the.com/wyrm
the wingless, legless dragon that proves you don't need limbs to ruin kingdoms
means An archaic or fantasy term for a serpentine dragon — typically wingless and legless, a great worm-like beast of myth.
from Straight from Old English 'wyrm,' which simply meant serpent, snake, or dragon — the same word that gave us the humble 'worm.' It traces back to Proto-Germanic 'wurmiz' (compare Old Norse 'ormr,' as in the world-encircling Midgard serpent) and is likely related to Latin 'vermis,' worm. To the Anglo-Saxons there was no hard line between worm, snake, and dragon — Beowulf's hoard-guarding fire-breather is a 'wyrm.' Modern fantasy revived the old spelling to mark the limbless, ancient sort of dragon, while everyday English kept the small, soft creature in the garden.
- etymology
- Old English for serpent, root of worm
- no wings
- unlike dragons, it slithers rather than soars
- venom over fire
- many lore wyrms poison rather than burn
- lambton legend
- a famous English wyrm regrew when cut apart
- linnorm cousin
- Norse wyrms guarded gold and grudges alike
smaug — dragon in tolkien's the hobbit who hoards gold under the lonely mountain
nidhogg — serpent in norse mythology that gnaws at the roots of yggdrasil