Níðhöggr
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In Norse mythology, Níðhöggr (Malice Striker, often anglicized Nidhogg[1]) is a dragon who eats the roots of the World Tree, Yggdrasill.
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[edit] Prose Edda
According to the Gylfaginning part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, Níðhöggr or "Nidhogg Nagar" is a being which gnaws one of the three roots of Yggdrasill. This root is placed over Niflheimr and Níðhöggr gnaws it from beneath. The same source also says that "[t]he squirrel called Ratatöskr runs up and down the length of the Ash, bearing envious words between the eagle and Nídhöggr."[2]
In the Skáldskaparmál section of the Prose Edda Snorri specifies Níðhöggr as a serpent in a list of names of such creatures:
- These are names for serpents: dragon, Fafnir, Iormungand, adder, Nidhogg, snake, viper, Goin, Moin, Grafvitnir, Grabak, Ofnir, Svafnir, masked one. (Faulkes translation, p.137)
Snorri's knowledge of Níðhöggr seems to come from two of the Eddic poems: Grímnismál and Völuspá.
Later in Skáldskaparmál, Snorri includes Níðhöggr in a list of various terms and names for swords.[3]
[edit] 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 Níðhöggr as tearing at the tree from beneath and also mentions Ratatoskr as carrying messages between Níðhöggr 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 twice. The first instance is in its description of Náströnd.
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Níðhöggr is also mentioned at the end of Völuspá, where he is identified as a dragon and a serpent.
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The context and meaning of this stanza is disputed. The most prevalent opinion is that the arrival of Níðhöggr heralds Ragnarök and thus that the poem ends on a tone of ominous warning.
Níðhöggr is not mentioned elsewhere in any ancient source.
[edit] Níðhöggr's name
In the standardized Old Norse orthography the name is spelled Níðhǫggr or Niðhǫggr 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 as Nidhogg, Nidhoggr, Nithhogg, Nidhögg, Nidhöggr, Nithhöggr, Nídhöggr, Nithhoggr, Nidhhogg, Níðhögg, Niðhoggr, Níðhoggr, Nídhögg, Hidhaegg, or Nidhhoggr. The Modern Icelandic forms Níðhöggur and Niðhöggur are also sometimes seen and anglicized as Nidhoggur. The Danish form Nidhug or "Nidhøg" can also be encountered.
[edit] In popular culture
- In 2005, Lego made a set based on a "Viking catapult" attacking the "Nidhogg dragon" Lego item #7017.
- Nidhogg appears in Michael Scott's Nicholas Flamel series, in the novel The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel as a powerful weapon that can only be killed by its own claws.
- In the anime, Soul Eater, the Nidhogg is a large ghost ship and storage vessel for gathering human souls.
- In Age of Mythology, a computer game, Nidhogg is a dragon that can be attained only after bringing a norse society to the highest level of technological achievement.
- In the video game Final Fantasy XII, one of the monsters the player is able to hunt for a bounty is named Nidhogg. Nidhogg also makes appearances in other games of the series, although usually as a regular monster (Some exceptions exist).
- Nidhogg appears many times in the Shin Megami Tensei series.
- In Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Nidhogg is the name of a weapon that the player acquires near the end of the game.
- In the MMORPG, EVE Online, developed by Icelandic company CCP Games, the Nidhoggur is a capital class vessel belonging to the Minmatar faction.
- In Episode 13.2 of the game Ragnarok Online as a boss monster from the Nidhoggr dungeon instance.
- In the computer game Tomb Raider Chronicles, young Lara is confronted by a corpse hanging on what it claims to be The World Tree, and he tells Lara to find his heart, which is hidden under the tree, down under the watchful gaze of the dragon Nidhogg. But Nidhogg is never seen.
- In the Fantasy Tabletop RPG Paridine, Nidhogg is one of the most powerful encounter monsters in the game. It is considered a God Monster.
- Nidhogg is the name of a Norwegian black metal musician associated with Ildjarn.
- In the video game Odin Sphere, The fairy queen Mercedes (who's true name is Yggdrasill.) supresses her cousin Melvin's attempt at stealing her throne after the late queen was killed. Melvin later reveals his true name as Nidhogg.
- In the video game Final Fantasy XI, Nidhogg is the boss HNM (High Notorious/Named Monster) which spawns opposite from Fafnir. Both dragons are found in Dragon's Aery.
- In the video game Too Human, Nidhogg is represented as a strange purple fog said to devour the unused parts of cyber space.
- The popular webcomic Penny Arcade mentions Nidhoggr as a network packet-devouring serpent in the July 10, 2009 strip.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ 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).
- ^ Gylfaginning XVI, Brodeur's translation.
- ^ Faulkes translation, p.159
[edit] References
- Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989). Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
- Bellows, Henry Adams. Translation of the Poetic Edda. Available at [1].
- Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (transl.) (1916). The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation. Available online at http://www.northvegr.org/lore/prose/index.php.
- Dronke, Ursula (1997). The Poetic Edda : Volume II : Mythological Poems. Oxford: Clarendon Press. In particular p. 18 and pp. 124-5.
- Eysteinn Björnsson (ed.). Snorra-Edda: Formáli & Gylfaginning : Textar fjögurra meginhandrita. 2005. http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/gg/
- Eysteinn Björnsson (ed.). Völuspá. http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/vsp3.html
- Faulkes, Anthony (transl. and ed.) (1987). Edda (Snorri Sturluson). Everyman. ISBN 0-460-87616-3
- Finnur Jónsson (1913). Goðafræði Norðmanna og Íslendinga eftir heimildum. Reykjavík: Hið íslenska bókmentafjelag.
- Finnur Jónsson (1931). Lexicon Poeticum. København: S. L. Møllers Bogtrykkeri.
- Lindow, John (2001). Handbook of Norse mythology. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio. ISBN 1576072177.
- Thorpe, Benjamin (tr.) (1866). Edda Sæmundar Hinns Froða : The Edda Of Sæmund The Learned. (2 vols.) London: Trübner & Co. Available online at http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic2/000.php
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