Nidhogg is named in the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda as a serpent or dragon at the bottom of the world tree Yggdrasil, in the spring called Hvergelmir, gnawing at one of its roots and chewing the corpses of the dead in the hall of the perjurers and murderers. The squirrel Ratatoskr runs up and down the trunk carrying malice between it and the eagle at the top. The name is usually translated as malice-striker or curse-biter, though the etymology is not certain. It is a persistent corrosion at the foundation rather than an adversary anyone fights, and in one verse it is seen flying up carrying bodies after Ragnarok, an image no source explains.
Facts
Attestation
HistoricityLegendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record 1 Legendary Meaning in the Attesting SourceSerpent that gnaws the root of Yggdrasil from below 1Tradition: The Poetic Edda Meaning in the Attesting SourceThe squirrel Ratatoskr carries it insults from the eagle above 1Tradition: The Poetic Edda Origins
Origin of the NameName usually translated as malice-striker or curse-biter, though uncertain 1 Contested Use
Contested or Appropriated Modern UseNidhogg's brief appearance flying up from the underworld carrying corpses in the closing lines of Voluspa, after Ragnarok, is not explained by the poem itself and its meaning is debated among translators and scholars. 1 Function
Domain / FunctionThe Poetic Edda names Nastrond, shore of corpses, as the hall where Nidhogg is said to gnaw the bodies of oath breakers and murderers. 1 Cult
Attributes and IconographyA serpent or dragon gnawing at a root of Yggdrasil in the spring Hvergelmir, seen in one verse flying up carrying corpses after Ragnarok. 1 Learn More
The Dragon at the Root of the World-Tree
Nidhogg (Nidhoggr, roughly "malice-striker") is named in both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda as a serpent or dragon at the bottom of the world-tree Yggdrasil, in or near the spring Hvergelmir, gnawing at one of its roots. The tree is thus under continual assault from below even as it upholds the cosmos, an image of decay working against order. In the Grimnismal a squirrel, Ratatoskr, runs up and down the trunk carrying insults between Nidhogg at the roots and an eagle at the crown.
In the Voluspa Nidhogg also chews the corpses of the dead in a grim hall on the shore of Nastrond ("corpse-strand"), where oath-breakers and murderers wade through venom; and in the poem's closing stanza the dragon appears once more, flying up with corpses in its wings, in a scene whose place in the world's renewal after Ragnarok is debated. Nidhogg is less a character with a story than a persistent image of gnawing dissolution at the foundations of things.
The Ecology of the World Tree
Nidhogg is best understood as one position in a system rather than as a character. Yggdrasil has a creature at every level: an eagle at the crown, four harts browsing the branches, goats and serpents, and the dragon below gnawing at the root. The squirrel Ratatoskr runs the length of the trunk carrying insults between the eagle and the dragon, which is the only piece of Norse cosmology that is straightforwardly funny.
What the arrangement describes is a tree under constant attack that goes on standing. Nothing in the sources suggests the gnawing will succeed. The tree suffers more than people know, one poem says, and that is the whole claim: the structure of the world is maintained against continuous damage rather than being permanent by nature.
The dragon's other post is Nastrond, the shore of corpses, where it feeds on the bodies of oath-breakers and murderers. The last stanza of the great prophetic poem has Nidhogg flying up over the plain with corpses in its wings, and editors have argued about that stanza for a long time, since a poem describing the world renewed after the end appears to close with the old horror still in the air. Some read it as the final note of an unresolved ending; others suspect it has been moved. The manuscript gives no help.
In the Texts
Gylfaginning XV (Brodeur)The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlusonthe world tree
The Ash is greatest of all trees and best: its limbs spread out over all the world and stand above heaven. Three roots of the tree uphold it and stand exceeding broad: one is among the Aesir; another among the Rime-Giants, in that place where aforetime was the Yawning Void; the third stands over Niflheim, and under that root is Hvergelmir, and Nidhoggr gnaws the root from below.
Nidhogg gnawing at the root.
The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson. translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur.
About This Passage
Connections
Associated With
Ratatoskr is the squirrel of Norse mythology who runs along the world tree Yggdrasil carrying words between the eagle at its crown and the dragon Nidhogg, already recorded in this atlas, gnawing at its roots.
Belongs to Tradition
Contained In
Nidhogg gnaws at the root of Yggdrasil that reaches down into Niflheim, at the spring Hvergelmir.
Source Dictionary of Northern MythologyRudolf Simek, translated by Angela Hall
Passages on This
Nidhogg gnawing at the root.
Related To
Nidhogg is the serpent that gnaws at Yggdrasil's roots.
Source The Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson
Sources
1. The Poetic Edda
Anonymous (Codex Regius), The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1923Voluspa 39 and 66; Grimnismal 32 and 35Quote, Voluspa 39 and 66; Grimnismal 32 and 35
The serpent gnaws at a root of the world tree and chews the bodies of the dead, and the squirrel Ratatoskr carries words of malice between it and the eagle above.
Divinity Atlas Entity Records, First Edition
Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs
John Lindow, Oxford University Press, 2001the entry on NidhoggView the Source Dictionary of Northern Mythology
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.