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Worm,wurm orwyrm (Old English:wyrm;Old Norse:ormr;Old High German:wurm), meaningserpent, are archaic terms fordragons (Old English:draca;Old Norse:dreki/*draki;Old High German:trahho) in the widerGermanic mythology andfolklore, 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 otherdragons in European mythology, such as having wings.
Prominent worms attested in medieval Germanic works include thedragon that killed Beowulf, the centraldragon in theVölsung Cycle –Fáfnir,Níðhöggr, and the great sea serpent,Jǫrmungandr, including subcategories such aslindworms andsea serpents.
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In early depictions, as with dragons in other cultures (compareRussian:zmei), the distinction between Germanic dragons and regular snakes is blurred, with both being referred to as: "worm" (Old English:wyrm,Old Norse:ormʀ →ormr,Old High German:wurm), "snake" (Old English:snaca,Old Norse:snókr,snákr,Old High German: *snako), "adder" (Old English:nǣdre,Old Norse:naðr,Old High German:nātara), and more, in writing; all being old Germanic synonyms for serpent and thereof (compare the names for thecommon legless lizard:blindworm,hazelworm,slowworm,deaf adder etc).
The descendent termworm remains used in modern English to refer to dragons, such as those similar to snakes or without wings,[1] while the Old English formwyrm has been borrowed back intomodern English to mean "dragon".[2] TheNordic descendants ofOld Norse:ormr –Danish:orm,Faroese:ormur,Icelandic:ormur,Norwegian:orm,Swedish:orm – beyond being the common word for snake in Faroese, Norwegian and Swedish, in Danish and Icelandic instead being more ambiguous withinvertebrate worms, remain a poetic or archaic word for dragon and similar mythological serpentine creatures.[3][4][5][a] A similar theme can be seen in German, with surviving compositions such asLindwurm andTatzelwurm etc.
The word "dragon", contemporaneously also appear:Old English:draca,dræce;Old West Norse:dreki,Old East Norse:*draki;Old Swedish:draki;Old Danish:draghæ;Old High German:trahho,tracho,tracko,trakko;Middle High German:trache;Old Saxon: *drako;Middle Low German:drāke, meaning "dragon, sea serpent or sea monster" etc, stemming fromLatin:dracō, meaning "big serpent or dragon", itself fromAncient Greek:δράκων (drákōn) of the same meaning.[7][8][9]
The Old West and East Norse forms differ quite remarkebly, as the Western form,dreki, features an initial e-vowel, largely unique among the Germanic forms, which otherwise feature an a-vowel, indicating an early adoption which then had time to shift, potentially from the Old English formdræce. Old Swedish, and Old Danish, both East Norse languages, instead exhibit forms on /a/:draki/draghæ, indicating aCentral European root. When the term entered the East Norse language is unknown. The form "dragon", in modern English, stems fromOld French:dragon, while the Germanic Old English form survives asdrake.[9][8]
A poem, by 11th-century Icelandic skáldÞjóðólfr Arnórsson, manages to use all four above mentioned terms in a single poem aboutSigurd the dragon slayer, based on a fight between a blacksmith and a leather worker, which Arnórsson supposedly composed spontaneously upon request:[10]
Sigurðr eggjaði sleggju /snák váligrar brákar, / en skafdreki skinna / skreið of leista heiði. / Menn sôuskorm, áðr ynni, / ilvegs búinn kilju, / nautaleðrs ánaðri / neflangr konungr tangar.[11]
The Sigurd of the sledge-hammer incited thesnake of the dangerous tanning tool, and the scraping-dragon of skins slithered across the heath of feet. People were afraid of theworm clad in the covering of the sole-path, before the long-nosed king of tongs overcame theadder of ox-leather.[11]
Related are also the Frenchguivre/vouivre (fromOld French for "snake") and Englishwyvern (Middle English:wyver, fromOld French:wivre), ultimately deriving fromLatin:vīpera ("viper").[12] Other words includeKnucker, a dialect word for a sort of water dragon in Sussex, England.
In the 10th century Old English epic poemBeowulf, probably composed a century or two earlier,"the dragon" is referred to as both awyrm and adraca.[13][14] In the eddic poemVöluspá, dating back to the 10th century, the dragonNíðhöggr, is foretold to show himself at the dawn of the new world, revealing himself to be a "flying dragon" (dreki), and a "shimmering adder" (naðr), flying over the land, carrying the dead between his "feathers".
Þar kømr inn dimmidreki fljúgandi,naðr fránn, neðan fráNiðafjǫllum. Berr sér í fjöðrum —flýgr völl yfir— Níðhöggr nái—
There comes the dimdragon flying, a gleamingadder, below from theNiðafjöll. Carrying in between the feathers —flying the land over— Nidhogg corpses does—.
In the Middle High German epic poemNibelungenlied, written around 1200, the unnamed dragon ("Fáfnir") is referred to as alintrache ("lin-drake", ie,lindworm),[15] which associate professor of German,George Henry Needler (1866–1962), translated as "worm-like dragon".[16] The Old Norse Eddic poemFáfnismál, written around 1270, tells an alternate version of the same root story as Nibelungenlied, were the dragon,Fáfnir, is described as flightless and snake-like, and is referred to as anormr.[17][18] In the later, late 13th century Icelandic saga,Völsunga saga, Fáfnir is instead described with shoulders, suggesting legs, wings or both, and is referred to as both adreki (dragon) and anormr (worm).[19] Both of these descriptions are consistent with 11th century depictions of Fáfnir as arunic animal on various picture stones, sometimes being limbless and other times featuring various forms of limbs. Such stones are collectively calledSigurd stones, after Fáfnir's killer,Sigurd, who often acts as the indicator for the motif.
In the later, 14th century, Icelandic sagas:Ketils saga hœngs, andKonráðs saga keisarasonar,ormar anddrekar are portrayed as distinct beings, with winged dragons sometimes specified asflugdreki, "flying dragon" (lit. 'fly-dragon'),[20] however, in contrast, the termflugormr, "flyging serpent", is also recorded.[21] The Icelandic written corpus still describe dragons as very serpentine-like, however. Their tail, for example, is often called asporðr, a word for "fish tail, serpent tail and thereof" (a tail for swimming).[22][23] The 13th century saga,Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa, writes the following:
Síðan grípur Björn ísporðinn drekans annarri hendi en annarri hjó hann fyrir aftan vængina og gekk þar í sundur og féll drekinn niður dauður.
Then Bjorn grabbed the dragon'stail with one hand, and with the other he slashed at the wings, which broke and the dragon fell down dead.
The later, 14th century saga,Ketils saga hœngs, specifically refers tosporðr as the tail of a serpent, and also describes the dragon as having a "coil" (lykkja) like a serpent,[24] but "wings like a dragon":
Hann hafðilykkju oksporð sem ormr, en vængi sem dreki.
He had acoiled body andtail like a serpent, but wings like a dragon.
The evolution of wingless and legless worms andlindworms 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 translatedromances. It has thus been proposed that the description inVöluspá ofNíðhöggr with feathers and flying afterRagnarök is a late addition and potentially a result of the integration of pagan and Christian imagery.[25][26][27]
Old Icelandicflugdreki was later literarily borrowed into Old Swedish asflughdraki andfloghdraki, which then became a term for a Swedish type of wingless, limbless, flying dragon –Flogdrake – said to soar across the skies as a fiery or golden stripe that stretches across the sky (compare the Swedishlindworm, which lacks both limbs and wings, also the analog Slavicfiery serpents).[28][29] Old Swedishfloghdraki was also, as a partial calque, borrowed into Finnish, aslouhikäärme, "louhi-serpent", which later folk-etymologically morphed intolohikäärme ("salmon serpent"), Finnish for dragon.[30]
To address the difficulties with categorising Germanic dragons, the termdrakorm (Swedish for "dragon serpent") has been proposed, referring to beings described as either adragon orworm.[31] Irish historian A. Walsh used the term "worm-dragon" already in 1922 to describe therunic dragon like ornament found side by side with the Celtic interlaced patterns on theCross of Cong from 1123.[1]
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There are also dragon-like monsters in Germanic folklore which continue the use of worm or other synonyms in the ambiguous sense of either dragon or snake, such aslindworm (Swedish:lindorm,German:Lindwurm) andsea serpent (Swedish:sjöorm,German:Seeschlange), the latter popularized by SwedeOlaus Magnus through hisCarta marina (1539) andA Description of the Northern Peoples (1555), in the latter describing a sea serpent found inBergen, Norway. Olaus gives the following description of a Norwegian sea serpent:
Those who sail up along the coast of Norway to trade or to fish, all tell the remarkable story of how a serpent of fearsome size, from 200 feet [60 m] to 400 feet [120 m] long, and 20 feet [6 m] wide, resides in rifts and caves outsideBergen. On bright summer nights this serpent leaves the caves to eat calves, lambs and pigs, or it fares out to the sea and feeds on sea nettles, crabs and similar marine animals. It hasell-long hair hanging from its neck, sharp black scales and flaming red eyes. It attacks vessels, grabs and swallows people, as it lifts itself up like a column from the water.[32][33]
Furthermore, there are many sagas with dragons in them, includingÞiðreks saga,Övarr-Odds saga, andSigrgarðs saga frækna.[40]
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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 Sigurd story inÞiðreks saga af Bern.[41]
A motif could potentially be an old myth in Germanic folklore, were it is said 'that which lies under alindworm will grow at the rate of the snake', thus they brood over treasure to get richer. Here follows a revolving quote fromFru Marie Grubbe, by Danish authorJens Peter Jacobsen (1876), given in its Swedish (1888), and English (1917), translation, due to availability. Of note: the book does not cover mythology, rather, the segment is spontaneous and written like something commonplace for the reader, used as a parable in an otherwise unrelated story. The English translation, while fairly direct, does not use the word lindworm (Swedish:lindorm), instead opting to translate it as serpent and reptile.
| Swedish | English |
|---|---|
Men det skedde icke, och han kunde icke låta bli att tänka sig, att dessa outtalade förebråelser nu lågo som lindormar ligga i sina mörka hålor, rufvande öfver dystra skatter, som växte allt efter som ormarna växte, blodröd karbunkel, lyftande sig fram på guldröd stjelk, och blek opal, långsamt utvidgande sig i knöl på knöl, svällande och ynglande, under det ormarnas kroppar, stilla, men ohejdadt växande, gledo ut i bugt på bugt, lyftande sig i ring på ring öfver skattens frodiga hvimmel.[42] | Still it was not done, and he could not rid himself of a sense that these unspoken accusations lay like serpents in a dark cave (Swedish:like lindworms laying in their dark dens), brooding over sinister treasures, which grew as the reptiles grew, blood-red carbuncles rising on stalks of cadmium, and pale opal in bulb upon bulb slowly spreading, swelling, and breeding, while the serpents lay still but ceaselessly expanding, gliding forth in sinuous bend upon bend, lifting ring upon ring over the rank growth of the treasure.[43] |
In theVölsung Cycle,Fáfnir, upon claiming a hoard of treasure, including the ringAndvaranaut, transforms into a dragon to protect and brood over it. Fáfnir's brother,Regin, reforges the swordGram from broken shards, and gives it to the heroSigurd, who uses it to kill the dragon by hiding in a hole in its path to drink water, waiting until the worm slithers over and exposes his underbelly. While dying, Fáfnir speaks with Sigurd and shares mythological knowledge. Sigurd 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.[18] In theNibelungenlied version of the story, it is said Sigurd (Sigfried) bathed in the blood of the dragon, making him invincible against all weapons, however, while bathing in the dragon's blood, a leaf fell from a tree onto his back, directly between his shoulder blades, keeping the blood from that one spot, allowing weapons to hurt him there, which later became his doom.[44] InBeowulf, it isSigmund (the father of Sigurd in Old Norse tradition) who kills a dragon and takes its hoard.[13]
InBeowulf,the dragon slain bythe 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 theGeats. After both the dragon and Beowulf die, the treasure is reinterred in the king's barrow.[13] TheOld English poem,Maxims II, further states that the dragon was left in or on the mound, potentially as to increase its grave goods (Old English:frod, frætwum wlanc, "frood, treasure proud", could potentially indicate this):
| Old English | Direct translation | Free translation |
|---|---|---|
Sweord sceal on bearme, | Sword shall on barm, |
InRagnars saga loðbrókar, Thóra, the daughter of aGeatishearl, 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.[47] Theimage of an encircled snake eating its own tail is also seen withJörmungandr.[37] The heroRagnar Lodbrok later wins the hand of Thóra and the treasure by slaying the dragon.[47] The motif of gold causing a snake-like creature to grow into a dragon is seen in the Icelandic tale of theLagarfljót Worm recorded in the 19th century.[48]
Dragons with poisonous breath, or rather, breathing "atter" (so called, having an "attery breath",Old Swedish:eterblaster,lit. 'atter blast'),[49] an old Germanic word for morbid fluid, includingsnake venom, 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.[19] TheNine Herbs Charm describes nine plants being used to overcome the venom of a slitheringwyrm. It tells thatWōden defeats thewyrm by striking it with nine twigs, breaking it into nine pieces.[50]
InEddic poetry, both thesea serpentJörmungandr, andFáfnir in dragon-hamr, are described as having attery breath.[18] InGylfaginning, it is told that during the final battle atRagnarök (the end of the word),Thor will kill Jörmungandr; however, after taking nine steps, he will be in turn killed by the worm's atter.[37] A similar creature from laterOrcadian folklore is the atterystoor worm which was killed by the heroAssipattle, falling into the sea and formingIceland,Orkney,Shetland and theFaroe Islands. As in the English tale of theLinton worm, thestoor worm is killed by burning its insides with peat.[51]
Beowulf is one of the earliest examples of a fire-breathing dragon, yet it is also referred to asattorsceaðan,lit. 'the atter scathe' (infinitive) or 'the atter scather'. After burning homes and land inGeatland, it fights the eponymoushero 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 thaneWiglaf.Beowulf later succumbs to the dragon's atter and dies. The other dragon mentioned in the poem is further associated with fire, melting from its own heat once slain by Sigmund.[13] Both fire and atter are also spat by dragons in theChivalric sagaSigurðr saga þögla and inNikolaus saga erkibiskups II, written around 1340, in which the dragon is sent by God to teach an English deacon to become more pious.[19]
Atter breathing worms remained in the collective Eurpean folklore long into thesecond millennium. TheTatzelwurm ofAlpine folklore is said to have poisonous breath. Part of a quote fromBridget of Sweden (1303–1373), which uses an atter beathing serpent as an analogy, goes:
Thy flyes hans vmgængilse swa som etirblæsandis orms[49]
For his company flees such as that of an atter breathing serpent
InBeowulf: 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 asKathryn Hume have argued that the overabundance of dragons, along with other supernatural beings, in laterriddarasögur results in monsters serving only as props to be killed by heroes.[52]
During the second half of the GermanicMigration Period, periodically called theVendel Period (c. 540–790), spanning the late 6th century to the cusp of the Viking Age in the late 8th century, Germanic helmet finds overwhelmingly show that most helmets were decorated with dragon heads. Most common was for a dragon head to be placed between the brow protection of said helmets, with a comb spanning over the helmet as its body, but some helmets also feature dragon heads or thereof on the outer edges of the brow protection. Archeological finds of such helmets have been made in both Scandinavia and the British isles, showing a common material connection between the cultures.[53][54]
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Longships known as "dragons" (Old Norse:drekar) were ships used by theNorse in the Medieval period that predominantly featured carved prows in the shape of dragons and other animalistic creatures.[27][55][56] One version of the IcelandicLandnámabók states that the ancientHeathen 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 thelandvættir.[57]
Stave churches are sometimes decorated by carved dragon heads which has been proposed to have originated in the belief in theirapotropaic function.[25][58]
Medieval depictions of worms carved in stone feature both inSweden and theBritish Isles. In Sweden, runic inscriptions dated to around the 11th century often show alindworm bearing the text encircling the remaining picture on the stone.[59] SomeSigurd stones such as U 1163, Sö 101 (the Rasmund carving) and Sö 327 (the Gök inscription) show a Sigurd thrusting a sword through the worm which is identified as Fáfnir.[60] The killing of Fáfnir is also potentially pictured on four crosses from theIsle of Man and a now lost fragment, with a similar artistic style, from the church atKirby Hill in England.[61][62][63]
The fishing trip described inHymiskviða in whichThor catchesJörmungandr has been linked to a number of stones in Scandinavia and England such as theAltuna Runestone and theHørdum stone.[64][65][66]
![Sigurd killing Fáfnir, from The Jurby Cross 119, Jurby, Isle of Man.[67]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSigur%25C3%25B0r_and_F%25C3%25A1fnir%2c_Stone_cross_from_Jurby%2c_Redrawn_1907.png)
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From around the 12th century,stave churches started being erected, in Norway mostly. Such are infamous for their many wooden carvings of both Christian and Viking Age motifs, depiction varius mythological creatures, such as dragons.[68]
Wooden carvings from theHylestad Stave Church of scenes from theVölsunga saga include Sigurd killing Fáfnir, who is notably shown with two legs and two wings.[69]
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timestamp: 25:36
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