Jörmungandr

Jörmungandr is the Midgard Serpent of Norse mythology, a child of Loki so huge that it encircles the world under the ocean and bites its own tail, and Thor's destined enemy at Ragnarök.

The Story

Jörmungandr is one of three monstrous children of the trickster god Loki and the giantess Angrboda. Its siblings are the wolf Fenrir and Hel, ruler of the dead. Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda says that Odin, fearing the trouble these children would cause, threw the serpent into the deep sea that surrounds the world. There it grew until it lay around all the lands of Midgard, the world of humans, holding its own tail in its mouth. That is why it is also called the Midgard Serpent (Miðgarðsormr).

Thor meets the serpent three times. In the hall of the giant Útgarða-Loki, Thor is challenged to lift a gray cat and manages to raise only one paw. Afterward the giant admits the cat was Jörmungandr in disguise, and that the whole hall was terrified when Thor nearly lifted the world serpent out of the sea.

The most famous meeting is a fishing trip. Thor rows out with the giant Hymir, baits a hook with the head of an ox, and hooks the serpent. He hauls it up and the two glare at each other while the serpent spits venom. Before Thor can strike with his hammer, the terrified Hymir cuts the line. Versions differ on what happens next: in some the serpent sinks back into the sea, and Snorri mentions a tradition that Thor struck its head off, though he says he believes it still lives.

Their last meeting comes at Ragnarök, the end of the world. The serpent rises from the sea, flooding the land and spraying poison across sky and sea. Thor kills it, then walks nine steps and falls dead from its venom.

Appearance and Powers

The sources describe Jörmungandr as a gigantic serpent, with no mention of wings or legs. Its power lies in its size and its poison. Its tail-in-mouth pose around the world has led many modern writers to compare it to the ouroboros, though the Norse sources never use that symbol or name.

Origins and Sources

Thor's fishing trip is among the oldest recorded Norse myths. It appears in skaldic poems from the 9th and 10th centuries, including Bragi Boddason's Ragnarsdrápa and Úlfr Uggason's Húsdrápa, which survive because Snorri quoted them. The Eddic poems Hymiskviða and Völuspá add more. Carved stones show the same scene: the Altuna runestone in Sweden, the Hørdum stone in Denmark, and the Gosforth fishing stone in Cumbria, England, all show Thor in a boat with a baited line.

Legacy

Jörmungandr is one of the best-known Norse monsters today, appearing in comics, novels, and video games, including the 2018 God of War. These modern versions often add details, such as a talking or friendly serpent, that are not in the medieval sources. For other Norse dragons, see Famous Dragons and German Dragons.

Related

• Níðhöggr: Níðhöggr (Nidhogg) is the dragon of Norse mythology that gnaws the roots of the world tree Yggdrasil and, in the poem Völuspá, sucks the corpses of oath breakers and murderers.
• Fáfnir: Fáfnir is a dwarf turned dragon in Norse legend who guards a cursed hoard of gold until the hero Sigurd kills him by stabbing him from a pit dug in his path.
• Ouroboros: The Ouroboros is a serpent or dragon eating its own tail, a symbol of eternity and endless cycles first found in ancient Egypt and later central to Greek alchemy and Western esoteric art.
• Leviathan: Leviathan is the great sea monster of the Hebrew Bible, a fire-breathing, scale-armored serpent of the deep that only God can tame, descended from the Canaanite sea serpent Lotan.
• Famous Dragons
• Ouroboros
• German Dragons

Sources and Further Reading

• Snorri Sturluson, Edda, Gylfaginning, trans. Anthony Faulkes (Everyman, 1987)
• The Poetic Edda, Hymiskviða and Völuspá, trans. Carolyne Larrington (Oxford World's Classics, 1996)
• John Lindow, Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs (Oxford University Press, 2001)

Cite this entry: “Jörmungandr,” Draconika Encyclopedia of Dragons, https://www.draconika.com/dragons/jormungandr.