Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

, Útgarðar (literally: "Outyards", the plural of Útgarðr; the word can, according to

Old Norse orthography The orthography of the Old Norse language was diverse, being written in both Runes, Runic and Latin alphabet, Latin alphabets, with many spelling conventions, variant letterforms, and unique letters and signs. In modern times, scholars established ...

, be anglicized as Utgard, Utgardar and in other ways) surrounded a stronghold of the jötnar. They are associated with

Útgarða-Loki In Norse mythology, Útgarða-Loki (Anglicized as Utgarda-Loki, Utgard-Loki, and Utgardsloki) is the ruler of the castle Útgarðr in Jötunheimr. He is one of the jötnar and his name means literally "Loki of the Outyards" or "Loki of the Outla ...

, a great and devious jotunn featured in one of the myths concerning

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

and the other

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

who competed in rigged competitions held in the Outyards. These outdoor arenas contrasted with the putrid, indoor cave where Útgarða-Loki is said to have dwelt, when chained, in the 12th-century ''

Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essentia ...

''. In another version of Norse mythology, Utgard is thought to be the last of the three worlds connected to

Yggdrasil Yggdrasil () is an immense and central sacred tree in Norse cosmology. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds. Yggdrasil is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in t ...

, being the home of the external cosmic forces. Utgard needs to be compared with the

Midgard In Germanic cosmology, Midgard (an anglicised form of Old Norse ; Old English , Old Saxon , Old High German , and Gothic ''Midjun-gards''; "middle yard", "middle enclosure") is the name for Earth (equivalent in meaning to the Greek term : oikou ...

, the world of human affairs, and

Asgard In Nordic mythology, Asgard (Old Norse: ''Ásgarðr''; "Garden of the Æsir") is a location associated with the gods. It appears in several Old Norse sagas and mythological texts, including the Eddas, however it has also been suggested to be refe ...

, variously attested at the crux of the matter, the centre of the world, as identified with

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

References

* * Fictional elements introduced in the 12th century Places in Norse mythology Fictional fortifications {{Norse-myth-stub