Skip to content
Jörmungandr, a MythSource painting
Norse

Jörmungandr

The Midgard Serpent · The World Serpent · The Great Monster

01Identity

Jörmungandr in Norse tradition

Jörmungandr is a Norse serpent cast into the ocean around Midgard, where it grows until its body encircles the world and its tail reaches its mouth. Known as the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent, it becomes Thor’s destined enemy. At Ragnarök, Thor strikes it down, but its venom kills him, and its rising body floods the world.

Top questions

The quick answers

02Family

Jörmungandr’s family, at a glance

Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.

LokiAngrboða
JörmungandrFenrirHelNariSleipnirVáli
03The names

The names Jörmungandr answers to

Miðgarðsormr

Serpent of Midgard

SourceDictionary of northern mythology

Midgard Serpent

The serpent encircling Midgard

SourceLegends of Norse Mythology

World Serpent

The serpent encircling the world

SourceDictionary of northern mythology

04The myths

The myths of Jörmungandr

2 myths, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources, with 1 reviewed modern rework linked where the evidence supports it.

Jörmungandr Encircles Midgard

Odin carried Loki’s small serpent to the shore of the sea beyond all lands. This sea circled Midgard. The serpent had been tied to a pine tree, but it had already grown longer than the tree. Tyr warned that it could spit burning black venom. Odin freed it and watched it slip beneath the waves. He had sent it there because he believed it could harm nobody in the deep ocean.

The serpent continued to grow in the endless sea. It grew until nothing in the world was larger. Its body became long enough to circle the whole earth, and it seized its own tail in its jaws. It then became the Midgard Serpent. When it rolled and writhed beneath the water, its movements made huge waves lash across the sea.

Thor became its enemy. He encountered it while fishing with the giant Hymir. Thor used an ox-head as bait and cast it into the sea. The serpent took the bait, and the hook entered its palate. It pulled so hard that Thor’s hands struck the gunwale. Thor braced his feet against the sea floor and pulled the serpent towards the boat. It spat black poison at him. Thor ducked, but some poison burned his shoulder. He continued to haul in the line and swore that either he or the serpent would kill the other.

At Ragnarök, Jörmungandr will release its tail and unravel itself. It will move onto the land as the oceans break from their places and flood the earth in great waves. Thor will fight and kill the serpent, but its poisonous breath will also kill him.

Jörmungandr Encircles Midgard, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

God of War

Game

The World Serpent keeps its core identity, a vast sea serpent bound to fight Thor at the world's end, though the game reworks him into an ally of Kratos and Atreus rather than a hostile monster.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1Legends of Norse MythologyT1
  2. 2the ancient sourcesT1

    Quote

    “Jörmungandr grows until it encircles Midgard, and Thor kills it at Ragnarök before its venom causes the god’s death.”

    the ancient sources

  3. 3Treasury of Norse MythologyT1

The Birth and Casting of Jörmungandr

Loki and the giantess Angrboða begat three children in Jotunheim: Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and Hel. Jörmungandr was the second child. The gods learned that the children were being fostered there, and they knew the prophecies concerning the suffering and misfortune they would bring.

Odin cast Jörmungandr towards the deep ocean surrounding Midgard while the serpent was still young. In one account, it crashed through an iron surface before plunging to the bottom. Odin believed that the ocean was the place where it could do the least harm. Another account gives a harsher reason. Odin knew that Jörmungandr was fated to fight Thor at Ragnarök, and that its venom would kill him.

The serpent did not remain small. It grew in the endless ocean until it became larger than any other creature in the world. Its body stretched around the whole earth, and its coils enclosed Midgard. Jörmungandr could take its own tail into its mouth, forming a complete circle. When it rolled and writhed beneath the water, its movements made huge waves.

Thor became Jörmungandr’s enemy. The serpent was foretold to meet him at Ragnarök, where Thor would kill it. Its poisonous breath would kill Thor in turn, so each would bring about the other’s death. Thor also encountered Jörmungandr before that final battle. While fishing with the giant Hymir, he used an ox-head as bait and drew the serpent towards the boat. Jörmungandr took the bait, and Thor pulled it up until he could see the creature staring at him and spouting venom.

The Birth and Casting of Jörmungandr, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

No modern rework confirmed yet.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1Legends of Norse MythologyT1
  2. 2Treasury of Norse MythologyT1
  3. 3the ancient sourcesT1

    Quote

    “Odin casts Jörmungandr into the sea, where it grows around the earth and is fated to kill Thor after Thor kills it at Ragnarök.”

    the ancient sources

Also appears in

The myths across MythSource where Jörmungandr features, each on that figure’s page.

The film

The Underdrawing video on Jörmungandr embeds here once it publishes.

Continue the road

More of Jörmungandr’s family, sourced

LokiFatherFenrirSiblingSleipnirSibling