According to Norse myth envisioned in Poetic Edda, and its part Voluspa, the gnawing which was done by Nidhogg, was eating of souls who ended up in Nastrond, the part of Hel which had in it the souls of the worst humans in the Viking world, murderers, adulterers, and, very important part for the Viking tradition, oathbreakers. That is why we can connect Nidhogg with the lowest part of society. In the Norse culture, the word Nid represented the loss of status in society and was reserved for social outcasts. Nidhogg (modern anglicized spelling), or Níðhöggr, is, as we said, a dragon which gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasil. There may be many more, but none are mentioned by name. There is also a mention in Gesta Danorum about a dragon that was killed by a hero Sigurd, but no name is mentioned for that dragon. The name of the first dragon is Nidhogg, the dragon who gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasil, the world tree, the second Jormungandr, a giant snake which surrounds the Midgard and is hence usually called the Midgard serpent and third Fafnir, who was not born as a dragon but was turned into it. When we search through all Viking myths and put them together, we can gather three dragons that are recognizable by name. The creatures which were also a part of Norse mythology, Lindwyrms (creatures similar to wyverns, a lesser form of dragons), came from the old Norse word Linnormr which is translated as 'ensnaring snake'. Also, there are different sources that indicate the word ormr is also being used to represent dragons. Norse mythology by itself has separate names for every dragon inhabiting its world, but if we talk about dragons in general, Vikings used the word dreki. RELATED: Dragon Head Viking Necklace with Mjolnir What is the Word for Dragon in Norse Mythology? That being said, they are creatures of incredible strength, which are virtually indestructible, and Viking that would be able to kill such a mighty creature would become a legend at that very moment. Dragons are usually represented as enemies of the heroes and part of the wrong side of Ragnarok. Norse myth about dragons isn't like that. Some cultures, as ancient Chinese, for example, regard dragons as benevolent protectors.
#Nidhogg theme series
Still, probably the most famous ones are Voluspa, the first poem of our, already well-known, Poetic Edda, the Volsung cycle (a series of stories about Norse mythology which were written in Iceland and preserved all over Scandinavia) and Gesta Danorum (Saxo Grammaticus' chronicle about Danes). There are plenty of sources in Norse mythology about dragons.
Did Vikings Have Dragons - Norse Myth Explained? We speak about Gods, we speak about heroes, we even speak about creatures that inhabit Norse mytholog y, but, this time, we are going to set our course in the direction of one elusive creature of Norse mythology (and the whole Norse myth, really), the dragon. Whenever we speak about Norse mythology and Norse myth, we talk about different sorts of creatures.
Whenever there is a conversation about imaginary creatures, between all your Nessies, Chupacabras, and Yeties, there is always a creature that humans found the most interesting across time.
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