Study › Runes & Norse › Thor's Fishing for the Serpent
On a fishing trip with the giant Hymir, Thor baited his hook with an ox-head and caught the Midgard Serpent, Jormungandr. Hymir cut the line before the killing blow.
The ox-head bait
Thor once went to sea with the giant Hymir, rowing far out beyond the giant's usual fishing grounds despite his companion's growing fear. When Hymir would give him no bait, Thor struck the head from the giant's greatest ox to use it, and cast a strong line with a mighty hook baited with the ox-head down into the deep — for he was hunting his ancient enemy, the Midgard Serpent.
Thor and the serpent
Jormungandr took the bait. Thor braced himself so hard against the strain that his feet drove through the bottom of the boat to the seabed, and he hauled the monstrous serpent's venom-spitting head up out of the water, the two locked in a stare of pure hatred.
The cut line
Thor raised Mjollnir to strike the killing blow — but the terrified Hymir, sure the sea would drown them both, cut the fishing-line, and the serpent sank back into the depths. Their reckoning was only postponed: Thor and Jormungandr are fated to meet, and to slay each other, at Ragnarok. The episode appears in Snorri's Gylfaginning and in the eddic poem Hymiskvida.
Read Jormungandr, Hymir's cauldron and Ragnarok.
Questions
Did Thor kill Jormungandr when he fished for it?
No. Hymir cut the line; they meet again at Ragnarok.
What bait did Thor use?
The head of Hymir's greatest ox.