Jotunheim

Jotunheim, also known as Jotunheimr and Utgard, was one of the Nine Realms of the World Tree and the home of the ancient race of Jotnar, the giants. It was the final destination of Kratos and Atreus on their journey to scatter the ashes of Faye, and the place where Atreus discovered his heritage. Its landscape held mountains so high their peaks rose above the clouds, and time itself ran faster there than in the other realms, so that those capable of aging did so more quickly within its bounds.

Sanctuary of the Jotnar#

Jotunheim was found and named by Bergelmir and his wife, the only Jotnar to survive Odin's slaughter of their forefather Ymir. It became the sanctuary of the giants, a home where they could grow and prosper. But fearing his own downfall and Asgard's at the hands of the giants come Ragnarok, Odin and the Aesir began to slaughter the Jotnar throughout the Nine Realms. On the verge of extinction, the giants retreated to Jotunheim with the help of Tyr, who took no part in the killings and instead aided their escape by removing access to the realm everywhere except for two paths in Midgard. One lay atop Midgard's tallest peak and required a sacred rune to activate, while the other was hidden in the Realm Between Realms.

After the withdrawal of nearly all the giants who remained in Midgard, Jotunheim became the tomb of the Jotnar, their corpses littering its mountains as they awaited the return of their guardian. The other realms believed the survivors had gathered there as an army, priming for the day they would take their revenge against the Aesir, an eventuality that fed Odin's paranoia, since he and the Aesir had no means of setting foot in the realm again.

The journey of Kratos and Atreus#

When Kratos and Atreus finally reached Jotunheim to scatter Faye's ashes, their guardian was at last reunited with her people, for Faye had been a Jotunn. It was here that Atreus discovered his own heritage, realizing that he and the World Serpent Jormungandr were the last living Jotnar in Midgard. Within a great room carved into a hand-shaped mountain, the highest peak in the Nine Realms, statues, carvings, and written prophecies adorned the walls, including a mural depicting the story of Loki. After returning to Midgard, Kratos and Atreus did not go back, since repeated travel risked Odin realizing that Mimir's eyes were the key to reaching the realm.

Ironwood and the surviving giants#

In the second era, the realm returned and could be reached through a mystic gateway modified by Brok and Sindri. Its region of Ironwood was revealed as a lush and grand landscape of stone trees, rivers, and abundant wildlife, brighter and warmer than the realm had once seemed, and both Mimir and Freya admired its beauty. There the giantess Angrboda, one of the last living Jotnar, had created wards to keep the wildlife at bay and remain hidden from Asgard. When Atreus found himself in Jotunheim, Angrboda showed him a copy of the mural carved in the Giants' Fingers, which revealed the prophecy that Kratos would die at the hands of Thor and that Atreus would go to serve Odin.

Angrboda later revealed a bag containing the souls of the surviving giants, who had hidden their souls inside spirit stones to escape Odin's wrath, and she entrusted Atreus with looking after them. The two also confronted Angrboda's grandmother Gryla, destroying the magic cauldron she used to steal animal souls. The faster passage of time in the realm was made plain when a visit that felt brief to Atreus had cost him two days in Midgard, a quirk the realm shared with the Light of Alfheim. After Ragnarok, Kratos could visit Jotunheim with Freya and Mimir, who thanked Angrboda for saving them in Asgard and praised her paintings, finding her still the realm's keeper.