#midgard serpent

Thor Went Forth Against Jörmungand

Jörmungandr is one of the children of the Norse God Loki and the jötunn Angrboða, and plays an integral part in Norse mythology. The prefix Jörmun- denotes something large, vast, or superhuman, while the word -gandr can mean a variety of things in Old Norse, but mainly refers to elongated entities or supernatural beings. It can also mean things like snake, fjord, river, staff, cane, bind, etc. The name Jörmungandr therefore has a few different meanings, such as "the vast serpent" or "the vast river". He and the god Thor are mortal enemies, destined to kill each other during Ragnarök.

Alongside his siblings Fenrir and Hel, he is proved to be a threat to Odin the Allfather and the Æsir, as he was prophesised to be instrumental in Ragnarök.

Odin received a prophecy that Loki's monster children would cause the end of the world, and sought to get rid of them in hopes of preventing the event from happening. Jörmungandr was tied to a pine tree in order to keep him under control, but Thor warned the gods to keep their distance as the serpent had spat black venom at him, but missed. Odin then flung Jörmungandr into the seas of Midgard, the land of humans. Jörmungandr only grew in size, growing large enough that he could encircle the entire planet and hold his tail in his mouth, forming an ouroboros. It was believed that when he released his tail, Ragnarök would begin.

Thor's Fishing Trip

The story of Thor and his fishing trip is a popular story featured in both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. During an unusual period of peace between the Æsir and the jötnar, Thor goes to visit Hymir to retrieve a large cauldron that was needed for a feast.

Hymir, aware of the stories revolving around Thor and his appetite, killed three of his bulls in order to provide meat for his visit. To his dismay, Thor ate two of the bulls in a single meal. Hymir decides to go fishing, as he cannot spare any more of his cattle to feed to Thor. He enlists Thor's help, sending him to get the bait. Instead of hunting some small game to use, Thor kills the rest of Hymir's bulls and cuts off their heads to use instead. While this enraged Hymir, the heads proved to be excellent bait, and Hymir catches two whales.

According to the story, Thor didn't help with the fishing, simply looking out over the sea. When Hymir asks Thor to row them back to shore, Thor instead decides to row the boat further out to sea in order to catch even bigger fish. Hymir was nervous, as he knows the ocean they were in is where Jörmungandr dwelled, and he knows that he and Thor were to meet during Ragnarök. Despite being warned, Thor doesn't listen and begins to fish.

Something incredibly large begins to pull on Thor's fishing line, and almost pulls him off the boat and into the water. Hymir instantly knew that he had caught Jörmungandr, as no other creature would be able to challenge Thor's strength. Just as Jörmungandr's body began breaking the surface of the water, Hymir cuts the fishing line, letting the serpent sink back down into the depths of the ocean.

Thor is so outraged with what Hymir had done that he throws him overboard and abandons him, rowing back to shore. Hymir was then probably eaten by Jörmungandr.

The Giant Cat

The other story involving Jörmungandr also involves Thor. In this story, Thor encounters Útgarða-Loki (also known as Skrýmir),  ruler of Útgarðr in Jötunheimr, and performs several deeds for him.

At some point during their meeting, Útgarða-Loki challenges Thor into trying to lift a giant cat in order to show of his fabled strength. However, the cat wasn't a cat. It was Jörmungandr, disguised with the use of magic. As a result, Thor could only lift Jörmungandr the cat enough for one of its paws to leave the ground.

Útgarða-Loki later tells Thor what he did, explaining that it was probably a good thing that he wasn't able to lift him entirely, as Jörmungandr's huge size meant that lifting him may have altered the boundaries of the universe.

Ragnarök

Jörmungandr, becoming uncomfortable in the icy waters that surround Midgard, would eventually release his tail and make his way to the surface. His enormous size meant that his movements would cause extremely powerful earthquakes all across the nine realms. These earthquakes allowed for his brother, Fenrir, to break the chains that held him, and for his father, Loki, to escape his prison.

In the final battle of Ragnarök, Jörmungandr found himself facing Thor for a final time. It's a brutal battle, in which Thor fights harder than he ever has fought before and eventually pummels Jörmungandr to death using his hammer Mjölnir.

An illustration by Donn P. Crane of the tale of Utgard-Loki from Norse mythology.

In this tale, the gods Thor and Loki, and two companions whose identities change depending on the version of the tale, wind up as guests in the home of Utgard-Loki, ruler of the Jötunns (giants).

As entertainment, Utgard-Loki challenges his guests to contests of skill and strength. Thor undertakes three challenges himself to prove how mighty he is. In the illustration above he was supposed to lift a large cat, but the cat was so heavy that - even with his tremendous strength - Thor was only able to lift one of the cat's paws off the floor.