Daily Deity #20 Jormungandr

First off, I am so sorry that I haven't updated Daily Deity in several days. The holidays had me beat and busy. But this is going to be a full week of Daily Deity, so no need to worry.

Now, as you guys probably well know since today is Monday it means that I'm going to be discussing a monster. I felt like I had done plenty of Greek monsters, and decided to head to Norse mythology. And that's when Jormungandr came to mind.

Jormungandr is one of the three children that Loki had by the giantess Angrboda. The birth of these three beings will be well discussed in the future, but today I am only focusing on the Midgard Serpent.

Yeah... that's one of the other names that Jormungandr goes by. That's because he is a serpent. Well, more specifically a snake. Even more specifically a giant snake. A huge snake. And this snake is swimming around in Earth's oceans. Yes, our planet's oceans!

Kinda makes you wonder about what really is in the depths of the ocean.

Actually, I love that about Jormungandr being on Earth, because it just adds to the little part of me that says, "hey you never know." Actually, and this is absolutely positively my own personal theory and has no real legitimacy but I want to share... I think that there might be some connection between Jormungandr and the Loch Ness Monster. Yes, I know that Nessie is described as something that looks a bit more like a pleiosaur, but it still possesses the serpentine head and is a sea creature. Not to mention that both these myths are in relatively close proximity to each other.

Anyways...

Let's talk about Jormungandr's family. His direct family, at least. He has a pretty impressive lineage. Anyone who has Loki as a papa is pretty impressive on their own. Not to mention one tough mama; Angrboda is awesome! And his two siblings are Fenrir, the giant wolf, and Hel, Queen of the Norse Underworld.

Now, let me discuss how Jormungandr got into the oceans of Midgard. It was after he was born, but still very young. Loki, of course, was away and in order to find out what the trickster was doing, Odin traveled to the home of Angrboda. She was slain, probably protecting her kids, and then Odin had to figure out what to do with the children. It is said that Odin was so horrified when he saw Jormungandr that he tossed him all the way from wherever they were, mostly likely on Jotunheim, to Midgard.

Jormungandr actually has a very volatile relationship with the thunder god himself, Thor. One of their first interactions was Thor heading down to Midgard to go on a fishing trip with the giant, Hymir. Thor managed to snag Jormungandr on one of his casts. Wonder what kind of bait you have to use to get a huge snake to bite?... Maybe he was using sharks instead of minnows. Anyway, when Thor began to reel in this huge creature, he got so freaked out that he cut the line and threw Jormungandr back.

But it goes further than this for them. In the prophecy concerning Ragnarok, Thor is said to be killed by Jormungandr. How? Jormungandr swallows Thor, but the God of Thunder does not go down without causing some major indigestion. Thor actually beats his way of Jormungandr, which of course results in the Midgard Serpent's death. Thor, then exhausted and mortally wounded, dies.

I'd call it a draw.