The Jotnär and Liminal Space:
I could get into the historical accuracy of 'Utgarðr,' but to save time: there are people that ascribe to it, and people that don't. I am somewhere in the middle, as I usually take a firm stance on "we will never really know what the ancients believed.'' Essentially, I take all mythology with a grain of salt, use the big picture/metaphor to gain an understanding of the God(s) in question, and move along. However, I did want to delve deeper into the Utgarðr concept. Particularly after the rise of Liminal Space-core. Tiktok and Tumblr have seemed to latch onto the idea of Liminal space, or the Back Rooms, and unsurprisingly, that's made me think of the Jotnär.
The whole premise of Liminal Space is an unoccupied area that, for some reason, seems somewhat familiar but wholly unsettling. Some people even get a sense of nostalgia from certain images. The area doesn't have anything outright scary about it, but instinctually, you know something is wrong with it. There is an intrinsic gut feeling, a knowing that something bad could happen, and that people don't belong in this area. Liminal Space is essentially one big "DO NOT ENTER" sign. But humans possess morbid fascination, so we poke and prode at the feeling of fear, anxiety, and instinct.
Similarly, the Utgarðr has the same sign hanging on its metaphorical door. We know from a conglomeration of myths that the Jotnär occupy harsh lands—snow-capped mountains, the deep sea, the open air, even the space between Realms. This land is inhospitable to us, to even the Gods. It is primordial land that holds something in it that we, as a species, cannot understand. Something that the All-Father sought after ruthlessly in hopes of evading Ragnarök.
I suppose my interest/theory is that Jotnär are Liminal Space. At least, their home is—not neglecting that some Jotnär are, in fact, places. It's been my experience that the Jotnär exude this bizarre sort of feeling. When praying, meditating, and dreaming of them, they often come off as almost...uncomfortable. It's the uncanny, jarring feeling. And I think this genuinly makes sense when comparing to the literature. They are the primordial clan, and so, it would make sense that they occupy The Strange.
The Strange is what I am going to refer to this place/feeling as on this blog, for future reference. Just because I think that encapsulates this experience well; pure, intangible strangeness.
I suppose this could sometimes be applied to the Aesir and Vanir, but I hesitate on that for other literary and historical reasons. The Aesir in particular are Gods of society, in myth they represent human connection, human experiences, etc. Vanir could be considered agricultural Gods, but that is also a human invention, so they too represent key aspects of humanity. So, there is an aspect of familiarity there, which cuts through the uncanny, and destroys the key part in Liminal Space.
To circle back to the original point: Utgarðr is the untangible, the outside. A feeling that our ancestors felt, and so their myths reflected as much. Those myths, put to paper by Christian monks, might not be perfect in terms of accuracy and biased influence, but it gives us a solid idea, a sizable clue. I think it's neat that our ancestors felt that same strangeness.