Jörmungandr Rístr

Jörmungandr Rístr, “Jörmungandr Rises,” is a Mythic Harmonies song from Gods of War, released on 28 May 2026. In Jörmungandr Rístr (Jörmungandr Rises), the Midgard Serpent opens his eyes, the sea floods and Thor takes hold of Mjölnir. The song received its official music video on 3 September 2026.

The song stays with a single moment: the awakening of the World Serpent at the edge of Ragnarök. Each verse widens the disturbance, from trembling water to sinking ships and burning earth, while the chorus returns to the same warning. Follow the original words and English translation below, alongside the medieval sources that describe the serpent’s rise and the places where the song invents its own images.

What Does Jörmungandr Rístr Mean?

The title means “Jörmungandr rises.” Jörmungandr is the name Snorri Sturluson gives to the serpent that Odin threw into the sea surrounding the world, and Miðgarðsormr, the Midgard Serpent, is the other name the song uses for him. Rístr is a stylized form chosen for the song: the regular Old Norse present tense of rísa, “to rise,” is rís. The title belongs to the song’s modern Nordic register rather than to a medieval text.

The chorus pairs two verbs. Jörmungandr vaknar becomes “Jörmungandr awakens”; Jörmungandr rístr becomes “Jörmungandr rises.” The first is the opening of the eyes, the second the movement out of the deep. Between them the sea floods, the world trembles and the gods grow pale, so that every chorus restates the whole event in four lines.

The Serpent in the Sources

In Gylfaginning 34, edited by Anthony Faulkes, Jörmungandr is one of Loki’s three children with Angrboða. Odin casts him into the deep sea that lies around all lands, where he grows until he encircles the world and bites his own tail. The song assumes this background without retelling it: when the serpent opens his eyes, he is already the ring around Midgard.

The serpent and Thor meet twice in Snorri’s account. In Gylfaginning 48, Thor hooks him while fishing with the giant Hymir, and the line is cut before the blow can fall. At Ragnarök they meet again, and this time neither escapes. The song is set on the eve of that second meeting. For the full story, read the guides to Jörmungandr, the World Serpent and to the children of Loki.

The Sea Trembles, the Ships Sink

The first verse begins with water. Waves rise, the world shakes and ships go down before the serpent is named as awake. Völuspá 50, in Henry Adams Bellows’s translation, gives a comparable image: the serpent is moved by giant-wrath and beats the waves. Snorri adds in Gylfaginning 51 that the sea surges over the land because the serpent turns in giant fury and comes ashore.

The sinking ships are the song’s own detail. In the medieval accounts, the flood sets a ship free rather than drowning one: Naglfar, the vessel made of dead men’s nails, floats loose and carries the enemies of the gods towards the battle. The lyric turns the same rising water into a scene of loss seen from the shore, which suits its viewpoint inside the catastrophe.

Fish That Flee and a Sea That Meets the Sky

The second verse empties the deep: the fish flee and the serpent lifts his head. No medieval source describes the fish, so this is an invented sign of the creature’s size, as if the sea itself made room for him. The next line, “sky and sea become one,” is closer to the texts. In Gylfaginning 51 the serpent blows so much poison that it spatters the whole sky and sea.

The verse ends with Thor’s recognition that the war has come. The song does not describe the other battles of Ragnarök here. Fenrir, Surtr and the Einherjar are absent, and the companion track Ragnarök Kemr on the same album gives the wider battle. Jörmungandr Rístr keeps the camera on the sea and on the one god who will face it.

Venom, Fire and Thor’s Last Fight

The last verse gives the serpent venom dripping from his teeth and burning earth where he lies. The venom comes from the sources; the burning earth is the song’s image, since the fire of Ragnarök belongs to Surtr in Snorri’s account. Thor then grips Mjölnir and is ready. The guide to Mjölnir follows the hammer through the older texts.

Here the song stops. Gylfaginning 51 continues: Thor kills the serpent, walks nine paces and falls dead from the poison that the serpent has blown at him. Völuspá describes the same nine steps (stanzas 55 and 56 in Bellows’s numbering, which varies between editions). The song ends before the outcome. Its final words, “the world will fall… forever,” are its dramatic endpoint, and the guide to Thor and the guide to Ragnarök follow the story beyond it, including the renewed earth that the poems describe afterwards.

Which Jörmungandr Song Is This?

Jörmungandr Rístr is track 7 on Gods of War, identified by its opening Jörmungandr… djúpið kallar and its chorus Jörmungandr vaknar, sjórinn flæðir. It is a separate composition from Jǫrmungandr Rís (2025) and Jǫrmungandr – Hringr Heimsins (2026) in the Mythic Harmonies catalogue: the lyrics, the recording and the duration are different. The May album date and the September video date refer to the audio and its later official clip.

The wording below preserves the complete released text and its English translation. It is stylized Nordic writing inspired by Old Norse, without a claim to reconstruct medieval grammar, an ancient chant or Viking Age musical practice. The sources explain the mythological context; the composition and its sequence of images remain modern.

Jörmungandr Rístr: Release Details

Artist	Mythic Harmonies
Title	Jörmungandr Rístr
English meaning	Jörmungandr Rises
Release date	28 May 2026
Duration	3:46
Album	Gods of War (track 7)
Official video	3 September 2026
Language	Modern stylized Nordic lyrics inspired by Old Norse
Label	Mythic Harmonies
Listen	Spotify: song · Apple Music: song

Jörmungandr Rístr Lyrics and English Translation

The original text preserves the song’s stylized Nordic wording and repeated lines. The English version follows its poetic meaning. These are contemporary song texts, not quotations from a medieval manuscript.

Original Nordic Lyrics

Jörmungandr… djúpið kallar…
Jörmungandr… sjórinn vaknar…

Sjórinn skelfr, bylgjur rísa,
Jörmungandr opnar augu sín.
Heimr titrar, skip sökkva,
Miðgarðsormr — hann er vakinn.

Jörmungandr vaknar, sjórinn flæðir,
Heimr skelfr, guðir fölna.
Jörmungandr rístr, djúpið opnast,
Miðgarðsormr — endir nálgast.

Fiskarnir hlaupa, djúpið tæmist,
Jörmungandr lyftir höfði sínu.
Himinn og sjór verða eitt,
Þórr veit — stríðið er komið.

Jörmungandr vaknar, sjórinn flæðir,
Heimr skelfr, guðir fölna.
Jörmungandr rístr, djúpið opnast,
Miðgarðsormr — endir nálgast.

Eitrið drýpur af tönnum hans,
Jörð brennr þar sem hann liggr.
Þórr grípur Mjölni — hann er tilbúinn,
Ragnarök — þetta er endir.

Jörmungandr vaknar, sjórinn flæðir,
Heimr skelfr, guðir fölna.
Jörmungandr rístr, djúpið opnast,
Miðgarðsormr — endir nálgast.

Jörmungandr… hann er vakinn…
Heimr mun falla… að eilífu…

English Translation

Jörmungandr… the deep is calling…
Jörmungandr… the sea awakens…

The sea trembles, the waves rise,
Jörmungandr opens his eyes.
The world shakes, ships sink,
The Midgard Serpent — he is awake.

Jörmungandr awakens, the sea floods,
The world trembles, the gods grow pale.
Jörmungandr rises, the deep opens,
The Midgard Serpent — the end draws near.

The fish flee, the deep empties,
Jörmungandr lifts his head.
Sky and sea become one,
Thor knows — the war has come.

Jörmungandr awakens, the sea floods,
The world trembles, the gods grow pale.
Jörmungandr rises, the deep opens,
The Midgard Serpent — the end draws near.

Venom drips from his teeth,
The earth burns where he lies.
Thor grips Mjölnir — he is ready,
Ragnarök — this is the end.

Jörmungandr awakens, the sea floods,
The world trembles, the gods grow pale.
Jörmungandr rises, the deep opens,
The Midgard Serpent — the end draws near.

Jörmungandr… he is awake…
The world will fall… forever…

Release Credits

Lyrics: Calogero Nicosia; Composition: Calogero Nicosia; Production: Calogero Nicosia. Artist: Mythic Harmonies.

Listen to Jörmungandr Rístr

Listen to Jörmungandr Rístr on Spotify · Apple Music: song · Watch the official music video

Explore the wider catalogue on Amazon Music: Mythic Harmonies artist profile.

For the wider tradition behind these images, read our guide to Jörmungandr and guide to Ragnarök.

Browse the complete songbook and translations or discover the Mythic Harmonies music catalogue.

Jörmungandr Rístr is track 7 on the album Gods of War (GUÐS STRÍÐ). See the full tracklist and the other songs from the album.

Sources and Further Reading

• Snorri Sturluson, Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning, ed. Anthony Faulkes, second edition (2005), chapters 34, 48 and 51, for the serpent’s origin, Thor’s fishing trip and their final fight at Ragnarök.
• Völuspá, trans. Henry Adams Bellows (1923), especially stanzas 50, 55 and 56, for the serpent beating the waves and Thor’s nine steps. Stanza numbering varies between editions.
• Mythic Harmonies, official Jörmungandr Rístr video and its published original text, for the song reproduced here.

Jörmungandr Rístr: Frequently Asked Questions