What is Jormungandr?
Jormungandr is a giant serpent monster of Norse mythology. Also called the “Midgard Serpent,” he lies at the bottom of the sea surrounding Midgard, the world where humans live, and is said to circle the whole world biting his own tail. Because of this tail-biting form, he is sometimes mentioned alongside the ouroboros.
His story is handed down in the Prose Edda, compiled in 13th-century Iceland by Snorri Sturluson, and in the Poetic Edda, a collection of older poems.
The children of Loki
Jormungandr is the child of the trickster god Loki and the giantess Angrboda. His siblings are the giant wolf Fenrir and Hel, the goddess who rules the land of the dead. Fearing a prophecy that these three would bring disaster on the gods, the chief god Odin threw Jormungandr into the sea. But the serpent kept growing in the sea until at last he was huge enough to encircle the world.
His feud with the thunder god Thor
Jormungandr’s archenemy is the thunder god Thor. Once, Thor went fishing with the giant Hymir using an ox head as bait and hooked Jormungandr. Just as Thor raised his hammer (Mjolnir), the terrified Hymir cut the line, and the serpent sank back to the bottom of the sea, it is said.
At Ragnarok, the final battle between the gods and the giants, Jormungandr will rise from the sea onto land and spew poison over the earth and sky. Thor will finally strike him down, but is foretold to fall dead after walking nine steps because of the poison he was covered in.
