I have no idea why but ever since I read about it I've been fascinated by the Nidhoggr from Norse Mythology (possibly as it's slightly dragon like and dwells in the Underworld thus pairing up two of my fascinations...).
The Nidhoggr is the dragon-like creature which dwells at the foot of Yggdrasil and gnaws the roots. Rather like the Nameless Things which live in the roots of Middle-earth, creatures which remain nameless because they are so terrifying, and also quite like the Watcher, lurking in the darkness. Then there's the Ratatoskr, the squirrel creature which runs up and down the trunk of Yggdrasil, passing insults to and fro from the eagle at the top (Eagles nest in the Misty Mountains?) to Nidhoggr at the bottom. And there's Jormungandr the serpent of the mid-world (Midgard, or Middle-earth) who is so large he can encircle the world and swallow his own tail, which brings to mind the Worm Ouroboros and the symbol of the Ring.
But back to the Nidhoggr. I was looking up for some information on this a while back and found some extracts from the Poetic Edda Voluspa. They stood out as in the 'original' (well, as far as I know it as original, not knowing the language) the language is so similar to some of Tolkien's word creations, and in the translation posted up (and they are both
here) the imagery is just
chilling 
:
Quote:
She saw a hall standing,
far from the sun,
in Náströnd;
its doors are northward turned,
venom-drops fall
in through its apertures:
entwined is that hall
with serpent’s backs.
She there saw wading
the sluggish streams
bloodthirsty men
and perjurers,
and him who the ear beguiles
of another’s wife.
There Nidhögg sucks
the corpses of the dead;
the wolf tears men.
Understand ye yet, or what?
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