The Ritual’s Creature Jötunn & Norse Mythology Origins Explained

The Netflix original horror movie, The Ritual, channeled some of the darker, more terrifying elements of Norse mythology through its introduction of a terrifying creature known as the Jötunn. Directed by David Bruckner, The Ritual premiered in 2017 to strong critical consensus, which praised the pervading sense of dread throughout the film. The Ritual’s all-star British cast of Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, and Sam Troughton were also given plaudits for their compelling portrayal of a strained group of friends’ increasingly frayed decision-making. However, it is The Ritual monster — the incredibly disturbing Jötunn — that’s meant the 2017 horror movie is still creating conversations.

The Ritual is based on a book that follows a group of friends hiking trip in Sweden to memorialize their recently murdered friend. While certainly not a traditional creature feature, The Ritual explores traditional elements of Norse mythology through its iconic Jötunn, which grants a spooky, ethereal feel to proceedings. The Ritual’s visual design was especially noteworthy, as the Jötunn mixes folklore horror and mythology with an aesthetic that feels more at home in a movie like The Thing or Silent Hill. While this approach to Jötunn helped The Ritual stand out, it certainly begs the question of the monster’s mythological roots and how they differ from the tale presented by Bruckner’s movie.

The Ritual: What Is The Jötunn?

As the friends make their way into the woods for their hiking trip, they stray from the marked trails and venture into unknown territory. Soon after, they start seeing strange markings on trees and dead animals that have been ravaged and hung. These bone-chilling images certainly do not provide any semblance of security for the viewer, instead granting The Ritual a layer of dread-fascination as the group begins experiencing odd phenomena such as nightmares, visions of a strange, horned figure in the trees, and eventually physical harm that leads to death.

In The Ritual‘s penultimate scene, the surviving men discover a creature in the woods that, perhaps unsurprisingly, is connected to the macabre effigy they had previously discovered. This horrifying tribute of a decapitated person built from branches with antlers for hands is revealed to be worshiped by a cult and given sacrifices, so they can sustain immortality in return. According to the cult, the being they worship is the Jötunn, a bastard son of Loki.

While it’s certainly not uncommon for Gods throughout various pantheons to engage in behaviors that result in any number of strange offspring, Loki is particularly well-known for being a trickster in Norse mythology as well as a shapeshifter. Because of this, it’s no surprise that his offspring would be odd and even malevolent, as Loki is often depicted as working against both Gods and humanity as it suits him. However, there is little — if anything — in Norse mythology that links Loki to a monster like the Jötunn in The Ritual.

The Jötunn’s Role In Norse Mythology Explained

In Norse mythology, a Jötunn is most commonly known as a species of giant that are marked with having superior strength and the advantage of massive size to tower over their mythological rivals, and in classical stories they aren’t too dissimilar from a troll or ogre. While this description of the creature differs from The Ritual‘s interpretation, the film’s adaptation does align with their mythology as nature spirits who are set apart from the Vanir and Æsir.

Despite this tendency not to side with the traditional Gods of the Norse pantheon, some of the Gods are said to be descendants of the ancient Jötunn, including Odin and Thor himself. The Jötunn, therefore, are some of the oldest beings in the Nine Worlds, and the stories about them frequently represent man’s often tumultuous relationship with nature, a common theme in folk horror like The Ritual, as it is a place where legend, tradition, and the modern world often collide.

How The Ritual’s VFX Supervisor Ben White Brought Jötunn To Life

The Ritual monster is cemented in the complex and interesting tapestry of Norse mythology, but the character design is also a big reason it has been so impactful with audiences. One of the people responsible for bringing Jötunn to life is The Ritual‘s VFX supervisor Ben White, who worked on the movie with his VFX company Nvizible. Talking about the work on The Ritual (via Art of VFX), White revealed it all began by seeing the impressive concept art for the Jötunn from director David Bruckner. He was further excited when he read the script and particularly liked the way the monster was not fully revealed until the last act of the movie, similar to the shark in Jaws.

White praised the work of Bruckner and concept artist Keith Thompson in the original design of the creature and explained their vision of “a Norse animal god and how to give it human qualities.” This resulted in the design of something that resembled a giant stag or moose, yet had the unique feature of a human torso as its head. White also explained one aspect of the monster that evolved over time was the area of its body where the eyes appeared. White explains the gruesome inspiration Bruckner had for it as “he wanted it to look like the male genitals had been ripped out, leaving the flaps of skin.”

In the end, White was thrilled with the way Jötunn looked in the final movie with the few quality shots being the more effective and feasible way to deliver a memorable monster in an indie movie like The Ritual. When asked about his favorite moment in the movie with the monster he helped create, White referred to the big reveal shot as Jötunn bends down and peers through the doorway. White says “Its genuinely disturbing and I’ve not seen anything quite like it before.” Sequences like that certainly highlight The Ritual‘s monster as a unique and memorable creation.