In Norse mythology, Jǫrmungandr (Old Norse: [ˈjɔrmoŋˌɡɑndz̠], meaning "huge monster"), also known as the Midgard (World) Wyrm (Old Norse: Miðgarðsormr), is a sea serpent, the middle child of the giantess Angrboða and Loki. According to the Prose Edda, Óðinn took Loki's three children by Angrboða—the wolf Fenrir, Hel, and Jǫrmungandr—and tossed Jǫrmungandr into the great ocean that encircles Miðgarðr. The serpent grew so large that it was able to surround the earth and grasp its own tail. As a result, it received the name of the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent. When it releases its tail, Ragnarǫk will begin. Jǫrmungandr's arch-enemy is the thunder-god, Þórr. It is an example of an ouroboros.
The first part Jǫrmun is a cognate to the English name Irmin (also Ermin, probably unrelated to the identical Latin-based name) and gandr is a doublet with English gaunt (skinny) probably also a cognate in the obsolete sense (a magical staff, a wand).
Myths and Legends[]
There are three preserved myths detailing Þórr's encounters with Jǫrmungandr:
Lifting the cat[]
In one, Þórr encounters the giant king Útgarða-Loki and has to perform deeds for him, one of which was to lift the serpent in the form of a colossal cat, disguised by magic, as a test of strength. Þórr is unable to lift such a monstrous creature as Jǫrmungandr, but does manage to raise it far enough that it lets go of the ground with one of its four feet. When Útgarða-Loki later explains his deception, he describes Þórr's lifting of the cat as an impressive deed.
Þórr's fishing trip[]
Þórr goes fishing for the Midgard Serpent in this picture from an 18th-century Icelandic manuscript
Another encounter comes when Þórr goes fishing with the giant Hymir. When Hymir refuses to provide Þórr with bait, Þórr strikes the head off Hymir's largest ox to use as his bait. They row to a point where Hymir often sat and caught flat fish, where he drew up two whales, but Þórr demands to go further out to sea, and does so despite Hymir's protest.
Þórr then prepares a strong line and a large hook and baits it with the ox head, which Jǫrmungandr bites. Þórr pulls the serpent from the water, and the two face one another, Jǫrmungandr dribbling poison and blood. Hymir goes pale with fear, and as Þórr grabs his hammer to kill the serpent, the giant cuts the line, leaving the serpent to sink beneath the waves.
This encounter with Þórr seems to have been one of the most popular motifs in Norse art. Four picture stones that have been linked with the myth are the Altuna Runestone, Ardre VIII image stone, the Hørdum stone, and the Gosforth Cross. A stone slab that may be a portion of a second cross at Gosforth also shows a fishing scene using an ox head. Of these, the Ardre VIII stone is the most interesting, with a man entering a house where an ox is standing, and another scene showing two men using a spear to fish. The image on this stone is dated to the 8th or 9th century. If the stone is correctly interpreted as depicting this myth, it demonstrates that the myth was in a stable form for a period of about 500 years prior to the recording of the myth in the Prose Edda around the year 1220.
Final battle[]
Þórr fighting the Midgard Serpent, Emil Doepler painting.
The last meeting between the serpent and Þórr is predicted to occur at Ragnarǫk, when Jǫrmungandr will come out of the sea and poison the ocean and the sky. Þórr will kill Jǫrmungandr and then walk nine paces before falling dead, having been poisoned by the serpent's venom.
Analysis[]
John Lindow draws a parallel between Jǫrmungandr's biting of its own tail and the binding of Fenrir, as part of a recurring theme of the bound monster in Norse mythology, where an enemy of the gods is bound but destined to break free at Ragnarǫk.
Family[]
Sources[]
"The children of Loki" (1920) by Willy Pogany.
The major sources for myths about Jǫrmungandr are the Prose Edda, the skaldic poem Húsdrápa, and the Eddic poems Hymiskviða and Vǫluspá. Other sources include kennings in other skaldic poems. For example, in Þórsdrápa, faðir lögseims, "father of the sea-thread", is used as a kenning for Loki. There are also image stones from ancient times depicting the story of Þórr fishing for Jǫrmungandr.
Gallery[]
In popular culture[]
- Jǫrmungandr's name has been referenced in Final Fantasy XIV Online under the name Miðgarðsormr, where he is a large, serpent like dragon.
- Jǫrmungandr appears in God of War (2018) and its sequel, God of War Ragnarök, as a massive, blue-skinned serpent that inhabits the Lake of Nine. Its origins differ greatly from the original mythology, originally being a normal snake from Jötunheim, having had the soul of a Giant placed inside it by Atreus and Angrboda, which caused it to begin growing exponentially. It would eventually arrive in Asgard and battle Thor at Ragnarök, before being sent back in time to before its own birth by a powerful strike of the thunder god’s hammer.