Jörmungandr

In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr (Old Norse: Jǫrmungandr, meaning "huge monster", pronounced [ˈjɔ̃rmoŋˌɡɑndr]), also known as the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent (Old Norse: Miðgarðsormr), is a sea serpent and the middle child of Loki and the giantess Angrboða. According to the Prose Edda, Odin took Loki’s three children — the wolf Fenrir, Hel, and Jörmungandr — from Angrboða and cast Jörmungandr into the great ocean that surrounds Midgard (the human world).

The serpent grew so large that it could encircle the Earth and bite its own tail, making it an example of an Ouroboros. As it surrounds the Earth, it became known as the World Serpent. When it releases its tail, Ragnarök, the end of the world, will begin. Jörmungandr’s arch-nemesis is the thunder god Thor.

Sources

The primary sources for myths about Jörmungandr are the Prose Edda, the skaldic poem Húsdrápa, and the Eddic poems Hymiskviða and Völuspá. Additional sources include the early skaldic poem Ragnarsdrápa and references in other skaldic works. For example, in Þórsdrápa, Loki is referred to as faðir lögseims ("father of the sea thread"). There are also several rune stones depicting the story of Thor fishing for Jörmungandr.

Stories of Jörmungandr

Three preserved myths describe Thor’s encounters with Jörmungandr:

1. The Lifting of the Cat In one tale, Thor meets the giant king Útgarða-Loki, who challenges him to several feats of strength. One of these is to lift the World Serpent, disguised by magic as a giant cat. Thor attempts to lift the cat, but can only manage to raise one of its paws off the ground. Later, Útgarða-Loki explains that Thor's attempt was impressive because the serpent was stretched so much that it nearly reached the heavens. The spectators were frightened when they saw the paw lift. Had Thor succeeded in lifting the cat completely, it would have altered the boundaries of the universe.

2. Thor's Fishing Trip Jörmungandr and Thor meet again when Thor goes fishing with the giant Hymir. When Hymir refuses to give Thor bait, Thor chops off the head of Hymir’s largest ox to use as bait. They row out to a place where Hymir usually fishes and where he has caught two whales. Thor insists on rowing farther out to sea, despite Hymir’s protests. Thor prepares a strong line and large hook, baited with the ox head. Jörmungandr bites the bait, and Thor pulls the serpent from the water, confronting it with the serpent spraying venom.

   Hymir is struck with fear. As Thor grabs his hammer to strike and kill the serpent, the giant cuts the line, causing the serpent to sink back into the sea and return to its original position, encircling the Earth.

   The Hymiskviða poem has a similar conclusion to the story, but earlier Scandinavian versions of the myth in skaldic poetry suggest that Thor successfully catches and kills the serpent by striking it on the head.

   Thor’s fishing trip for Jörmungandr was one of the most popular motifs in Norse art. Four rune stones are believed to depict this myth: the Altuna Rune Stone and the Ardre VIII Image Stone in Sweden, the Hørdum Rune Stone in Denmark, and a stone slab in Gosforth, Cumbria, crafted by the same artist as the Gosforth Cross.

   Many of these depictions show the giant cutting the fishing line; on the Altuna Stone, Thor is shown alone, suggesting he successfully killed the serpent. The Ardre VIII Stone may show multiple phases of the event, with images of a man entering a house where an ox is present, two men leaving the house (one with something on his shoulder), and two men fishing with a spear. This image has been dated to the 8th century, suggesting the story had been passed down largely unchanged for centuries before being recorded in the Prose Edda around 1220.

3. Ragnarök As described in Snorri’s Gylfaginning, based on the Völuspá, a sign of Ragnarök is the violent turmoil of the sea when Jörmungandr releases its tail from its mouth. The seas flood, and the serpent surges forth, spitting venom that fills the air and waters. Alongside Jörmungandr is Fenrir, whose eyes and nostrils glow with fire, and whose jaws span the Earth and sky. They will join the sons of Muspell to confront the gods on the plains of Vigrid. This is where the final battle between Thor and Jörmungandr is said to take place. Thor will eventually kill the serpent, but will fall dead after taking nine steps, poisoned by Jörmungandr’s venom.

   Thor’s last battle with Jörmungandr, along with other scenes from Ragnarök, has been identified on the Gosforth Cross.

Analysis

Thor’s fishing trip for Jörmungandr has been seen as a parallel to the Hindu god Indra’s battle against the dragon Vritra in Vedic mythology and is also connected to a Baltic-Slavic motif of a storm god fighting a serpent. Preben Meulengracht Sørensen suggests the episode portrays Thor's youthful indiscretion, which is recounted to emphasize the cosmic balance in which Jörmungandr plays a significant role. John Lindow draws a parallel between Jörmungandr’s bite into its own tail and Fenrir’s binding, as part of the recurring theme of bound monsters in Norse mythology, where enemies of the gods are bound but destined to break free at Ragnarök.

Name

The asteroid 471926 Jörmungandr was named after the mythological sea serpent. The official naming was published by the Minor Planet Center on September 25, 2018 (M.P.C. 111804).