Germanic dragon

Urnes-style runestone U 887, Skillsta, Sweden, showing a runic dragon and a bipedal winged dragon.
An 11th century Norse dragonhead decoration, possibly for a reliquary. Like the Chinese dragon, Norse dragons of this era feature barbels.

Worm, wurm or wyrm (Old English: wyrm, Old Norse: ormʀ, ormr, Old High German: wurm), meaning serpent, are archaic terms for dragons (Old English: draca, Old Norse: dreki, Old High German: trahho) in the wider Germanic mythology and folklore, in which they are often portrayed as large venomous snakes and hoarders of gold. Especially in later tales, however, they share many common features with other dragons in European mythology, such as having wings.

Prominent worms attested in medieval Germanic works include the dragon that killed Beowulf, the central dragon in the Völsung CycleFáfnir, Níðhöggr, and the great sea serpent, Jǫrmungandr, including subcategories such as lindworms and sea serpents.


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