Fornjót (Old Norse: Fornjótr) is a jötunn in Norse mythology, and the father of personified natural forces: Hlér ('sea'), Logi ('fire') and Kári ('wind'). He is also portrayed as the ancestor of the royal dynasty of Ynglings, ruling over the mythic northern lands of Finnland ("land of the Sámi") and Kvenland. The principal study of this figure is by Margaret Clunies Ross.
Name
The etymology of the Old Norse name Fornjótr remains unclear. It is often interpreted as forn-jótr ('ancient or primordial jötunn'), or as for-njótr ('original owner', or 'destroyer'). Alternative meanings such as Forn-njótr ('one-who-enjoys-sacrifices') or Forn-þjótr ('ancient screamer') have also been proposed.
According to Peter Erasmus Müller (1818), Fornjótr could be interpreted as the "original owner" (primus occupans vel utens) of Norway.
An Old English cognate of Fornjótr may appear in a plant-name attested in the Cleopatra Glossary (as forneotes folm) and in Bald's Leechbook as fornetes folm. Folm means 'hand, palm', and, lacking a better explanation, scholars have suggested that fornetes is an Old English form of the name Fornjótr, such that the plant's name meant 'Fornet's palm'. The plant denoted by this name has not been certainly identified, but Peter Bierbaumer argued for a species of marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza), partly on account of the supposed similarity of their tubers to hands.
Kings are in bold.