Typically of my life, as soon as I declare my intent to do something, something comes along to test that. (I blame Loki. Mom always calls me on my shit.) What did I find myself complaining about not an hour after I posted that piece about Writing the Change? The way people reference Jormungandr.

Everything I come across relating to the Serpent seems to be extreme – hir silence is described as “autistic” or sie stands ready for Ragnarok or sie’s just a big cuddly snake or… My experience is not quite any of those things. I see hir as quite the denizen of the middle path, as opposed to most extremes.

Sie can use words to communicate, but largely chooses not to. Images and feelings can be faster, but they’re not always the most effective if you want the other person to figure it out for themselves. Sie does reach out sometimes, when sie’s directly addressed or there is something sie feels needs to be said and no one else has done it. Sometimes people catch hir eye, metaphorically speaking, though I think humans do have a harder time making that connection. Sie’s not interested in collecting people the way, say, Loki is.

In the way of many of those who come from the Ironwoods, sie is what we might call genderqueer. That word has implications the jotnar don’t need, not being a society that particularly ascribes to a hard gender binary, but the Serpent can be male or female as it suits, or hermaphroditic, or agender. (In general I find English really limiting for the discussion of gender in jotnar society because a lot of our assumptions and hang ups are built right into the language.) Suffice to say that sie is whatever sie damn well pleases.

While all three of Angrboda’s children by Loki were betrayed by Odin, I think hir situation is somewhere between hir brother and hir sister. Hel was bound to Helheim and rules there, which… doesn’t seem so much a punishment as Odin taking credit for something that was going to happen anyway. I suspect Odin thought the Wolf could be bound to protect Asgard as the Serpent does Midgard, but, well, Odin doesn’t like it when things get away from him.

And the Serpent, well, my understanding is that hir position isn’t strictly a punishment, but sie is still bound to Midgard and obligated to look after it and protect it as best sie can. How much of that was put upon hir by Odin and how much sie took on willingly seems complicated, and not nearly so simple as Odin tells it. But that’s Ol’ Blue Eye for you – the stories he tells of his work serve just as much a purpose as the work itself.