Note 25 — CANTO III. THOR IN HELHEIM.

Midgard’s snake is the serpent Jormundgard, type of the ocean, which surrounds the earth (Midgard). According to Ling, a Swedish poet, the mythe of Lok and his three offspring, Fenris, Hela and Jormundgard, may be thus explained. Fenris denotes what is destructive or prejudicial in Fire: Hela denotes the deleterious qualities of the Earth, in decomposing substances and causing rottenness: Jormundgard denotes the destructive qualities of Water: all these are caused by the action of Air (Lok or Loptur) mixing with Angurbod (impurity). The amour of Asa-Lok and Angurbod has some resemblance to the amour of the giant Typhon with Echidna, which produced the Chimera, Cerberus and Hydra of the Greek mythology.