#jormungandr

Middle child of Loki and Angrboða, thrown into the ocean encircling Midgard by Odin due to a prophecy. There he grew so large he encircled the entire realm and grabbed his own tail. He becomes a lifelong foe of the mighty god of thunder, Thor, the two meeting on various occasions. Notably Thor is tasked by the jötunn king Útgarða-Loki to lift a giant cat as a task, the cat secretly Jörmungandr in disguise with magic, and manages to lift a single paw off the ground; had he lifted the entire serpent he might have broken the realms. In another tale he goes fishing with Hymir, another jötunn, and uses a severed ox head as bait to fish, pulling the mighty serpent from the waves. In one version he kills the serpent with his hammer, but in the common retelling Jörmungandr bites the line and escapes back to the depths. Their final meeting will be at Ragnarök where Jörmungandr will release his tail, sending the sea into chaos and spewing poison into the air. Thor will kill him with a single blow from his hammer but will take nine steps, collapsing from the poisonous bite of the serpent.

Pantheon: Norse, Germanic

Domain or Function: Giant serpent that circles Midgard.

Alternate Names: Midgard Serpent, Miðgarðsormr (World Serpent).

Character Traits: Not given any direct character traits.

Visual Traits: Shown in art as a worm or serpent, sometimes with fishlike traits.

Symbolism: Ocean