Source: Heathen and mythological elements in English place-names

blue = current Modern English place-names;

dark red = first recorded or earlier spellings of English place-names;
green = names or words in Old English (OE), Old High German (OHG) and Old Norse (ON) or cognate
terms;
purple = Modern German, Dutch or Scandinavian names or words

Giants’ place-names in England:

The early Anglo-Saxons also believed in giants, a common word for which was þyrs (but many place-
names in the Scandinavian settled counties with this element will stem from ON þurs - also “giant” -
where it is often compounded with words for ravine or fen). This belief is attested by Thursford (Norfolk)
“giant's-ford” (1086: Tureforde; OE *þyrsford), Tusmore (Oxon.) “lake haunted by a giant or demon”
(1086: Toresmere; OE *þyrs-mere - but see section on Thor above!), Thursden (Lancs.) “giant's valley”
(1324: Thirsedeneheved), Thirst House (a cave in Derbyshire; 1417: Tursthous), Thruss Pits (Notts.)
and Thirlspott (Cumb.) “giant's deep hole” (1616: Thirspott, 1622: Thrispott, 1774: Threspat; even the
late forms point to *þyrspott, withpott an unmutated version of pytt; there is a Thirlmere closeby, i.e. OE
*þyrs-mere “lake visited by a giant” (EPNS)). OE þyrs is also to be found in a number of now lost
toponyms [see section 2 below]. The ON word þurs is to be found in Thrushgill(Lancs.) “giant's ravine”
(1631: Thursgill, ON *þurs-gil), Thrispin Head (Upper Claro Wapentake, WYorks.) originally “giant’s
fen” (medieval Thursefen, 1576: Thrisfen, 1769: Thrisfen-Head; ON þurs + OE fenn “fen, marsh”)
and Thursgill (Ewcross Wapentake, WYorks.) “giant’s ravine” (1220-50: Thursegilemos; ON þurs + gil +
OE mos “bog”) as well as in several now lost place-names [see section 2]. The ON personal
name Þûr may be in some of the above names. An OE synonym ent Reaney claims to be preserved
in Andyke “giant's ditch?” in Barton Stacey, Hants. (1200s: Auntediche) but on the form of the early
spelling, it looks by no means certain. He also supplies a lost place-name containing this word [see
section 2]. ON troll “troll, ogre, sub-human being” is thought to appear in Trollers Gill (East Staincliffe
Wapentake, WYorks.) originally “the troll’s arse” (1817: Trowlers Gill; ON troll + OE ears “arse” +
ON gil “ravine”; the name refers to a large bank in the ravine (EPNS)).

Lost giants’ place-names in England:

Many have been recorded in medieval and earlier sources: þyrs pyt (Warwicks.) “giant's
pit”, þrispit (1250 from Cambs.) “giant's pit”,þyrspit (872-4 from Worcs.) “giant's pit”, Therspettes (1256
from Northumb.) “giants' pits?”, Thursput (1280 from Notts.) “giant's pit”, Thurspyttys (1491 from
Derbys.) “giant's pit”, innon þone þyrs pyt (872, Warwicks), Thirsqueche (1292 from Notts.) “giant's
thicket”, Thruslane (York) “giant's narrow road” (ON þurs), Thursmare (EYorks.) “giant's marsh”
(ON þurs + marr “marsh, fen”), Thursgill (1384 from Cumbria) “giant's ravine” (OE þyrs + gil), Thirsley
Holme a field-name in Morley Wapentake, WYorks., was recorded in 1596 (OE þyrs “giant” +
OE lêah “glade” + ON holmr “islet”), Thirslande and Thyrspec are two lost field-names from Lower
Strafforth Wapentake, WYorks., both recorded in 1268, they compound OE þyrs “giant” with either
OEland “open land” or pêac “knoll, hill” (EPNS), Thurescloch (1267), Thyrspoone (1568 from
Cumbria), Thrushhowe (1578 from Cumbria) “giant's mound”
(ON þurs + haugr “mound”), Thirsepol (c.1275 from Notts.) “giant's pool”
(OE þyrs + pôl), Thruspole(1565 from Notts.) “giant's pool” (ON þurs + OE pôl), Thrushpulle (1577
from Notts.) “giant's pool” (ON þurs + OE pôl), to ænta dic (1026) “giant's ditch” (OE ent “giant”), on
entan hlêw (940) “giant’s mound”.

Giants’ place-names in Norway:

The highest mountain range in Norway, Jotunheimen between Gudbrandsdalen, Valdres and Sogn, takes
its name from ON jötunn “giant” and heimr “home, dwelling” and is a literary creation used by the poet
A. O. Vinje in one of his works of 1862. This name was inspired by the remarks of a geologist made
some years earlier, who likened the range to the German Riesengebirge. Vinje took his inspiration from
ON mythology in which Jötunheimr was the home of the giants. As a Norwegian word, jøtunis purely
literary, but jutul and jøtul are found in Nynorsk dialects from ON *jøtull (Sandnes/Stemshaug).

Giants’ place-names in Denmark:

Since we have dealt with the lower orders of mythology and Germanic folk-belief in the Icelandic,
English, Dutch and German sections, they ought to be treated here. Belief in the lower orders of mythical
beings survived in the folklore of the ordinary people long after remembrance of the heathen gods had
passed away. Such elements ought then be detectable in relative abundance in the place-names of small
localities and nature-names. And this is indeed the case - traces of theophoric names, rituals or sanctuaries
are not very significant in Danish marknavne but references to the lower mythology and later folk beliefs
are quite common.
Beginning with giants, ODan. iötun (cf. ON jötunn, OE eoten) gives a Jutish side-form jynd- (found in the
local term jyndovn (standard Danish stendysse) “dolmen”), from which we can
mention Jyndbjerg (Mammen Sogn, Viborgområdet, Jylland) “giant's hill” and Jyndevad (Burkal Sogn,
Tønderområdet, Sønderjylland) “ford where giants live” (1230-45: Jotenwath, 1238: Jønewath,
1245: Iøthnewath, 1504: Jvnnewow). Also appearing are Stor Jenild and Liten Jenild (Hover Sogn,
Vejleområdet, Jylland) which are hill names and compound ODan. iöten + hillæ “hill”. Modern
Danish jætte “giant”, known from ODan. in the plural form iætther (cf. ON jötunn), is found in a now lost
name Jætthavne Aas (Køng Sogn, Præstøområdet, Sjælland) “ridge in the giant's garden” according to the
local markbog.

Finally, we ought to note the warning of Gunnar Knudsen, who cautions against the over-enthusiastic
“finding” of supposed very ancient cultic (i.e. pre-Norse pantheon) elements in Danish place-names. He
confesses some reservations in interpretingstolpe, stav and stok as phallic symbols and points out that
elements supposedly denoting fire-worhip (ild, lys and skin) are dubious since fire certainly had many
other uses and plain skin would be anomalous as a place-name element. Furthermore, hjuland ring as
supposed evidence of heliolatry he argues as far more likely to refer to agricultural or other implements.
The many place-names incorporating animal elements are not certain evidence of cultic practice or
sacrifice. True enough both men and animals were given as offerings at Lejre, but he requires that a
second element denoting “sacrificial place” be present before a place-name with an animal element can be
reasonably considered as having former connections to cult.
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* Note: In order to avoid confusion and demonstrate continuity of usage, the place-names in the former
Danish provinces of Skåne, Halland etc. (now in present day Sweden) have been included in the sections
for both Denmark and Sweden.

Giants’ place-names in Sweden:

During the revival of learning in the 1500s and 1600s, Scandinavia's ancient religion became better
known and speculations were inspired about heathen cultic traces in Swedish place-names. Johan
Loccenius in 1654 recognised Ulleråker in the vicinity of Uppsala as having mythical or cultic
significance, although he drew the wrong assumptions about the meaning of Ull-. However no reasonable
scientific investigation was conducted on the theme until 1878 when Magnus Lundgren published his
Språkliga intyg om hednisk gudatro i Sverige. Partly inspired by the pioneering work in Norway done by
Olaf Rygh and later Magnus Olsen, the study of Swedish place-names has really taken off over the course
of the present century. A noted onomastician (and also in equal measure for his work on English place-
names) has been Eliert Ekwall. The great Swedish linguist and runologist Elias Wessén has also been a
noteworthy contributor to this field. Wessén has put forth the view that of those theophoric Swedish
place-names which later become parishes, the evidence suggests that those in Ull- and När- are the most
ancient. From the Svea-provinces names in Ull- and När- (i.e. Njörd) extend down into Östergötland and
quite a few appear in the northeasternmost part of this region. He further claims that subsequent to these,
the cults of Thor, Frey and Freya became the prevailing ones in Sweden and the cult of Odin is therefore
the youngest. Wessén posits therefore three successive waves of cultic influence spreading
across Sweden, probably from Denmark in the south. Studies on the distribution of the various names
have suggested that names with Ull- and När- denote a central position within cultural inhabited areas,
where towns later arose, especially in Östergötland. The more ancient cult of these two deities appears to
have been common in Norway and north and eastern Sweden but is rare or absent from
southwest Sweden or Denmark. Place-name evidence therefore suggests a cultural division
across Scandinavia, north of which the older cult remained for longer or was more popular but to the
south the cult of Frey, Thor and later Odin replaced it. Fertility-cult in eastern Sweden's central
habitations revolved around Ull, Thor and particulary, Frey, as the famous Uppsala temple
suggests. Southwest Sweden is less rich in specific deity-names than the rest of the country and this
supports the notion of a different cultural milleu there. Odin, however, is the most common deity name in
this region.

Giants’ place-names in Iceland:

Iceland has few directly theophoric place-names compared to other countries in Scandinavia but many
less specific place-names which hint at fomer heathen cult in the land. Many of these are compounded
with features in the landscape. Judging from the place-names Þór was the most popular god, but the
heathen element most obvious in Icelandic toponymy is Hof, from Old Norse hof (although like western
Norway, never with a deity-name), with Goð- making a good second-place. Hörg- is also rather common
as a prefix. Among the other major deities, we must count Freyr second and Njörðr third and this
apparent pecking-order among the gods, with Þór and not Óðinn as pre-eminent, is contrary to the
mythology expounded later by Snorri Sturluson.

Surtr, a leading giant who battled with Freyr at ragnarök (see the Eddic poem Völuspá “The Sybil's
Prophecy”) is given his recognition as being a part of cherished Icelandic mythology and folklore
in Surtsey (south Iceland) “Surt's island” which lies just off the southern Icelandic coast, and
probably Surtshellir “Surt's cave”, which is known from one of the earliest Icelandic
documents, Landnámabók (“The Book of Settlements”). The giant kills Frey and survives the final battle
to set fire to the heavens and the earth - which eventually leads to the dawn of a new world. Surtsey is a
recently formed (1963) volcanic island and is aptly named since Surtr was probably regarded by the
heathen Icelanders as a fire-giant who inhabited the underworld. Two other names in Surts- however are
not connected with the giant: Surtsstaðir derives from a personal name and Surtsteigur is of unknown
origin but might be connected with the Old Norse word for “black” svartr.

Belief in the lower supernatural beings and various kinds of sub-human creatures during the Icelandic
past has also left its mark in the place-names of the land. Of the numerous examples that could be cited, I
will confine myself to: Tröllagil “giant's gorge”, Heiðnabjarg “heathens' rock”, Þursasker “giant's
skerry”, Jötunsfell “giant's mountain”, Risalág “giant's hollow”, Gýgjarfoss “giantess'
waterfall”, Stórkonugil “giantess' gorge”, Herkonugil “warrior woman's gorge”, Álfaborg “elf's rocky
hill”,Huldufólkssteinn “fairy-folk's boulder”, Álfkonuklöpp “elf-woman's stepping-
stone”, Hólkonuhnjúkur “hill-woman's summit”, Dverghamrar “dwarves' steep
cliffs”, Draugastapar “ghost rock”, Útburðargil “exposed infant's gorge”, Púkabreið “fiend's lava
plain”, Djöflalág “devil's hollow” and Skrattanes “warlock's (or devil's) headland”. Place-names therefore
show us that dwarves had their place in early Icelandic folk-belief, even if there is no trace of them by the
time the sagas are written down. For more names like these see the article by Ólafur Lárusson in Nordisk
Kultur 5.

Giants’ place-names in Faroe Islands:

Worth noting are a few references to the lower mythology among the islands’ natural features. On Kalsoy
there is a Trøllanes “troll’s headland” and then a Trøllhøvdi just off Sandoy “troll’s head”, the later so
called because of the appearance the islet may have when approaced by ship from the northeast. On
Eysturoy there is a Trølldalur “troll’s valley” and a Trøllagjógv on Suðuroy “troll’s ravine”
(ON troll + gjögr “cleft, rift”). A cape on the southeast coast of Vágar is called Trøllkonufingur “the troll-
woman’s finger”. In central Streymoy we find a Gívrufjall “giantess’ mountain” from
Farose gívur “giantess, ogress” (ultimately ON gífr “witch, hag” + fjall) and also a Gívrufelli on the north
of that island with the same meaning. Finally, in the highland regions of eastern Eystroy we find
a Dvørgjaskarð “dwarves’ mountain pass” (ON *Dvergarskarð; dwarves were commonly held to dwell in
the mountains in the old folk-beliefs).