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Worms, wurms or wyrms (Old English: wyrm, Old Norse: ormʀ, Old High German: wurm), meaning serpent, are archaic terms for dragons (Old English: dracan, Old Norse: dreki, Old High German: trahho) in the wider Germanic mythology and folklore, in which they are often portrayed as large venomous snakes and hoarders of gold. Especially in later tales, however, they share many common features with other dragons in European mythology, such as having wings.
Prominent worms attested in medieval Germanic works include the dragon that killed Beowulf, the central dragon in the Völsung Cycle – Fáfnir, Níðhöggr and the great sea serpent, Jǫrmungandr, and subcategories such as lindworms and sea serpents (Swedish: sjöorm).
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In early depictions, as with dragons in other cultures, the distinction between Germanic dragons and regular snakes is blurred, with both being referred to as an Old Norse: ormr or Old English: wyrm, both of which derive from Proto-Germanic: *wurmiz. Wyrm has since been borrowed back into modern English to mean "dragon", while the descendent term worm remains used in modern English to refer to dragons, especially those lacking wings.[1][2]
In Fáfnismál, the dragon Fáfnir is described as flightless and snake-like, and is referred to as an ormr.[3][4] In the later Völsunga saga, however, he has shoulders, suggesting legs, wings or both, and is referred to as both a dreki and an ormr.[5] Similarly, the dragon in Beowulf is referred to as both a wyrm and a draca, although in some sources such as Ketils saga hœngs and the 14th century romance saga Konráðs saga keisarasonar, ormar and drekar are portrayed as distinct beings, with winged dragons sometimes specified as flogdreka (flying dragons).[6] Old Norse: dreki and Old English: draca mean "dragon, sea serpent or sea monster" and are in turn derived from Proto-Germanic *drakō, an early borrowing from Latin draco "huge serpent or dragon".[7][8][9]
The evolution of wingless and legless worms and lindworms to flying, four-legged romanesque dragons in Germanic folklore and literature is most likely due to influence from continental Europe that was facilitated by Christianisation and the increased availability of translated romances. It has thus been proposed that the description in Völuspá of Níðhöggr with feathers and flying after Ragnarök is a late addition and potentially a result of the integration of pagan and Christian imagery.[10][11][12]
To address the difficulties with categorising Germanic dragons, the term drakorm has been proposed, referring to beings described as either a dreki or ormr.[13]
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- An unnamed dragon is the third and last of the central monsters in Beowulf, ultimately fighting and killing the hero after whom the poem is named.[6]
- Fáfnir is a widely attested dragon that has a prominent role in the Völsung Cycle.[5] Fafnir took the form of a dragon after claiming a hoard of treasure, including Andvaranaut, from his father. He was later killed by a Völsung (typically Sigurð), who in some accounts hid in a pit and stabbed him from underneath with a sword.[14][15]
- Jörmungandr, also known as the Midgard Serpent, is described as a giant, venomous beast and the child of Loki and Angrboða.[12][16][17]
- Níðhöggr is a dragon attested in the Eddas that gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasil and the corpses of Náströnd.[4][17]
- The Gesta Danorum contains a description of a dragon killed by Frotho I.[18] The dragon is described as "the keeper of the mountain." After Frotho I kills the dragon, he takes its hoard of treasure.[18] The Gesta Danorum describes another dragon fight where a dragon is slain by Friðleifr and it is similar to the story of Frotho I.[18][19]
Furthermore, there are many sagas with dragons in them, including Þiðreks saga, Övarr-Odds saga, and Sigrgarðs saga frækna.[20]
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Guarding treasure
The association between dragons and hoards of treasure is widespread in Germanic literature, however the motifs surrounding gold are absent from many accounts including the in Sigurð story in Þiðreks saga af Bern.[21]
In the Völsung Cycle, Fáfnir was a dwarf who, upon claiming a hoard of treasure, including the ring Andvaranaut, transforms into a dragon. Fáfnir's brother, Regin reforges the sword Gram from broken shards and gives it to the hero Sigurð who uses it to kill the dragon by waiting in a hole until the worm slithers over and exposes his underbelly. While dying Fáfnir speaks with Sigurð and shares mythological knowledge. Sigurð then cooks and tastes the dragon's heart, allowing the hero to understand the speech of birds who tell him to kill Regin, which he does and then takes the hoard for himself.[4] In Beowulf, it is Sigmund (the father of Sigurð in Old Norse tradition) who kills a dragon and takes its hoard.[6]
In Beowulf, the dragon that the poem's eponymous hero is awoken from the burial mound in which it dwells when a cup from its hoard is stolen, leading it to seek vengeance from the Geats. After both the dragon and Beowulf die, the treasure is reinterred in the king's barrow.[6] The Old English poem, Maxims II further states:
Sweord sceal on bearme, |
In Ragnars saga loðbrókar, Thóra, the daughter of a Geatish earl, is given a snake by her father which she puts on top of a pile of gold. This makes both the snake and the treasure grow until the dragon is so large its head touches its tail.[24] The image of an encircled snake eating its own tail is also seen with Jörmungandr.[17] The hero Ragnar Lodbrok later wins the hand of Thóra and the treasure by slaying the dragon.[24] The motif of gold causing a snake-like creature to grow into a dragon is seen in the Icelandic tale of the Lagarfljót Worm recorded in the 19th century.[25]
Breathing fire and poison
Dragons with poisonous breath are believed to predate those who breathe fire in Germanic folklore and literature, consistent with the theory that Germanic dragons developed from traditions regarding wild snakes, some of whom produce venom.[5] The Nine Herbs Charm describes nine plants being used to overcome the venom of a slithering wyrm. It tells that Wōden defeats the wyrm by striking it with nine twigs, breaking it into nine pieces.[26]
In Eddic poetry, both Fáfnir and the sea serpent Jörmungandr are described as having poisonous breath.[4] In Gylfaginning it is told that during Ragnarök, Thor will kill Jörmungandr; however, after taking nine steps, he will be in turn killed by the worm's venom.[17] A similar creature from later Orcadian folklore is the poisonous stoor worm which was killed by the hero Assipattle, falling into the sea and forming Iceland, Orkney, Shetland and the Faroe Islands. As in the English tale of the Linton worm, the stoor worm is killed by burning its insides with peat.[27]
Beowulf is one of the earliest examples of a fire-breathing dragon, yet it is also referred to as "the poison scourge" (attorsceaðan). After burning homes and land in Geatland, it fights the eponymous hero of the poem who bears a metal shield to protect himself from the fire. The dragon wounds him but is slain by the king's thane Wiglaf. Beowulf later succumbs to the dragon's poison and dies. The other dragon mentioned in the poem is further associated with fire, melting from its own heat once slain by Sigmund.[6] Both fire and venom are also spat by dragons in the Chivalric saga Sigurðr saga þögla and in Nikolaus saga erkibiskups II, written around 1340 CE, in which the dragon is sent by God to teach an English deacon to become more pious.[5]
Narrative importance
In Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, Tolkien argued that the only dragons of significance in northern literature are Fáfnir and that which killed Beowulf. Similarly, other scholars such as Kathryn Hume have argued that the overabundance of dragons, along with other supernatural beings, in later riddarasögur results in monsters serving only as props to be killed by heroes.[28]
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Carved dragon heads
Drakkar were ships used by Vikings in the Medieval period that featured carved prows in the shape of dragons.[12][29][30] One version of the Icelandic Landnámabók states that the ancient Heathen law of Iceland required any ship having a figurehead in place on one's ship "with gaping mouth or yawning snout" to remove the carving before coming in sight of land because it would frighten the landvættir.[31]
Stave churches are sometimes decorated by carved dragon heads which has been proposed to have originated in the belief in their apotropaic function.[10][32]
Depictions of entire dragons
Medieval depictions of worms carved in stone feature both in Sweden and the British Isles. In Sweden, runic inscriptions dated to around the 11th century often show a lindworm bearing the text encircling the remaining picture on the stone.[33] Some Sigurð stones such as U 1163, Sö 101 (the Rasmund carving) and Sö 327 (the Gök inscription) show a Sigurð thrusting a sword through the worm which is identified as Fáfnir.[34] The killing of Fáfnir is also potentially pictured on four crosses from the Isle of Man and a now lost fragment, with a similar artistic style, from the church at Kirby Hill in England.[35][36][37]
Wooden carvings from the Hylestad Stave Church of scenes from the Völsunga saga include Sigurð killing Fáfnir, who is notably shown with two legs and two wings.[38]
The fishing trip described in Hymiskviða in which Thor catches Jörmungandr has been linked to a number of stones in Scandinavia and England such as the Altuna Runestone and the Hørdum stone.[39][40][41]
Visual depictions of Germanic dragons
One of the four dragon heads adorning the ridges of the Borgund Stave Church.
Sigurðr killing Fáfnir, from the Jurby cross on the Isle of Man.
Lindworm from the U 871 runestone.
U 1163, the Drävle runestone, showing Sigurðr slaying Fáfnir.
Jörmungandr on the Altuna Runestone.
Sigurd slaying Fafnir, depicted on the right portal plank from Hylestad Stave Church, from the second half of the 12th century.
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