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Jormungand (Jörmungandr)
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If you thought the petrifying basilisk of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was the first slithering serpent to terrorize readers everywhere, think again. Jormungand, the gigantic sea-snake of Middle Earth, has been giving Vikings nightmares for centuries. Jormungand is the spawn of resident Asgard trouble-maker Loki and his giantess mistress, Angrboda. Not a good combo, since he inherits daddy's troublemaking nature and mommy's monstrous size.
The Asgard gods realize immediately that Jormungand's a problem child. They try to get rid of him by throwing him in the ocean surrounding Middle-Earth. Big mistake. He quickly grows so big on a daily diet of whales that he's able to encircle the whole world and bite his own tail. Yowza.
Jormungand is Thor's nemesis; the big one that the hero just can't catch. When the waters begin to ripple, watch out: it means that Jormungand has awakened, let go of his tail, and Valhalla—the end of the world—is near. Gulp.
Basic Information
Name Jormungand (Jörmungandr)
Nickname The World-Serpent, the Midgard-Serpent, "Necklace of the Earth" (Húsdrápa 4.4), "Earth-Girdler" (Hymiskvida 23.4), Thor-Bait, Jormy-Worm (but only my mom calls me that)
Sex Male
Current city Under the sssea
Work & Education
Occupation Encircling the earth. No big deal.
Education My instincts give me all the knowledge I need: when to bite, when to eat, and how to stay warm.
Beliefs
Political views Apocalypticist (I believe the end of the world is near. I just wish it would get here sooner so I could swallow Thor.)
Family & Friends (& Enemies)
Parents Loki and his giantess mistressss, Angrboda
Siblings Fellow monstrousss brother Fenrir-Wolf; sister Hel, lady of the underworld; and half-brother Narfi
Children None.
Friends Nidhögg
Enemies All the Aesir gods, but especially Odin, who threw me into the sssea (what did I ever do to hurt you?); and Thor, who keeps trying to catch me.
Relationships
Relationship status None. All the lady-serpentsss are intimidated by my size.
Interested in Sleeping
Favorites
TV Shows Quotations "Rip… Tear… Kill… Soo hungry for so long. Kill…Time to kill. I smell blood. … I SMELL BLOOD!"
– Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
"No, snakes are no problem. I'd go to any country, anywhere, any snakes, not a problem."
– Steve Irwin
"The serpent, the king, the tiger, the stinging wasp, the small child, the dog owned by other people, and the fool: these seven ought not to be awakened from sleep."
– Chanakaya
"And therefore think him as a serpent's egg, / Which, hatch'd, would as his kind grow mischievous."
– Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
"It's the end of the world as we know it / And I feel fine."
– R.E.M.Books Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Beowulf (Grendel's mom and I are this close)
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians series) by Rick Riordan
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Giant Snakes: Unraveling the Coils of Mystery by Michael NewtonMusic Poison by Alice Cooper
Snake Bite (album) by Whitesnake
Songs for Snakes
Everything by Cobra Starship, and especially Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)
It's the End of the World as We Know It by R.E.M.
Tail Swallower and Dove (album) by These Arms are Snakes
Snake Eye by AC/DCMovies The Jungle Book
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Snakes on a Plane
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Godzilla
Lake PlacidActivities & Interests
Likes Rocks in the sun
Whalesss (for dinner)
The water
Venom
Fangs
Snake charmersssInterests Ophidiophobia (fear of snakes)
Toxicology (the study of poisons)
Herpetology (the study of snakes)
OceanographyGroups Fearsome Critters, Giant Man-Eating Snake Branch
Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
Monstersss of Middle-Earth
Anti-Fishing Activistsss
Spotter's Guide
You'll need a boat to get to Jormungand. Odin banished him to the ocean at the beginning of time, and he hasn't moved much since. He's kind of hard to miss, though. First, he's a serpent. Second, he's long enough to wrap around all of Middle-Earth and bite his own tail. So yeah, you can't really miss him. But if you find him sleeping, don't wake him. Not only will he probably sink his poisonous fangs into you, but his movement will churn the waves, setting Ragnarok (the end of the world) in motion.
Sex: Male
Age: Eons
Build: Long, large, and slithery
Complexion: Green
Hair Color: You mean scale color?
Facial Hair: If he has a beard, it looks like this.
Scars/marks/tattoos: A scar from a puncture wound from Thor's fishing hook
Jewelry and accessories: Coils
Clothing: Just the birthday suit
Armor: Scales
Type of Weapon: Venomous fangsTypical Companions:
He swims with the fishes. And whales, before he eats them.
Known Hangouts:
Under the sea
On or under a sunny rock
The reptile house
Sightings
Dec 20, 0985
Húsdrápa, by Úlfr Uggason
Húsdrápa is an Old Norse poem about kitchen cabinets (really). But it's actually pretty cool. It describes the scenes carved on three panels: Balder's funeral, a competition between Loki and Heimdall, and Thor's fishing trip for our buddy Jormungand.
Dec 20, 2019 - Dec 20, 2019
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a whole collection of anonymous poems. In one, the Völuspá, a wise-woman predicts that Jormungand and Thor will fight to the death during Valhalla. But that's not the first time Thor and Jormungand fight it out: in Hymisvitha, Thor hooks Jormungand on his fishing line only to have the monster cause an earthquake before escaping.
Dec 20, 2019
Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson
The story of Thor's fishing trip was so popular that Snorri Sturluson retold it in the Gylfaginning section of his Prose Edda. He added lots of new, juicy details like how Thor struggled so mightily to hold on to Jormungand that he put his feet through the bottom of his boat. According to Gylfaginning, these two already had a history. Giant king Utgardsloki tricked Thor into trying to lift the serpent by disguising him as a cat.
Dec 20, 2019
Marvel Tales I #105 (&ff)
Jormungand first appears in the Thor series in 1952. His story line actually follows Norse mythology pretty closely. This being a superhero story, though, Jormungand gets extra superpowers, like the ability to crush the earth by squeezing it, shoot "fire energy" from his eyes, and shape-shift into a dragon named Fin Fang Foom. Hey, we didn't name him.
Dec 20, 2019
Final Fantasy XI
Jormungand appears as a monster in the first online release of this 25-year-old role-playing game, with cool-sounding abilities like "horrid roar," "glacial breath," and "spike flail."
Dec 20, 2019
Magicka
In this online fantasy game, the city of Hávindr is under siege and you must come to the king's rescue. But to get there, you have to fight off some monsters, including Jormungandr. If the gaming buzz is to be believed, he's pretty difficult to kill.