m. [Ulf. waurms = ὄφις; A. S. wyrm; Engl. worm: O. H. G. and Germ. wurm; Dan.-Swed. orm; Lat. vermis; cp. Orms-head in Wales]:—a snake, serpent, also including ‘worms’ (cp. maðkr), and even dragons, Hm. 85, Vsp. 44, 50, Gm. 34, Skm. 27, Akv. 31, Am. 22, 55. Fms. vi. 143, Hkr. i. 103, and passim; högg-ormr, a viper; eitr-ormr, the bane of snakes, i. e. the winter time. The abode of the wicked after death was a pit full of snakes (Hver-gelmir, Ná-strönd), Edda, Vsp. 44, which calls to mind the Gehenna in Mark ix. 43, 44, and one of the Bolgos in Dante’s Inferno, Canto 24. Serpents gnawed at the root of the world-tree Yggdrasil, Gm. 34. Pits of snakes were a place of punishment, Ragn. S. l. c., Am., Akv.; but only in mythological, not in historical records. Serpents brooded over gold and treasures, cp. the serpent Fafnir, Edda, Fm., Gullþ. ch. 4, Ragn. S. (begin.); whence in poetry gold is called orm-bekkr, -beðr, -ból, -garðr, -land, -látr, -láð, -reitr, -setr, -stallr, -torg, -vangr, -vengr, the bank, bed, abode, garden, land, litter, earth, etc. of snakes, Lex. Poët. For the world-serpent, see miðgarðr. orm-fellir, m. the snake-killer = the winter, Fms. vi. (in a verse): a sword is called a snake, blóð-ormr, rand-ormr, see Lex. Poët.; ketil-ormr, a sausage, Korm.: of ships of war with dragons’ heads, Ormr inn Langi, Ormr inn Skammi, Ó.T.

II. pr. names, Ormr and Ormarr; and in compds, Hall-ormr, Ráð-ormr, Þór-ormr, Goð-ormr, Veðr-ormr. = the holy Serpent, a name which indicates serpent worship, although no record of such worship is found in the Sagas.

COMPDS: ormsbit, ormabæli, ormstunga, ormaturn.