Thor Fights Jörmungandr
Thunder Against the World Serpent
Thor and Jörmungandr are enemies whose struggle stretches from a magical trick to the end of the world. Thor first meets the World Serpent disguised as a cat, later hooks him during the most dangerous fishing trip imaginable, and finally fights him at Ragnarok. Thor kills the serpent but takes only nine steps before its venom kills him. Their story grows each time they meet, turning a contest of strength into a battle neither can truly win.Jörmungandr is one of Loki and Angrboda’s three children. Odin throws the young serpent into the sea around Midgard. It grows until its body circles the human world and its mouth meets its tail. Thor, defender of gods and humans, becomes its natural opponent.
Their first contest occurs in the hall of Útgarða-Loki. Thor and his companions face challenges secretly disguised by magic. Thor must lift a large grey cat. However hard he strains, only one paw leaves the floor. The watching giants appear amused, and Thor is furious at failing such an apparently easy task.The next morning Útgarða-Loki reveals the trick. The cat was Jörmungandr. When Thor raised its paw, he lifted part of the serpent that circles the whole earth. The giants had actually been terrified. Thor’s strength is shown through the scale of an impossible task rather than an ordinary victory.
Their second meeting begins when Thor visits the giant Hymir. Thor needs bait for a fishing trip and tears the head from Hymir’s largest ox. Hymir rows to waters where he catches whales, but Thor insists on going farther out.Thor fixes the ox head to a huge hook. Jörmungandr bites and pulls with such force that Thor braces himself against the boat. In Snorri’s version, his feet smash through the hull and reach the sea floor. Thor drags the serpent to the surface, where poison streams from its mouth.
Thor raises Mjölnir, but Hymir panics and cuts the line. The serpent sinks back into the deep. The poem Hymiskviða tells parts of the scene differently, and early skaldic poems also celebrate it. Everyone knows Jörmungandr must survive for the final battle.
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