Thor and the World Serpent

Join Thor at sea as he encounters Jörmungandr, the World Serpent, in a child-friendly Norse myth about strength and understanding.

Region: Norway
Category: Gods & Heroes
Ages: From 4, with three reading levels (ages 4–6, 7–9 and 10+)
Languages: English, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish

About the legend

Being: Jörmungandr (Midgard Serpent)
Cultural meaning: In Norse myth, Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent, is one of Loki's children. Odin threw it into the deep sea that surrounds all lands, and there it grew until it lay around the whole world and bit its own tail. It is Thor's great opponent: the myths say the two will meet again at Ragnarök, the end of the old world, and fight for the last time.
Fun fact: Vikings carved Thor's fishing trip in stone! The Altuna runestone in Sweden, carved about a thousand years ago, shows Thor pulling so hard on the line that one foot goes right through the bottom of the boat. The stone was found in 1918, built into the wall of a church chapel, and now stands outside Altuna church.

Cultural notes

Thor's fishing trip is told in Snorri Sturluson's Edda, written around 1220, and in the Eddic poem Hymiskviða (The Lay of Hymir). In the poem, the trip is part of a longer tale in which Thor goes to the giant Hymir to fetch a kettle big enough to brew ale for all the gods at once. Snorri tells it as Thor's way of getting even after the giant Útgarða-Loki had tricked him into trying to lift the serpent, which was disguised as a cat. Hymiskviða is preserved in the Codex Regius, an Icelandic manuscript from the 1270s that was kept in Copenhagen for more than three centuries and brought home to Reykjavík by ship in 1971. The sources disagree about the ending. In the older skaldic poem Húsdrápa, Thor strikes the serpent, and Snorri mentions a claim that he struck off its head, but believes the serpent still lives in the ocean. The same fishing scene is carved on picture stones at Altuna in Sweden and Hørdum in Denmark.

About this retelling

Traditional tale, retold for children A retelling of Thor's fishing trip with the giant Hymir and his meeting with the World Serpent.

The fishing trip follows Snorri's Edda (Gylfaginning) and the poem Hymiskviða: Thor comes to Hymir as a guest, Hymir says he is too small and will freeze, Thor takes the head of Hymir's biggest ox as bait, rows far past the fishing grounds, hooks the serpent, and Hymir cuts the line in fear. Two things are changed for children. In the myth Thor raises his hammer and throws it after the serpent; here he lets his hand fall and only meets its eyes. In the myth Thor knocks Hymir overboard for cutting the line; here he understands Hymir's fear and is not angry. What Thor learns from the meeting is our way of telling it.

Sources

Themes

courage
respect
wisdom
understanding
Thor
Jörmungandr
Midgard Serpent
Hymir
Norse mythology
Asgard
Mjölnir
ocean
fishing
Prose Edda
Viking