Thor Goes Fishing for the World Serpent (Campfire Story)

Every fisherman has a story about the one that got away. But nobody's story beats the one about THOR, the god of thunder, and the day he went fishing.

Out in the deep ocean, coiled all the way around the world with its tail in its mouth, lived the World SERPENT. It was so long it circled the whole earth. When it rolled over in its sleep, waves crashed on every shore. THOR and the SERPENT were sworn enemies.

One day THOR disguised himself as a young traveler and came to the house of Hymir, one of the sea GIANTS. Hymir was so big his beard was frozen into a forest of icicles. He was getting his boat ready to go fishing.

'Can I come?' asked THOR.

Hymir laughed. 'You, little fellow? You'll freeze out there. We go far.'

'I'll row,' said THOR. 'And I'll bring my own bait.'

'Fine,' snorted Hymir. 'Find your own bait.' So THOR walked out to Hymir's field, picked out the biggest black ox in the herd, and took its head for bait. Hymir was not pleased.

They pushed off. THOR took the oars. ROW! The boat shot forward. ROW! The shore disappeared behind them.

'Stop here,' said Hymir. 'This is where I catch whales.' But THOR kept going. ROW! ROW!

'Stop!' said Hymir, getting nervous. 'Out here is where the World SERPENT lives!' THOR just smiled and kept going. ROW! ROW! ROW!

At last THOR shipped the oars. Hymir caught two whales, one after the other, and looked very pleased with himself. Then THOR took out a fishing line as thick as a ship's rope, tied on a hook the size of an anchor, stuck the ox head on the hook, and let it sink down, down, down into the dark.

For a long time, nothing happened. Then, far below, something enormous opened its mouth.

The line went tight with a jerk that nearly threw THOR out of the boat. He'd hooked the World SERPENT!

The SERPENT pulled one way. THOR pulled the other. He braced his feet so hard against the bottom of the boat that they punched right through the planks, and he stood on the floor of the ocean itself. And he pulled.

Up came the line. Up came the ox head. Up came the great poisonous head of the SERPENT, spitting venom and hissing, its eyes glaring right into the eyes of THOR. The god of thunder glared right back and reached for his hammer.

And Hymir, the great sea giant, went as pale as his frozen beard. He was so scared the boat would sink, and so scared of the SERPENT, that he grabbed his bait knife and cut the line.

With a gigantic splash, the World SERPENT sank back into the sea.

THOR threw his hammer after it, and some say it struck the serpent's head far under the water. But it was gone. And THOR was so angry with Hymir that he gave him a shove, and the big old giant tumbled backward over the side of the boat with an enormous SPLASH.

Then the god of thunder rowed himself home, all alone, with his feet still dripping and the biggest fish story ever told. And the SERPENT? It's still out there, they say. Next time the waves crash extra hard on the shore, you'll know it rolled over in its sleep.

Storyteller tips: the rowing is the build, so let the crowd pull harder and faster on each ROW. Slow way down when the line goes still in the deep water, then make the strike a sudden jolt. For a quieter ending, skip Hymir going overboard.

Retold from the Hymiskvida in the Poetic Edda and Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda. A carved stone at Altuna in Sweden, from around 1050, shows Thor in the boat with his foot through the bottom.