It is the child of the god of mischief Loki and the giantess Angrboða. The serpent is also the brother of the great wolf Fenrir and Hel, the queen of the dead.
According to Old Norse texts, Odin cast Jörmungandr into the ocean that encircles the realm of humans, Midgard.
Eventually, the Midgard Serpent became so large that it could surround the entire human realm - Earth - and catch its own tail (by gripping its tail, it symbolizes infinity as an ouroboros).
Jörmungandr appears in Norse myths on several occasions, often as the adversary of Thor. The encounters between the two have often been depicted in Norse art.
The three siblings and Ragnarök
According to Norse lore, Jörmungandr and its siblings were living with Angrboða – their mother – in Jotunheim, the domain of the giants, when a prophecy warned the Norse gods in Asgard that they would stir up havoc in the future.
In order to prevent them from doing so, Odin threw Jörmungandr into the sea, banished Hel to the dark realm of the dead under Niflheim, and bound Fenrir to a rock.
At the end of days, Norse lore states, Fenrir would manage to liberate itself and break free, and Hel would grant Fenrir a massive army of the dead. At the same time, Jörmungandr would release its tail and, after doing so, rise from the seas to join its siblings in the battle against the gods of Asgard and their champions.
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