Of ettins and ents

The three Old English terms for "giant"-þyrs, eoten and ent-all have difficult etymologies. Traditionally linked with eat, Scandinavian cognates of eoten suggest that the term formerly inflected as a nasal stem. Þyrs, on the other hand, has an unambiguous etymological connection with "wounding" (comparable to that represented by þorn), while ent seems best explained as reflecting a loanword.