Jörmungandr lies at the bottom of the ocean.


This is likely just some pattern-making meme whose attribution has been lost long ago, but now that you've seen it, you can't unsee it, right? And now you can't unthink it either! The provocative NorsePlay here is the global chain of mid-ocean ridges, the largest mountain range on Earth that you never see since it lies deep underwater coiled around our Midgard, could very well be a physical feature correspondence for the World Serpent!

This idea isn't too far from the idea of the mountains we do see on land being the bones of Ymir or the sleeping giants.

[Jörmungandr from the Edda Oblongata, a 17th c. illuminated manuscript of the 13th c. Prose Edda.]

Gylfaginning tells us how Odin throws the young serpent into the great ocean where it grows over time until it's so long & large that it can bite its own tail when it finally encircles the Earth. The 40,400-mile long ridge darn well could if it stretched itself out over the Northwest Passage, and the ridge does grow at a slow rate every year. The other curious placement in this meme is Jörmungandr's eye happens to be Iceland! Even more curious is that Thingvellir, the all-important meeting place for Iceland's Viking Age chieftains, is a rift-zone cresting portion of this global ridge, and belongs to the tectonic divide between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates ... which sort of could seem like the slit eye of a resting serpent waiting for a volcanic Ragnarök to stir and spit its fatal burning venom.

So, sure, it might look like a funny little meme, but now it's not so little or funny, is it?

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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology,  field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.

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