through the air stealing food and drink, much as Odin was reputed to have done to the detriment of King Halfdan the Black. These troops of the dead are one of the representations of the Wild Hunt, which is often called Odin’s Hunt.

OSKOREIA, WILD HUNT

Falk, Odensheiti.

JORDBARN (“Children of the Earth”): A Norwegian name given to dwarves that stresses their chthonic nature and habitat (stones and caverns).

JÖRÐ (“Earth”): An Ásynja that is sometimes called a “giantess.” She is the wife or lover of Odin and the mother of Thor. She is supposed to be the daughter of Nótt (“Night”) and Anarr, her second husband. This is an interesting detail that reflects an aspect of the older worldview: night precedes day and everything comes from her. We should recall that the ancient Germanic peoples measured time in nights and not days, as was pointed out by Tacitus.

Worship of the Earth Mother was widespread, and she appears in various forms such as in the figures of Nerthus, Jörð, Hlóðyn, and Fjörgyn.

MOTHER GODDESSES

Grambo, Svart katt over veien, 78.

JÖRMUNGANDR (“Powerful Monster”): Another name for the Midgard Serpent. It can also be translated as “powerful spell” since gandr can also mean “magic wand.”

JÖTUNHEIMR (“World of the Giants”): This mythical region is located somewhere to the east of Miðgarðr, the world of men, and separated from it by rivers and the Iron Forest. This is the home of the giants. Jötunheimr may be another name for Útgarðr (“Outer Enclosure”), the customary territory for these beings.

JÖTUNN (Old Norse, pl. jötnar; Norwegian jutul): Primitive giants who were constitutive elements of the material world. We know nothing of them save for the fact their name is related to the Old Norse verb eta, “to eat,” which would make them ogres. In Old English they are called eotenas (sg. eoten). At the time of the written accounts, Jötunn had become simply a synonym for “giant.” There are around forty Norwegian place-names that preserve the memory of these creatures; for example, Jotunheimen (“World of the Giants”), Jutulbrui (“Bridge of the Giant”), and Jutulhaugen, (“Mound of the Giant”). These names are explained by legends: it is said that beneath the mound a giant with copper boots lies buried; a giant allegedly took a large mass of stones to construct what resembles a bridge; and so forth.

GRÝLA, RISE, TROLL

Carl von Sydow, “Jätterna i mytologi och folktro,” Folkeminnen och Folktankar 6 (1919): 52–96.

JURAN: In Der Stricker’s thirteenth-century Arthurian romance Daniel von dem blühenden Tal (Daniel of the Flowering Valley), this is the name of a dwarf that forces his attentions on the daughter of a duke whose kith and kin he has murdered. He wants to marry her so that he can later repudiate her after atrociously mutilating her. This could well be the echo of a poorly grasped legend. In any case, the theme is reminiscent of Chrétien de Troyes’s Yvain. Juran can only be slain by his own sword. Daniel takes it and kills the dwarf with it.

Resler, ed., Der Stricker: Daniel von dem blühenden Tal.