THE MIDGARD SERPENT

Real Name: Jormungand ("Midgard Serpent")

Identity/Class: Extradimensional god/dragon

Occupation: Serpent, world destroyer

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Fafnir the Dragon, Fafnir the Giant, Forsung, Frost Giants, Hela, Kurse (Algrim the Strong), Mjolnir (Mother Storm merged with Mangog), Morgan Le Fay, Nidhogg, Loki, Tyr, Utgard-Loki

Enemies: Asgardians (Enchantress/Amora, Fandral, Freyja, Heimdall, Hogun, Odin, Thor/Odinson, Volstagg, Unthar, others), Avengers (Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, Firebird/Angelica Jones, Justice/Vance Astrovik, Magdalene, Rage/Elvin Haliday, Sandman/William Baker, Sersi, Swordsman/Phillip Jarvert), Beta Ray Bill, Dr. Donald Blake, Norran Family (Jeffry, Raina, others), Red Norvell

Known Relatives: Loki (father, see comments), Angerboda (mother, deceased), Iceworm (possible child), Hela (sister), Fenris Wolf (brother), Hoarfen, Sturm, Drang (nephews), Balder, Hermod, Thor, Tyr, Vidar (uncles), Laufey (grandfather), Odin (adopted grandfather), Frigga/Freyja (adopted grandmother), Echidna (maternal grandmother), Vârcolac (maternal grandfather), Phorcys (maternal great-grandfather), Ceto (maternal great-grandmother), Gaea (great-great-grandmother), Pontus (great-great-grandfather), Set (great-great-grandfather);

Aliases: World Serpent, World Snake, Midgard Snake, Mighty Snake, Jörmungandr, Midgårdsormen, Nidhogg (see comments), impersonated Fin Fang Foom

Base of Operations: Mobile in the seas of Midgard (Earth)

First Appearance: Marvel Tales I#105 (February, 1952)

Powers/Abilities: The Midgard Serpent possesses superhuman strength in excess of class 100, and is virtually invulnerable. The serpent normally exists in an ethereal form around Earth, but by making itself solid, it can crush the Earth itself within its coils. When it becomes solid, it causes time to freeze, leaving only those from Asgard unfrozen. The serpent can also assume other forms, such as that of a cat and of the alien dragon Fin Fang Foom. The serpent also produces a venom which is lethal even to the gods of Asgard, and can fire energy blasts from its eyes. The serpent can also fly, breathe both underwater and in the vacuum of space, and has powerful teeth and claws.

Height: Unrevealed (variable)
Weight: Unrevealed (variable)
Eyes: Red
Hair: None

History:
(Norse-German Myth/Thor Annual#5) - Jormungand is the son of Loki and Angerboda, a giantess who was counted among his wives. Realizing the peril Jormungand could place Asgard in, Loki's father Odin banished Jormungand to the depths of the oceans of Earth.

(Thor VI#9) - Jormungand coiled around the roots of the World Tree in ancient times battled an eternal battle with Odin. (see comments)

(Norse-German Myth/Thor I#127/2, 128/2/Thor I#200) - The prophetess Volla prophesized that at the time of Ragnarok, the Midgard Serpent would be slain by Thor in battle, but then Thor himself would perish by the serpent's venom.

(Norse-German Myth/Thor I#272 (fb)) - While in the court of Utgard-Loki, Thor was challenged to lift his cat off the ground, but was humbled when the cat managed to keep at least one foot on the ground at all times. Utgard-Loki then revealed his so-called cat was actually the Midgard Serpent in disguise.

(Thor I#273 (fb)) - Thor went fishing with an ox-head on the boat of the giant Hymir for the Midgard Serpent. Thor succeeded in catching the serpent, but Hymir grew afraid and cut the line believing he was saving Thor from himself. As the serpent retreated, Thor grew angry with Hymir and struck him. He then departed under the power of his hammer as he told Hymir he ought to be grateful that he was letting him live.

(Mystic#34) - A monster believed by some to be Jormungand (or at least a portion of it) rested somewhere in New England in a valley near the ocean for many generations. At least four members of the Norran family and six others accidentally found Jormungand's mouth and became the serpent's meal. The father of Raina Norran made notes about the supposed monster killing people and called it a Kraken. Raina found his notes and showed them to her uncle Norran, who had moved away 20 years ago. He followed the notes and found the cave that suddenly began to move and closed behind him. He realized too late that he was in the throat of a giant creature and had just become another one of its victim. (see comments)

(Marvel Tales I#105 (fb)) - A scientist named Albert Nesbit, while standing beneath a statue of the Midgard Serpent, saw tears dripping from its eyes. He collected the tears into a test tube and brought them back to his lab for study. He ultimately discovered that the tears were a universal solvent which could dissolve through anything-- but this meant that he could not contain the solvent in anything, and it threatened to dissolve the Earth.

(Thor VI#9 (fb) - BTS) - Odin created an eternal, unchanging suburb buried deep under the World Tree where Dr. Donald Blake, the alter ego of Thor on Earth, existed while Thor was active in the real world. It was guarded against any harm by unbreakable magics forged in the fires of Odin's will.

(Thor VI#10 (fb) - BTS) - Odin barred Jormungand from entering the suburb, but the serpent remained curious.

(Thor I#277-278) - As Ragnarok seemed to draw near in Asgard, Hela brought the Midgard Serpent forth to launch an attack, and Thor found himself nearly powerless against it, having lost his hammer Mjolnir to Red Norvell. Norvell himself came to Thor's rescue, and fought the serpent all the way back to its lair, seemingly perishing in the process. When the serpent returned, Thor faced it again, now armed with Mjolnir; he managed to strike it down, and beat it until it vanished, bringing the seeming-Ragnarok to a halt.

(Thor I#325/2)- As part of their scheme to overthrow Odin, Loki and Tyr captured the Golden Apples of Idunn and fed them to the Midgard Serpent, whom they found gnawing upon the roots of Yggdrasil.

(Thor I#327) - To complete Odin's defeat, Loki had the serpent stretch itself to Earth so that his armies could follow Odin and those loyal to him. As they fought, the serpent wound itself around the Earth and began to crush it within its coils. Thor quickly enlisted the giant Hamir to assist him in baiting the serpent with an ox on a fishing pole. The serpent took the bait, and Thor dragged it free from the Earth and fought it. The serpent finally asked Thor to cease their fighting as they were evenly matched, and Thor agreed on the condition that the serpent returns the golden apples. The serpent did so, and Thor then lashed it to Yggdrasil so that it could continue to gnaw upon its root.

(Thor I#379) - Seeking the downfall of Thor, the Frost Giant Grundroth sought out the Midgard Serpent in the oceans of Earth, and used one of his men as bait to raise the serpent to the surface. The serpent took the appearance of the alien dragon Fin Fang Foom to communicate with the giants, and learned from them that Thor had been cursed by Hela to have old, brittle bones without the ability to heal his wounds. Seeing an opportunity to destroy Thor utterly in order to spare himself from death in Ragnarok, the serpent sought Thor out and came upon him in a park in Brooklyn. However, the serpent did not recognize Thor because of the armor he had donned to protect his damaged bones. Thor informed the serpent that he would oppose him, and the serpent responded that if he could lift one of his feet from the ground, he would face him in combat in a place away from innocent bystanders. Thor succeeded, and the two flew off to a secluded valley for combat. There, the serpent dropped the form of Fin Fang Foom and appeared before Thor in its true form. At that instant, all time on Earth stood still. Thor then informed the serpent who he was, and swore to destroy him.

(Thor I#380) - The two enemies engaged in a ferocious battle, during which Thor broke the serpent's teeth when it tried to swallow him. Finally, the serpent launched itself at Thor for its death strike, but Thor came back at it, unleashing the unfettered might of Mjolnir. The energies unleashed slew the serpent, while simultaneously reducing Thor's body to pulp.

(Thor I#486) - The Midgard Serpent was released from Hel by Kurse to use as a minion against Thor on Earth, alongside some Frost Giants, Nidhogg, Forsung, Fafnir the Giant, and Fafnir the Dragon.

(Thor I#487) - Thor faced the Midgard Serpent in battle, but was quickly swallowed up. Unable to break free from its belly, Thor found himself exposed to the venom of the serpent's breath, and began to drift unconscious.

(Thor I#488) - Thor was saved from death by Beta Ray Bill, who tore a hole through the serpent's stomach to reach him. The two hammer-wielders were able to smash their way out of the serpent's belly by combining the power of their hammers, and the Midgard Serpent faded back into Hel.

(Avengers III#1) - The Midgard Serpent was among the Asgardian menaces summoned to Earth by Morgan Le Fay to distract the Avengers while she abducted the Scarlet Witch. The Midgard Serpent surfaced in the South Pacific, where it was opposed by a team of Avengers led by the Black Widow.

(Thor II#80) - As Thor lay defeated following his battle with Loki, the Midgard Serpent attempted to devour him, but Thor blasted it in the face with energy from Mjolnir as he teleported to Earth.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#683 (fb) - BTS) - An ancient tooth of Jormungand ended up in the British Museum in London. It was stolen by Electro for Doctor Octopus, who replaced Rhino's horn with it. In battle with the Avengers Rhino impaled Thor on the tooth to defeat the Asgardian.

(Loki: Agent of Asgard#14) - King Loki from the distant future of Reality-14412 went to Hel and formed an alliance with Hela and Tyr to save reality from destruction. Even though Hela swore an oath to never release Jormungandr again from Hel, she and Tyr led King Loki to the cave where the serpent resided. Balder, the walker between life and death, tried to prevent it only to be decapitated with a sickle bound in mistletoe. Loki took Jormungandr as his steed and led the armies of Hel to Asgardia to destroy the eternal realm. They were opposed by Odin, Freyja and the other Asgardian gods with automatic weapons from Midgard.

(Loki: Agent of Asgard#15) - King Loki enjoyed using Jormungandr, the one enemy even Thor could never defeat, against Asgardia while Hela and Tyr watched the battle from the distance. The young Asgardian Unthar was killed when Jormungandr spat poison on him while Hogun kept firing at the serpent. Odin, Freyja and the warriors of Asgard kept firing machine guns at King Loki and Jormungandr, but King Loki only mocked them because he knew their guns would soon be empty and after he slew them he would let Jormungandr crack Midgard open like an egg. To prevent this Freyja jumped on the serpent, berated King Loki for his petty schemes and then slew Jormungandr by sacrificing her own life. The Midgard Serpent and Freyja died in a massive explosion...though Freyja was already back next issue because she answered the call of Odin's Gjallarhorn as one of the fallen heroes in Valhalla, which was apparently her plan all along.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Thor VI#22 (fb)) - The sentient hammer Mjolnir (the Mother Storm merged with Mangog) shattered the walls of Dr. Donald Blake's suburb and let the Midgard Serpent in.

(Thor VI#10 (fb) - BTS) - Jormungand planned to free Blake from his prison and show him that he just another one of Odin's pawns. Jormungand offered Blake power and an alliance to fight Asgard together. Blake took the power offered to him, but then discovered the Odin-Force within himself. With all this power Blake grew enraged because all his life was a lie. Blake slit Jormungand's throat and tore off part of the serpent's hide to create armor from it for himself.

(Thor VI#9) - The Midgard Serpent was mortally wounded by Dr. Donald Blake and left for dead in Blake's prison until the serpent was discovered by Thor.

(Thor VI#10) - With his last breaths Jormungand told Thor what Blake had done to him. Jormungand warned Thor that he had never faced anything like Blake before because he now wielded the power of Odin and the Midgard Serpent and would destroy everything from Thor that he ever loved.

Comments: Adapted by Hank Chapman and Gene Colan.

Will U: According to Norse-German myth, the Fenris Wolf is the son of Loki and Angerboda, a giantess who was counted as among his wives. However, this may not be the case since Loki refers to Hela in an account set in his youth. In an issue of Update '89, in the corrections page, it was noted that the young Loki's reference to Hela was an error on the part of the story's writer--Per Degaton.
   According the Sentient Eye of Odin, however, there was an Asgard that existed before the recent Asgard so it is possible that Hela, Jormungand and the Fenris Wolf are the children of the Loki of this previous Asgard and were directly restored to life after it suffered Ragnarok while Loki and Thor were born anew. However, this account of a previous Asgard has been cast in some doubt and there is no way to confirm any of this; it is further complicated by the fact that Doctor Strange referred to Jormungand as the spawn of the serpent-god Set. Possibly, Strange was referring to Set being the father of Jormungand in an honorary status or maybe Jormungand is the reincarnation of one of Set's progeny and has the life force of a child of Set. It doesn't look like the matter will be resolved anytime soon. It was in Marvel Team-Up Annual#5 that Doctor Strange stated that Set was the father of the Midgard Serpent.--Per Degaton.

    Also, in the myths, Jormungand is almost definitely equated with Nidhogg. Both creatures were cast from Asgard; both creatures nibbled at Yggdrasil and both creatures threatened Idunn's golden apples. In the German myth, however, Nidhogg survived Ragnarok to feed upon the corpses of the dead tossed to it; otherwise, they are sometimes treated as one and the same. In the Marvel Universe, they are treated as separate creatures.

    Thor's death at the hands of the Midgard Serpent was also depicted in a nightmare in Thor I#472.

    Loki cast an illusion of the Midgard Serpent to deceive Thor in Thor I#273.

    The Midgard Serpent has 3 distinct appearances; first, the cobra-like appearance by Jack Kirby (Thor I#127-128, Avengers III#1); second, the button-eyed snake by John Buscema (Thor I#200, 273, 277, 278, 325, 327); third (and in my view, the best), the big-teeth appearance by Walt Simonson (Thor I#379-380, 486-488).

Thor postulated that the Iceworm could be the offspring of the Midgard Serpent and a Frost Giant.

The Midgard Serpent's remains supposedly perished during the Ragnarok in Thor II#85.

Thanks to Gammatotem for pointing out Jormungand's appearance in the story The Disappearance in Mystic#34.
   As you will see the Midgard Serpent is renamed the KRAKEN (which is also called the KRAGEN in the story) but the writer mentioned Norse sea monster whose rocky coils encircled the Earth.
--Gammatotem
   While this creature could be the Midgard Serpent...there are various giant creature on Earth in the Marvel Universe. A human believed it to be the legendary monster, but never found any proof for it. It is a big maybe.
--Markus Raymond

Prime Eternal and Will U. Update by Markus Raymond (Agent of Asgard, etc.).