The Terrifying Jotunn: Unveiling the Norse Monster in The Ritual

The Ritual's Dark and Terrifying Elements

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 Jotunn.

Jotunn In The Forest Ritual Netflix Movie

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 Dark and Terrifying Elements

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.

Jotunn In The Forest Ritual Netflix Movie

However, it is The Ritual monster the incredibly disturbing Jotunn that's meant the 2017 horror movie is still creating conversations.

The Ritual Jotunn Creature

The Monster In The Ritual Is The Offspring Of A God

The friends in The Ritual start experiencing odd phenomena such as nightmares, visions of a strange, horned figure in the trees, and eventually physical harm that leads to death.

The monster in the woods in The Ritual

In The Ritual's penultimate scene, the surviving men discover a creature in the woods that 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.

An image of the Jotunn effigy in The Ritual

According to the cult, the being they worship is the Jotunn, a bastard son of Loki.

The Jotunn carrying a body with a burning cabin in the background in The Ritual

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.

The Jotunn effigy created by the cult in 2017 horror movie The Ritual

The Real Monster In The Ritual Is A Giant

In Norse mythology, a Jotunn is most commonly known as a species of giant that is marked for 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.

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 Jotunn, including Odin and Thor himself.

The Jotunn, 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.

The Visual Design of the Jotunn

The character design is a key reason the Jotunn has been so impactful on audiences. One of the people responsible for bringing Jotunn 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, White revealed it all began by seeing the impressive concept art for the Jotunn from director David Bruckner.

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.

In the end, White was thrilled with the way Jotunn looked in the final cut of the 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.