Jörmungandr

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the sea serpent in Norse mythology. For the Marvel Comics version, see Midgard Serpent (Marvel Comics). For the manga series, see Jormungand (manga). For the extinct genus of recumbirostran, see Joermungandr bolti. For the extinct genus of mosasaur, see Jormungandr walhallaensis.

Jörmungandr in the sea during Ragnarök, drawn by the Norwegian illustrator Louis Moe in 1898.

In

Old Norse: Miðgarðsormr), is an unfathomably large sea serpent or worm who dwells in the world sea, encircling the Earth (Midgard) and biting his own tail, an example of an ouroboros. As a result of it surrounding Midgard (the Earth) it is referred to as the World Serpent. Jörmungandr releasing its tail is one of the signs of the beginning of Ragnarök
(the final battle of the world).

Jörmungandr is said to be the middle child of the trickster god

archfoes. During Ragnarök
, Thor and Jörmungandr will fight each other to the death.

Etymology

The name Jǫrmungandr is a poetic title and consists of the prefix jǫrmun- and the word gandr. The prefix "jǫrmun-" denotes something huge, vast, or superhuman.[2] The word "gandr" can mean a variety of things in Old Norse, but mainly refers to elongated entities and or supernatural beings. Gandr can refer to, among other things: snake, fjord, river, staff, cane, mast, penis, bind, and the like (mainly in "supernatural" or "living" senses).[3][4] The term "Jörmungandr" therefore has several possible meanings in connection with its mythology, such as: "the vast serpent", "the vast river" (a synonym for the sea where he dwells), "the vast staff or stick" (a connection to the world tree Yggdrasil), as well as "the vast bind" (the serpent's coiling around the world, biting its own tail, symbolising the world's circle of life).[3][4]

Sources

The major sources for myths about Jörmungandr are the Prose Edda, the

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 several image stones depicting the story of Thor fishing for Jörmungandr.

Stories

There are three preserved myths detailing Thor's encounters with Jörmungandr:

Lifting the cat

Thor lifts Jormungandr, disguised as a cat. (Lorenz Frølich)

In one story, Thor encounters the giant king Útgarða-Loki and has to perform deeds for him, one of which is a challenge of Thor's strength. Útgarða-Loki goads Thor into attempting to lift the World Serpent, disguised by magic as a huge cat. Thor grabs the cat around its midsection but manages to raise the cat only high enough for one of its paws to leave the floor. Útgarða-Loki later explains his deception and that Thor's lifting the cat was an impressive deed, as he had stretched the serpent so that it had almost reached the sky. Many watching became fearful when they saw one paw lift off the ground.[5] If Thor had managed to lift the cat completely from the ground, he would have altered the boundaries of the universe.[6]

Thor's fishing trip

Thor's fishing trip depicted on the Altuna Runestone, one of the few confirmed Viking Age depictions of Jörmungandr.

Jörmungandr and Thor meet again when Thor goes fishing with the giant

skaldic poetry, Thor successfully captures and kills the serpent by striking it on the head.[8][9]

Thor's fishing for Jörmungandr was one of the most popular

Norse art. Four picture stones that are believed to depict the myth are the Altuna Runestone and the Ardre VIII image stone in Sweden, the Hørdum stone in Denmark, and a stone slab at Gosforth, Cumbria by the same sculptor as the Gosforth Cross.[10][11][12] Many of these depictions show the giant cutting the fishing line; on the Altuna stone, Thor is alone, implying he successfully killed the serpent.[8] The Ardre VIII stone may depict more than one stage in the events: a man entering a house where an ox is standing, two men leaving, one with something on his shoulder, and two men using a spear to fish.[13] The image on this stone has been dated to the 8th[10] to 10th[14] century. If the stone is correctly interpreted as a depiction of this myth, it would indicate that the story was preserved essentially unchanged for several centuries prior to the recording of the version in the Prose Edda around the year 1220.[13][9]

Ragnarök

As recounted in Snorri's Gylfaginning based on the Eddic poem

nine paces, having been poisoned by the serpent's deadly venom.[15] Thor's final battle with Jörmungandr has been identified, with other scenes of Ragnarök, on the Gosforth Cross.[12]

Analysis

Thor's fishing for Jörmungandr has been taken as one of the similarities between him and the Hindu god

Vedic mythology slays the dragon Vritra,[16][17] and has also been related to a Balto-Slavic motif of the storm god combatting a serpent.[18] An alternative analysis of the episode by Preben Meulengracht Sørensen is that it was a youthful indiscretion on the part of Thor, retold to emphasize the order and balance of the cosmos, in which Jörmungandr played a vital role.[19] John Lindow draws a parallel between Jörmungandr'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 Ragnarök.[20]

Eponym

Asteroid

M.P.C. 111804).[22]

Popular culture media appearances

Jörmungandr has made a variety of appearances in popculture media. Some notable examples include:

Gallery

  • Thor fishing for the Midgard Serpent in an illustration from an 18th-century Icelandic manuscript
    Thor fishing for the Midgard Serpent in an illustration from an 18th-century Icelandic manuscript
  • Thor Battering the Midgard Serpent (1790) by Henry Fuseli
    Thor Battering the Midgard Serpent (1790) by Henry Fuseli
  • Thor and the Midgard Serpent (1905) by Emil Doepler
    Thor and the Midgard Serpent (1905) by Emil Doepler
  • The children of Loki (1920) by Willy Pogany
    The children of Loki (1920) by Willy Pogany
  • Jörmungandr rising to the ox head bait, from the 17th-century Icelandic manuscript AM 738 4to
    Jörmungandr rising to the ox head bait, from the 17th-century Icelandic manuscript AM 738 4to
  • Thor and Jörmungandr by Lorenz Frølich
    Thor and Jörmungandr by Lorenz Frølich

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Snorri Sturluson; Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (trans.) (1916). The Prose Edda. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation. Gylfaginning ch.LI , p. 109.
  2. ^ "Jörmun-". old-icelandic.vercel.app. Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Fornvännen 94" (PDF). Fornvännen. Journal of Swedish Antiquarian Research (in Swedish): 61. 1999. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Gand, seid og åndevind" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  5. ^ Snorri Sturluson (1916) Gylfaginning ch. xlvi, xlvii, pp. 65, 67.
  6. ISBN 978-0-19-026298-3
    .
  7. ^ a b Snorri Sturluson (1916) Gylfaginning ch. xlviii, pp. 68–70.
  8. ^
    ISBN 0-8153-1660-7
    .
  9. ^ a b Clunies Ross, Margaret (1989). "Two of Þórr's Great Fights according to Hymiskviða" (PDF). Leeds Studies in English. 20: 8–10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 April 2019.
  10. ^ a b Meulengracht Sørensen (1986) p. 260, (2002) p. 123.
  11. ISBN 978-1-316-50129-0
    .
  12. ^
    ISBN 0-19-513479-6. Archived
    from the original on 13 April 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  13. ^ a b Meulengracht Sørensen (1986) p. 269, (2002) p. 130.
  14. ^ Kopár, p. 208.
  15. ^ Snorri Sturluson (2016) Gylfaginning ch. li, pp. 78–80.
  16. OCLC 460550410
    .
  17. OCLC 459390464
    .
  18. OCLC 849278587
    .
  19. ^ Meulengracht Sørensen (1986) p. 272, (2002) p. 132.
  20. ISBN 0-19-515382-0
    .
  21. ^ "471926 Jormungandr (2013 KN6)". Minor Planet Center. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  22. ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  23. ^ Tyler, Adrienne (5 December 2020). "Vikings Season 6: What The Giant Serpent Creature Is". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  24. ^ "God of War: Ragnarok: Who is Jormungandr?". spieltimes.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2023.

Bibliography

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jörmungandr&oldid=1218773664"