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So-o-o-orta... I'm not sure that "Giants below" is quite right (leaving aside the thorny issue of whether Giant is that great a translation, blah blah blah). When Thor goes off on his Jotun-bashing expeditions, he's usually described as heading East--Jotunheim lies East of the void around Midgard. Muspellheim where the fire-Giants live is off to the South of Midgard. Nifelheim lies North and down, of course, but even though that's a realm of ice it is not where the frost-Giants live (they seem to hang out in Jotunheim).
Down is where Hel has her domain, though, and between Helheim and Midgard we find Svartalfheim, the realm of the dark Elves. (Not evil and not actually dark in any physical sense, they just live underground.) In Hel's realm itself we find Nastrond, where the wicked get turned into a running buffet for wolves and dragons. So yeah, places for the dead are down, although only Nastrond really fits the usual image of a "Hell": a place of punishment and monsters.
As for Mannaz and its place in the Futhark... I dunno, I think it makes a certain amount of sense. It is in the middle of Tyr's aett, for a start, and there's something satisfying about the rune for Man standing where it does: between the Horse and the Lake, between the energetic drives of the animal and the deep waters of the Mysteries. |
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