#Nidhogg mythology free

While the serpent Dragon resides in the bottom of Yggdrasil a wise eagle lives on the top of the World Tree. There is also another interesting story about Nidhogg that can be found in the Poetic Edda.

#Nidhogg mythology free

The prophecy says that when Ragnarok comes the serpent will be free again leading the Giants to attack the Norse Gods. There is also the idea that the roots of Yggdrasil keep the Dragon trapped until Ragnarok Era. If the mythical tree falls the Norse Cosmos will fall back into chaos. The Nidhogg's plan is to destroy the World Tree as he knows that the destruction of Yggdrasil will mark the end of Gods. Several other serpents as well as Nidhogg's sons dwelling in Hvergelmir as it is mentioned in the Prose Edda. However, this conception of the afterlife as marked by moral retribution is totally foreign to the indigenous worldview of the Norse and other Germanic peoples, and must be an instance (one of many) of Christian influence upon the poem. Later in the same poem, Nidhogg is also said to preside over a part of the underworld called NГЎstrГ¶nd (вЂњThe Shore of CorpsesвЂќ) where perjurers, murderers, and adulterers are punished. In one especially important Old Norse poem (the VГ¶luspГЎ or вЂњInsight of the SeeressвЂќ), Nidhogg is described as flying out from beneath Yggdrasil during Ragnarok, presumably to aid the giantsвЂ™ cause.

From this it would make sense for Nidhogg to have a prominent role in Ragnarok, the downfall of the cosmos. NidhoggвЂ™s actions have the intention of pulling the cosmos back to chaos, and he, along with his reptilian cohort, can therefore surely be classified among the giants (or, as they were called in pre-Christian times, вЂњdevourersвЂќ). This is highly injurious to the tree, which holds the Nine Worlds of the cosmos. Mythology, Philosophy and Folklore - NIDHOGG Norse Mythology Nidhogg (Old Norse NГГ°hГ¶ggr, literally вЂњCurse-strikerвЂќ or вЂњHe Who Strikes with MaliceвЂќ) is the foremost of several serpents or dragons who dwell beneath the world-tree Yggdrasil and eat its roots.