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Nidhogg

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Serpent from Norse mythology

For other uses, seeNidhogg (disambiguation).

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Níðhǫggr gnaws the roots of Yggdrasill in this illustration from a 17th-century Icelandic manuscript.

Nidhogg (Old Norse:Níðhǫggr,[ˈniːðˌhɔɡːz̠]; ModernIcelandic:Níðhöggur;Norwegian:Nidhogg;Danish:Nidhug;Swedish:Nidhugg) is aGermanic dragon inNorse mythology who is said to gnaw at the roots of theworld tree,Yggdrasil, and is likewise associated with the dead inHel andNiflheim.

Etymology

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While the suffix of the name,-höggr, literally "hewer", clearly means "biter, striker", etc, the prefix is not as clear. In particular, the length of the first vowel is not determined in the original sources. It could beniðr ("down, downwards"), thus "Biter Below (the roots)", orníð (see below). The prefix might be the same as used inNiðafjǫll.

In historicalViking society,níð (archaic English:nith) was a term for asocial stigma, implying the loss of honor and the status of avillain. Thus, its name might refer to its role as a horrific monster in its action of chewing the corpses of the inhabitants ofNiflheim: those guilty of murder, adultery, and oath-breaking, thus something akin to "Malice Biter". Some scholars prefer the reading "Striker in the Dark".

In either case, the name seems to also refer to him gnawing on the roots of the tree Yggdrasil.

Orthography

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In the standardizedOld Norse orthography, the name is spelledNíðhǫggr, but the letterǫ is frequently replaced with the Modern Icelandicö for reasons of familiarity or technical expediency.

The name can berepresented in English texts withi forí;th,d or (rarely)dh forð;o forǫ and optionally withoutr as in Modern Scandinavian reflexes. TheModern Icelandic formNíðhöggur is also sometimes seen, with special characters or similarly anglicized. TheDanish formsNidhug andNidhøg can also be encountered; orNorwegianNidhogg andSwedishNidhögg. The English cognate would be Nithhewer.

Prose Edda

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According to theGylfaginning part ofSnorri Sturluson'sProse Edda, Níðhǫggr is a being which gnaws one of the three roots ofYggdrasill. It is sometimes believed that the roots are trapping the beast from the world. This root is placed overNiflheimr and Níðhǫggr gnaws it from beneath. The same source also says that "[t]he squirrel calledRatatoskr runs up and down the length of the Ash, bearing envious words between theeagle and Nídhǫggr [the snake]."^[1]

In theSkáldskaparmál section of theProse Edda Snorri specifies Níðhǫggr as a serpent in a list of names of such creatures:

These are names for serpents: dragon,Fafnir,Jormungand, adder, Nidhogg, snake, viper, Goinn, Moinn, Grafvitnir, Grabak, Ofnir, Svafnir, masked one.^[2]

Snorri's knowledge of Níðhǫggr seems to come from two of theEddic poems:Grímnismál andVöluspá.

Later inSkáldskaparmál, Snorri includes Níðhǫggr in a list of various terms and names for swords.^[3]

Poetic Edda

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The poemGrímnismál identifies a number of beings which live in Yggdrasill. The tree suffers great hardship from all the creatures which live on it. The poem identifies Níðhǫggr as tearing at the tree from beneath and also mentions Ratatoskr as carrying messages between Níðhǫggr and the eagle who lives at the top of the tree. Snorri Sturluson often quotes Grímnismál and clearly used it as his source for this information.

The poemVöluspá mentions Níðhöggr/Níðhǫggr twice. The first instance is in its description ofNáströnd.

E. Björnsson's edition:	Dronke's translation:	Free translation:
Sal sá hon standa sólu fjarri Náströndu á, norðr horfa dyrr. Fellu eitrdropar inn um ljóra, sá er undinn salr orma hryggjum. Sá hon þar vaða þunga strauma menn meinsvara ok morðvarga ok þanns annars glepr eyrarúnu. Þar saugNiðhöggr nái framgengna, sleit vargr vera— vituð ér enn, eða hvat ?	A hall she saw standing remote from the sun on Dead Body Shore. Its door looks north. There fell drops of venom in through the roof vent. That hall is woven of serpents' spines. She saw there wading onerous streams men perjured and wolfish murderers and the one who seduces another's close-trusted wife. ThereMalice Striker sucked corpses of the dead, the wolf tore men. Do you still seek to know? And what?	Hall she saw standing far from the sun onNáströnd; the door looking north. Atterdrops fell in around the roof vent, such is the hall woven of worms' spines. She saw there wading heavy streams perjurious men and murderers and the one seducing another's ear entrusted (life partner) There suckedNidhogg bodies of the departed, the monster tore the men— do you know yet, or what?

Nidhogg is also mentioned at the end ofVöluspá, where he is identified as a dragon and a serpent (seeGermanic dragon).

E. Björnsson's edition:	Dronke's translation:	Free translation:
Þar kømr inn dimmi dreki fljúgandi, naðr fránn, neðan frá Niðafjöllum. Berr sér í fjöðrum —flýgr völl yfir— Níðhöggr nái— nú mun hon søkkvask.	There comes the shadowy dragon flying, glittering serpent, up from Dark of the Moon Hills. He carries in his pinions —he flies over the field— Malice Striker, corpses. Now will she sink.	There comes the dim dragon flying, a gleaming adder, below from theNiðafjöll. Carrying in between the feathers —flying the land over— Nidhogg corpses does— now may she sink.

The context and meaning of this stanza are disputed. The most prevalent opinion is that the arrival of Níðhǫggr heraldsRagnarök and thus that the poem ends on a tone of ominous warning. It could be, however, as the prevalent themes of Norse mythology are those of change and renewal, that this could be a 'redemption' of the serpent, 'shedding' the corpses and beginning life anew, much like a macabre Phoenix, or perhaps, lifting the bodies of the righteous rulers mentioned two stanzas before (the stanza immediately before is considered spurious by translator Henry Adam Bellows), so that they can dwell in Gimle, and then either Níðhǫggr sinks, or the völva sinks, depending on the translation, and the poem ends.

Níðhǫggr is not mentioned elsewhere in any ancient source.

Comparisons to Celtic culture

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At least one Irish story, that of Conneda, tells of a man journeying into the otherworld and having to work his way past several giant snakes with names of different sins and transgressions.^[4] This would imply snakes consume, torment or punish the bad souls in Celtic culture. Similarly, Nidhogg is seen as the parent of all the snakes of the Norse underworld realm of Náströnd, separated from the rest of Hel by the river Gjallar, which is made up of their acidic poison. This is where souls that are denied crossing on theGjallarbrú wind up and where Loki is eventually imprisoned.^[5] This is probably a reasonable explanation for his name.^{[independent source needed]}

References

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^Gylfaginning XVI, Brodeur's translation.
^Faulkes translation, p.137
^Faulkes translation, p.159
^ The Story of Conn-eda, or The Golden Apples of Loch Erne; O'Kearney, Nicholas (1855); Cambrian Journal, Vol. II
^ Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (transl.) (1916). The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson. New York

Works cited

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Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (trans.) (1916).The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation. Available atGoogle Books.
Faulkes, Anthony (transl. and ed.) (1987).Edda (Snorri Sturluson).Everyman.ISBN 0-460-87616-3.