Frost Giant

(From D&D 5th Edition Monster Manual - 2014):

Gigantic reavers from the freezing lands beyond civilization, frost giants are fierce, hardy warriors that survive on the spoils of their raids and pillaging. They respect only brute strength and skill in battle, demonstrating both with their scars and the grisly trophies they take from their enemies.

Hearts of Ice. Frost giants are creatures of ice and snow. Their hair and beards are pale white or light blue, matted with frost and clattering with icicles. Their flesh is as blue as glacial ice.

Frost giants dwell in high peaks and glacial rifts where the sun hides its golden head by winter. Crops don’t grow in their frozen homelands, and they keep little livestock beyond what they capture in their raids. They hunt the wild game of the tundra and mountains but don’t cook it, since meat from a fresh kill tastes sufficiently hot to their palate.

Reavers of the Storm. The war horns of the frost giants howl as they march from their ice fortresses and glacial rifts amid the howling blizzard. When that storm clears, villages and steadings lay in ruins, ravens descending to feed on the corpses of any creatures foolish or unlucky enough to stand in the giants’ path.

Inns and taverns suffer the brunt of the damage, their cellars gutted and their casks of ale and mead gone. Smithies are likewise toppled, their iron and steel claimed. Curiously undisturbed are the houses of moneylenders and wealthy citizens, for the reavers have little use for coins or baubles. Frost giants prize gems and jewelry large enough to be worn and noticed. However, even those treasures are most often saved for trading opportunities with other giants more adept at crafting metal weapons and armor.

Rulers by Might. Frost giants respect brute strength above all else, and a frost giant’s place in the ordning depends on evidence of physical might, such as superior musculature, scars from battles of renown, or trophies fashioned from the bodies of slain enemies. Tasks such as hunting, childrearing, and crafting are given to giants based on their physical strength and hardiness.

When frost giants of different clans meet and their status is unclear, they wrestle for dominance. Such meetings might resemble festivals where giants cheer on their champions, making bold boasts and challenges. At other times, the informal ceremony can become a chaotic free-for-all where both clans rush into a melee that fells trees, shatters the ice on frozen lakes, and causes avalanches on the snowy mountainsides.

Make War, Not Goods. Though frost giants consider the menial crafting of goods beneath them, carving and leatherwork are valued skills. They make their clothing from the skins and bones of beasts, and carve bone or ivory into jewelry and the handles of weapons and tools. They reuse the weapons and armor of their smaller foes, stringing shields into scale armor and lashing sword blades to wooden hafts to make giant-sized spears. The greatest battle trophies come from conquered dragons, and the greatest frost giant jarls wear armor of dragon scales or wield picks and mauls made of a dragon’s teeth or claws.

(From Volo's Guide to Monsters - 2016):

Frost giants dwell in the remote, frozen places of the world. Anything warmer than the flesh of a recently killed elk is as flame to them. As a sailor fears the howl of the wind heralding a storm, the denizens of icecapped mountains and northern steppes shudder at the war horns that presage the arrival of Thrym's blueskinned, icy children.

Ordning of Might. Position within the frost giant ordning is determined by sheer, brute strength. Frost giants know that those that use cunning, agility, and magic are dangerous foes and can sometimes overcome pure strength, but never in a straightforward, fair manner; enemies that act that way are maug, and strength alone is maat. 

Doubt or disagreement between frost giants over which is strongest is settled by a trial of strength. Such a contest typically involves wrestling but can also be a rock-throwing competition, a hunt, or one-onone combat. 

To show proof of their superiority, frost giants keep and display trophies of their victims. Mammoth tusks, griffon beaks, and manticore tails adorn the walls of frost giant lairs. Formidable humanoid enemies are memorialized in trophies, too, but only rarely do giants put the heads or bodies on display. A human hero's greatsword or a wizard's staff is a more appropriate trophy in such cases. 

A frost giant's armor and weapons are as much a record of its battle honors as its trophy collection is, for those who know how to read the signs. Notches carved into the haft of a weapon show the number and type of foes it has brought down. Horns, feathers, claws, and tusks affixed to helmets and armor serve as decorations commemorating the giant's greatest feats of strength. 

The ordning is determined by strength and strength alone, and there is no difference in physical prowess between the genders of frost giants. (Most child-rearing duties are handled by the elderly of both sexes, not solely by females.) It is considered highly maug to attack or challenge a pregnant female, even to improve one's standing, just as it would be to attack a frost giant as it slept. 

A frost giant that is innately weaker than its kin has a low rank in the ordning and practically no chance of rising any higher. At times, when a giant becomes intensely frustrated with that situation, it turns to clandestine worship of Vaprak, the deity of trolls and ogres. An individual touched by Vaprak's favor is transformed into an everlasting one-a giant with enough strength to rival the leaders of the clan, but destined to be cast out or destroyed if its secret allegiance becomes known. 

Because strength is their only standard of measurement, frost giants are more likely than other giants to welcome a non-giant into their group. The might of a human who hunts polar bears bare-handed as frost giants do, or who wrestles a frost giant into submission, can't be denied. Such a human could never become the chieftain of a tribe but could earn a place of honor as one blessed by Thrym. 

Ruthless Raiders. Frost giant society has no industry to speak of. It takes what it needs from others, and if it can't take something, it has no need for it. Frost giants do make leather, clothes, and bone tools and adornments from the animals they hunt, but those activities account for almost all of their craftwork.

When frost giants plan a raid on a nearby settlement or outpost, they time it to take place under the cover of a blizzard, believing the storm to be a sign from Thrym that the weak-boned humanoids are ready to be plundered, in the same way that a farmer might look at a rainstorm as a blessing from the harvest god. 

Frost giants recognize two kinds of loot: rod and kvit. Rod ('•red") plunder consists of living creatures, either livestock or slaves. Kvit refers to material goods, the most prized being objects of steel, alcohol, and large gems. Frost giants like to grab gems for adorning their clothing, but ordinary currency is usually left behind after a raid. Tiny, round coins simply have no worth to a frost giant. 

Because frost giants can't stand the heat of a forge, they don't mine their own metal or craft their own weapons and armor. The fire-forged items of steel and iron that they wield and wear are prized as though they were made of gold. The giants are always on the lookout for such booty on their raids, but they don't often come across gear that is large enough for them to wear. Many of the giants in a tribe boast arms and armor handed don from their ancestors; others make do with items cobbled together from smaller parts. Shields sized for a human, for example, can be lashed ·together into a crude suit of scale armor; an anvil riveted onto a log serves as a warhammer. 

Masters of Beasts. Frost giants dominate wild creatures both as evidence of their strength and to use them as hunting companions. They don't, however, have much grasp of animal husbandry, so their "pets" are bullied and beaten into submission more than they're trained. When a frost giant commands a beast to attack, ifs less a command than an acknowledgment to the creature that the giant won't beat it for satisfying its hunger. A creature that proves willful or that resists "training" is fated to end up on the giant's dinner table. 

The roster of creatures in a frost giant lair can include polar bears, winter wolves, and mammoths, but the giants' most prized living possessions are remorhazes. Adult remorhazes are untrainable by anything short of powerful magical compulsion, but one taken as an egg can be trained as it is raised. In fact, remorhaz hatchlings are surprisingly pliant to the frost giants' manner of teaching by bullying.

Thrym's Frigid Might. Thrym has long rivaled his twin brother Surtur for Annam's affection and pride. Frost giants pride themselves on Thrym's victories over Surtur and other 1egendary threats when he proved to have more strength or a steadier heart. Yet, Annam was swayed more by Surtur's well-crafted gifts than by the trophy heads Thrym laid at his feet. For this reason, frost giants bear more ill will toward Annam than most other giants do. 

Unlike his brothers, Thrym is seldom depicted alone. He is usually accompanied by up to ten shield-brothers and shield-sisters, heroic frost giants that won ~uch great glory during the war between giants and dragons thatThrym granted them the honor of fighting forever at his side.