In the second part of our case looking into the infamous children of the trickster god Loki and their parts in Ragnarök we look into one of the most feared of them, the Midgard Serpent.
The All-Father Odin, lord of the Aesir, had foreseen his cunning brothers deception, Loki had fathered three children with the powerful and feared Jotun witch Angrboda (her name translated means "bringer of anguish") and these children were destined to bring great grief and sorrow to the gods. Fearful of what powers these three children would wield and how they would use them (and if on the Aesir), Odin sent his son, the god of thunder, Thor and the god of war, Tyr, to retrieve the children from their mothers home in the mystical and magical realm of Jotenheim. Loki himself was half Jotun as his father was the feared Jotun Farbauti while his mother was of the Aesir named Laufey who was known for her beauty and cunning intellect, two traits her son inherited.
After facing tough resistance journeying through Jotenheim, the Aesir and Jotun were always in conflict, Thor and Tyr reached the home of Angrboda in the Iron Woods, who of course was not expecting the two gods so had left her children playing happily together in the great hall. Thor and Tyr seized and bound the children and started the journey home to Asgard (the home of the Aesir and Vanir) with the oldest carried between them, who was tied to a strip of pine tree. It was during this journey home that Thor noticed that the Jotun had not given chase, not even Angrboda, it was like they wanted them to take the children to Asgard, Tyr shrugs off Thor's concern but inside knows something isn't right.
Finally, the group make it to Asgard and the children are brought before the mighty Odin, who was as surprised as Thor and Tyr were to see these were no normal children. The first and oldest was a huge serpent who was now longer than the pine tree to which he was bound, Thor warned his father that the serpent could spit burning black venom and that was why his head was bound to the tree as the serpent had tried to spit his venom at Thor but had missed, it was a grievance that Thor would not soon forget. The serpent answered to the name of Jormungandr which means "earth necklace". Odin observed Jormungandr was still a child and would grow to become very large so decided to send him somewhere where he could harm no one. Odin took the young serpent to the sea that surrounds Midgard (the realm that humans live in) and released Jormungandr into the waters. Jormungandr would grow to a huge size, so large he would grow that he would encircle the earth and hold his own tail in his mouth and would gain the name of the Midgard Serpent.
Jormungandr earned himself an enemy in the form of Thor after their initial meeting and they would meet again before the end as each were destined to kill the other. It was during a visit to the Jotun king Hymir that Thor would cross paths with Jormungandr again. It was during an unusual period of peace between the two races that Thor visited the king to retrieve a large cauldron that could make the most amazing mead for a feast elsewhere. Hymir, knowing the fame of the appetite of Thor, made a large feast to please the god of thunder but to his dismay Thor ate two of the three bulls in just one sitting. It was then that Hymir decided to go fishing to get more food for the ever hungry Thor. Annoyed by the god, Hymir bids Thor to find his own bait for the trip, to which Thor does but he chooses to slay Hymir's favourite bull and uses its head for bait.
The duo go on their trip and Hymir manages to catch two whales that he believes will finally be enough to satisfy his guest. It was now that Thor decides to start fishing with the unique bait in deeper water believing that he can catch something far bigger than whales. Hymir is uncomfortable as he knows these waters are the home of Jormungandr and warns Thor of the danger to which he ignores. Suddenly, something has taken the bait, Hymir knows it is the mighty Midgard Serpent and pleads with Thor to release him but once again Thor ignores him and using all of his mighty strength Thor pulls Jormungandr to the surface and readies his hammer, Mjollnir, whose power is so mighty one blow can kill anything but just as Thor raises his hammer to strike Jormungandr's head, Hymir cuts the line and the serpent slips back under the waves much to Thor's fury.
The two enemies have yet another run in at Utgard, Jotenheim in the hall of the king Utgarda-Loki who after giving Thor, Loki and their human companion a series of tests discover they have been all an illusion which is why they failed. One of Thor's tests was to prove he truly was the strongest of the Aesir by lifting the kings house cat, as hard as Thor tried he was unable to lift the giant cat more than its paw leaving the ground. After revealing the trickery, Utgarda-Loki says it was a good job he failed lifting it any higher as the "cat" was in fact Jormungandr disguised by magic and Thor may have damaged the universe had he lifted the giant serpent any higher.
Of course, Jormungandr would have a large role to play in the events of Ragnarök, the end of the universe and the death of the gods. Ragnarök will come for the universe after the death of Odin's beloved son Baldur (you can read more on this in our case on Hel), a winter so fierce none have seen it before, the Fimbulwinter will make brother fight brother, fathers kill sons, mothers and daughters will be set against each other and sisters will fall in battle with sisters as the cruel winter pushes people to survive, the wolves, Skoll and Hati, who have hunted the sun and moon will finally, at last, catch their prey, the stars will disappear leaving a black void in the heavens, the life tree Yggdrasil will tremble setting free all those who are bound.
It is during this winter that hits Midgard hard that Jormungandr will become uncomfortable in such cold waters and that he will make his way to the surface which will cause the mighty earthquakes that free his brother Fenrir and father Loki, who had been imprisoned for his role in the death of Baldur, it is said when Jormungandr releases his tail that Ragnarök will finally begin.
It is then Jormungandr will rise from the sea, flooding the lands, the venom from his fangs will poison and kill all sea creatures, he will spray his venom into the sky and all sea birds that breathe it in will also die, all who see the Midgard Serpent will know death. Jormungandr will navigate the flooded lands to arrive at the final battle place, Vigrid, where he writhe upon the land and force himself ashore, only his head and the first mile or so of his body will be visible the rest will stay in the sea.
After the gods are summoned by the far seeing watchman of the gods, Heimdall, who will blow the warning horn, Gjallerhorn, announcing Ragnarök has begun, it is then that Thor and Jormungandr will meet for the final time. The two fight viscously and hard but Thor prevails striking a killing blow to the serpents head but Jormungandr has the last laugh as Thor is covered in much of his thick black venom and the mighty Thor, strongest of the Aesir, only walks nine steps away from the body of his mortal enemy before succumbing to his venom and falling down dead. Jormungandr breathed so much of his venom into the air that he would poison all of the nine realms.
And so we come to the end of Jormungandr's story, known as a villain and enemy to Thor we can't help but disagree with the how Jormungandr is viewed. He was betrayed by the Aesir who feared him, who took him from his mother and separated him from his siblings, it is not hard to understand Jormungandr's hatred for the gods and his willingness to battle them. The Midgard Serpent has become as famous as his siblings living on in many adaptions in many popular series. We will finish our saga on the Children of Loki with Fenrir but until then, Skål!
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