The Frost Giants are a pivotal part of ancient Norse mythology; so much so that over the years they have entered American popular culture as the age-old adversaries of the Thor the Thunderer (the popular Marvel Comics Superhero).
But what exactly were they? Well, the frost giants were a subspecies of giant that inhabited the frozen land of Usgard, along with the fire giants and jotun trolls. Moreover, their strength and sheer power rivalled that of the Norse deities (such as Thor, Freiya, Loki and Balder, to name but a few). The most famous frost giant was Ymir, and his body consists of the foundation of the Norse deities' home, Asgard.
All giants in Norse mythology are associated with the elements and the Vikings believed that their land and the elements which made the land up - which included the mountains, glaciers, caverns, volcanoes and vegetation - constituted the bodies of sleeping giants; when the giants awoke (which the Vikings believed was when they were angry) they caused cataclysms such as avalanches, snow storms and volcano eruptions, causing bad harvests and death from above. This probably gave rise to the folklore of immensely powerful immortal giants that enjoyed toying with mortals.
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