Water

Jörmungandr

The old scribe knew his death was fast approaching. His hands had grown withered, his hair had greyed and fallen away, and his memories were growing dull to match his aged eyes. The young folk no longer listened to his tales or heeded his warnings. As the seafaring people had traveled the great oceans, they had encountered other peoples, other cultures, other faiths, and other gods. They had begun to turn from the gods of their own people, and the scribe knew that their punishment would be great. When they realized their mistakes, it would be too late. They would no longer have his stories, the verbal history of their people. And so he had begun to write.

Though his hands shook, the scribe wrote all of the tales his father had told him, and his father before that. They spoke of the creation of the world, the great endeavors of the gods, and how the world would come to fall under the coils of Jörmungandr, son of Loki and enemy of Thor. That day, the tale which came to his mind was the time when Thor's pride almost brought about the end of the world. Thinking of the young folk and their pride which would be their downfall, the scribe took up his pen and ink and slowly began to tell the tale.

"In the days when the gods walked the earth as men, Thor, great and mighty, met with the giant Hymir for an afternoon of fishing. Hymir, having been wronged by Thor, refused to provide him with bait. Yet Thor, with stubbornness as strong as his hammer Mjölnir, simply struck off the head of Hymir's largest ox to use instead. Hymir was furious, but remained silent in the presence of the mighty god. The two set out.

"Reaching the place where Hymir often fished, the giant baited his hook and waited. The place was full of halibut, but on this afternoon, Hymir soon drew up two whales, which he easily lifted into the boat. Thor simply waited, suggesting that they drop anchor further into the depths.

"When the two reached deeper waters, Thor baited his hook with the ox's head. Within moments, there was a mighty tug at the line, and the boat lurched under the power of the beast. The wooden vessel began to jerk and sway.

"'Mighty Thor, this must be the greatest of the sea serpents, Jörmungandr himself! You must cut loose the line,' the giant protested.

"Determined to outdo the giant, Thor replied, "Old friend, you fear instead the moment when your whales are outdone and my catch feeds the whole of Valhalla." Closing his mouth, Hymir fell silent and watched the battle.

"As the fight raged on, the great beast began to prove too much for even the mighty Thor. The closer Thor drew it to the boat, the more the waters foamed and thrashed. Waves began to crash against the nearby cliffs, and as the boat drew nearer to the walls of stone, Hymir once again protested. Thor acted as if he had not heard, and continued to pull in the line. Just then, the head of Jörmungandr, for indeed it was he, burst from the sea. Yellow eyes met those of the god of thunder, and electricity coursed through the air.

"For several moments, the two great beings held each other's gaze, knowing that their battle would lead to the terrible Ragnarok, end of the world. Hymir leapt into motion, cutting the line that held Jörmungandr and allowing him to return to the watery depths. Thor, realizing his pride had almost cost him his life, begrudgingly thanked the giant, and the two returned to the shore, promising to fish again in the near future."

Setting down his pen, the scribe wondered just how many more tales he could tell before the gods relieved him of his duty and called him home to Valhalla. He hoped that his tales would make a difference, that one day the people would return to the Old Ways. He hoped it would be enough.

Story Source: Jormungand from Norse Mythology for Smart People by Daniel McCoy as well as Jörmungandr from Wikipedia.

Author's Note:

In this tale, I changed very few of the details. Jörmungandr and Thor supposedly have three interactions. First, Thor is asked to complete the task of lifting a cat, which is actually Jörmungandr in disguise. Thor is able to lift the cat slightly, and is eventually made aware that the cat is actually the Midgard Serpent which encircles the whole world. In the second interaction, Thor fishes him up with an ox's head. Hymir the giant cuts him loose to prevent the end of the world. In the third, Thor and Jörmungandr will meet face to face. Thor will kill Jörmungandr, but the venom that he spouts will poison Thor after he walks nine steps. Because I wanted to keep the original tale fairly true, I instead chose to explore the motivations of a few characters. First, I wanted to see what a storyteller might feel as his people start to lose faith in his stories and his role begins to be irrelevant. I thought he might feel that they were making a huge mistake and that he might try to warn them with his last moments on earth. Additionally, I wanted to really highlight the fact that Thor's pride and competitive nature almost led to his own death and the destruction of the world. In this way, the history of the storyteller becomes a warning in two parts. First, respect the stories of your people, and second, beware of pride, as it almost led to the destruction of even mighty Thor.