After the first gods, Bor's sons Odin, Vili, and Ve, killed the giant Ymir and made the world, they granted land to the descendants of the giants along the outer shores of the ocean. It was a cold, forbidding land of vast, towering forests, mighty mountains, rivers, and caverns. The giants inhabiting it were frost giants and mountain giants.
Another name for Jotunheim was Utgard (or Utgardr, "outer enclosure"), though Utgard was sometimes regarded more specifically as the capital city of Jotunheim. Utgard was first settled by Norfi, or Narfi, the father of Nott (Night).