Níðhöggr

Níðhǫggr gnaws the roots of Yggdrasill in this illustration from a 17th-century Icelandic manuscript.

In Norse mythology, Níðhöggr (Malice Striker, traditionally also spelled Níðhǫggr, often anglicized Nidhogg[1]) is a dragon/serpent who gnaws at a root of the world tree, Yggdrasil. In historical Viking society, níð was a term for a social stigma implying the loss of honor and the status of a villain. Thus, its name might refer to its role as a horrific monster or in its action of chewing the corpses of the inhabitants of Náströnd: those guilty of murder, adultery, and oath-breaking, which Norse society considered among the worst possible crimes.

Orthography

In the standardized Old Norse orthography, the name is spelled Níðhǫggr, but the letter 'ǫ' is frequently replaced with the Modern Icelandic ö for reasons of familiarity or technical expediency.

The name can be represented in English texts with i for í; th, d or (rarely) dh for ð; o for ǫ and optionally without r as in Modern Scandinavian reflexes. The Modern Icelandic form Níðhöggur is also sometimes seen, with special characters or similarly anglicized. The Danish forms Nidhug and Nidhøg can also be encountered; or Norwegian Nidhogg and Swedish Nidhögg.

Prose Edda

According to the Gylfaginning part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, Níðhǫggr is a being which gnaws one of the three roots of Yggdrasill. It is sometimes believed that the roots are trapping the beast from the world. This root is placed over Niflheimr and Níðhǫggr gnaws it from beneath. The same source also says that "[t]he squirrel called Ratatoskr runs up and down the length of the Ash, bearing envious words between the eagle and Nídhǫggr [the snake]."[2]

In the Skáldskaparmál section of the Prose Edda Snorri specifies Níðhǫggr as a serpent in a list of names of such creatures:

These are names for serpents: dragon, Fafnir, Jormungand, adder, Nidhogg, snake, viper, Goin, Moin, Grafvitnir, Grabak, Ofnir, Svafnir, masked one.[3]

Snorri's knowledge of Níðhǫggr seems to come from two of the Eddic poems: Grímnismál and Völuspá.

Later in Skáldskaparmál, Snorri includes Níðhǫggr in a list of various terms and names for swords.[4]

Poetic Edda

The poem Grímnismál identifies a number of beings which live in Yggdrasill. The tree suffers great hardship from all the creatures which live on it. The poem identifies Níðhǫggr as tearing at the tree from beneath and also mentions Ratatoskr as carrying messages between Níðhǫggr and the eagle who lives at the top of the tree. Snorri Sturluson often quotes Grímnismál and clearly used it as his source for this information.

The poem Völuspá mentions Níðhöggr/Níðhǫggr twice. The first instance is in its description of Náströnd.

Eysteinn Björnsson's edition Bellows' translation Dronke's translation
Sal sá hon standa
sólu fjarri
Náströndu á,
norðr horfa dyrr.
Fellu eitrdropar
inn um ljóra,
sá er undinn salr
orma hryggjum.
Sá hon þar vaða
þunga strauma
menn meinsvara
ok morðvarga
ok þanns annars glepr
eyrarúnu.
Þar saug Niðhöggr
nái framgengna,
sleit vargr vera—
vituð ér enn, eða hvat ?
A hall I saw,
far from the sun,
On Nastrond it stands,
and the doors face north,
Venom drops
through the smoke-vent down,
For around the walls
do serpents wind.
I there saw wading
through rivers wild
treacherous men
and murderers too,
And workers of ill
with the wives of men;
There Nithhogg sucked
the blood of the slain,
And the wolf tore men;
would you know yet more?
A hall she saw standing
remote from the sun
on Dead Body Shore.
Its door looks north.
There fell drops of venom
in through the roof vent.
That hall is woven
of serpents' spines.
She saw there wading
onerous streams
men perjured
and wolfish murderers
and the one who seduces
another's close-trusted wife.
There Malice Striker sucked
corpses of the dead,
the wolf tore men.
Do you still seek to know? And what?

Níðhöggr/Níðhǫggr is also mentioned at the end of Völuspá, where he is identified as a dragon and a serpent.

Eysteinn Björnsson's edition Bellows' translation Dronke's translation
Þar kømr inn dimmi
dreki fljúgandi,
naðr fránn, neðan
frá Niðafjöllum.
Berr sér í fjöðrum
—flýgr völl yfir—
Níðhöggr nái—
nú mun hon søkkvask.
From below the dragon
dark comes forth,
Nithhogg flying
from Nithafjoll;
The bodies of men
on his wings he bears,
The serpent bright:
but now must I sink.
There comes the shadowy
dragon flying,
glittering serpent, up
from Dark of the Moon Hills.
He carries in his pinions
—he flies over the field—
Malice Striker, corpses.
Now will she sink.

The context and meaning of this stanza are disputed. The most prevalent opinion is that the arrival of Níðhǫggr heralds Ragnarök and thus that the poem ends on a tone of ominous warning. It could be however, as the prevalent themes of Norse mythology are those of change and renewal, that this could be a 'redemption' of the serpent, 'shedding' the corpses and beginning life anew, much like a macabre Phoenix.

Níðhǫggr is not mentioned elsewhere in any ancient source.

Modern culture

The Nidhogg appears in games such as Fate of the Norns,[5]Tower of Saviors, Age of Mythology, Final Fantasy XIV, Megami Tensei, World of Warcraft,[6] and the 2014 indie fencing game Nidhogg. Although not in the game, Nidhogg is shown as a comparison for Alduin, the main antagonist of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, in the sense both feed on the dead and are the symbols of destruction. In Alduin's case he feeds on the souls of the dead in Sovngarde, the afterlife of the natives of Skyrim and is prophecised to bring the end of the world, gaining the title World-Eater which could be a reference to Nidhogg's gnawing at the roots of Yggdrasil. In Eve Online, a class of capital ships, the Minmatar carrier, are called Nidhoggur. The Minmatar Republic in the game often uses Norse mythology in ship class names, such as Loki, Hel, and Ragnarok.

Nidhogg is the subject of the song "On a Sea of Blood" from the album Jomsviking by Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth.

Another reference, albeit small, is the 50% form of Zygarde, a serpentine style Pokémon known as the Order Pokémon. This goes along with Xerneas, the Life Pokémon, being the stag of life, Dvalinn, and Yveltal, the Destruction Pokémon, being the unnamed eagle of death and destruction.

Niðhöggr appeared in Ichiei Ishibumi's light novel series High School DxD. He made his official appearance in Volume 20, when he infiltrated the underground space in the Hyoudou Residence and nearly beat Ophis to death while holding Issei's parents as hostages, whom he kidnapped after he escaped when Crom Cruach appeared. Niðhöggr later appeared on Agreas where he fought against the Occult Research Club but was constantly taking powerful blows and unable to fight back against them, mostly from an angered Issei. He manages to get back up using Phenex Tears, however he was overwhelmed again when Crom Cruach appeared to senselessly beat him up and lets Issei and Asia pass, Niðhöggr tries to attack them only to be dispersed by Crom Cruach's aura. Crom Cruach intimidates Niðhöggr stating that he will kill him a hundred times over and chase him down relentlessly until his consciousness perishes.

See also

References

  1. ↑ While the suffix of the name, -höggr, clearly means "striker" the prefix is not as clear. In particular the length of the first vowel is not determined in the original sources. Some scholars prefer the reading Niðhöggr (Striker in the Dark).
  2. ↑ Gylfaginning XVI, Brodeur's translation.
  3. ↑ Faulkes translation, p.137
  4. ↑ Faulkes translation, p.159
  5. ↑ Valkauskas, Andrew (2015). Denizens of the North (1st ed.). Canada: Pendelhaven. pp. 96–97. ISBN 9780986541469.
  6. ↑ "Nithogg". Wowhead. Retrieved 2016-10-17.

Bibliography

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