Midgard Serpent
The Midgard snake (world snake ) ( Old Norse Miðgarðsormr ; also Jörmungandr , Old Norse: Jörmungandr ) is a world ( Midgard ) spanning sea serpent in Germanic mythology that lives in the primeval ocean . Like Hel and the Fenriswolf , she was also conceived by Loki with the giantess Angrboda and thus belongs to the three Germanic enemies of the world. Thor meets her three times and takes two steps to destroy her.
etymology
The name Midgardschlange has not been passed down in the Edda songs or by the skalds. There is spoken of Jörmungandr ("earth magic wand" - a kenning for "huge monster"), Ormr or Naðr (snake, dragon). The lexeme "Jörmunr" (the mighty) is also used in the Thulur as a kenning for Odin.
Stories
Thor's fishing trip
In the "Song of Hymir" ( Hymiskviða ), which is part of the Liederedda , the myth of "Thor's fishing trip" is described, during which he rowed out with the reluctant giant Hymir to catch fish because his unbridled appetite had emptied Hymir's pantry prematurely. Before that, Thor tears the head off one of Hymir's bulls to tie it to the line of his fishing rod as bait. Finally, the Midgard snake bites and Thor succeeds in pulling it out of the water, where he wants to kill it with a blow of his magic hammer Mjolnir . Hymir, however, cuts the leash at the sight of the Midgard serpent, so that he allows the beast to escape. Thor hurls his hammer at her, but the outcome of the argument remains open. According to the Edda, Thor and Hymir both come back from fishing, in the Prose Edda Thor kills Hymir out of anger and returns to land alone.
Thor and the cat
During his stay in Utgard , Thor meets the Midgard snake a second time , which the giant king Utgardloki used magic to disguise as a giant cat. In a competition, Thor is given the task of lifting the huge cat to prove his strength. Thor fails to lift the monstrous creature all the way up, but he is able to lift it up enough to leave it with one leg off the ground. When Utgardloki later dissolves the illusion, he is impressed by Thor's strength.
Ragnarok - the final battle
The Midgard snake is also called the world snake because it bites its own tail (thus forming a closed circle). When she lets go of her tail, the world fire begins, Ragnarök . For the third and last time, Thor meets the snake that leaves the ocean to poison the sky. He kills her with Mjolnir, his hammer, but can only take nine steps back before he dies of her poison.
reception
In the Hansa-Park in Sierksdorf there is a steel roller coaster for children with the name " Serpent of Midgard ", in which the legend is thematized.
See also
Literature on Myth
- Jan de Vries: Old Germanic history of religion. Volume 2: The gods - ideas about the cosmos - the fall of paganism. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-002807-2 .
- Rudolf Simek : Lexicon of Germanic Mythology (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 368). 3rd, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-520-36803-X .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jan de Vries : Old Norse etymological dictionary. 3rd edition, photomechanical reprint of the 2nd, improved edition 1962. Brill, Leiden 1977.