Norse dragon

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Norse mythology has several references to dragons (Old Norse: dreki).[1][2]

The word dreki is a loanword from the Greek and Latin form of dragon and is used in Old Norse in different ways: It is a heiti (synonym) for the great earthbound serpent-monster appearing in Germanic tradition as ormr or linnormr (lindworm). But it also refers to a more recent romanesque winged dragon, that often breathes fire and has four legs.[1][3][4] The term dreki was also applied to the great Viking longships, where the prow, when carved in the likeness of a dragon, was meant to protect and impart ferocity upon the sailors.[4]

  • Níðhöggr is identified as a dragon in the Völuspá. It is the only winged dragon in the Poetic Edda, and in Paul Acker's view "is likely a late, perhaps even Christian, addition to the otherwise pagan cosmology" of the poem.[1]
  • Jörmungandr, also known as the Midgard Serpent, is described as a giant, venomous beast.[4][5]
  • Fáfnir, a slithering ormr in the Poetic Edda, is turned into a limbed dragon as part of the Völsung Cycle.[1]
  • The Gesta Danorum contains a description of a dragon killed by Frotho I.[2]
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References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Acker, Paul (2013). "Dragons in the Eddas and in Early Nordic Art". In Acker, Paul; Larrington, Carolyne (eds.). Revisiting the Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Heroic Legend. Routledge. p. 53-57. ISBN 978-0-415-88861-5.
  2. ^ a b Rauer, Christine (2000). "The Dragon Episode". Beowulf and the Dragon: Parallels and Analogues. D. S. Brewer. p. 24-51. ISBN 0-85991-592-1.
  3. ^ Somerville, Angus A.; McDonald, R. Andrew (2013). The Vikings and their Age. Companions to Medieval Studies. University of Toronto Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-4426-0522-0.
  4. ^ a b c Fee, Christopher R. (2011). Mythology in the Middle Ages. Praeger. p. 8-10. ISBN 978-0-275-98406-9.
  5. ^ Thompson, Ben (2015). Guts & Glory: The Vikings. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780316320559.
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