Editing Dragon (section)

===Germanic===
{{main|Germanic dragon}}
[[File:Sigurd.svg|thumb|Drawing of the [[Ramsund carving]] from {{circa}} 1030, illustrating the ''[[Völsunga saga]]'' on a rock in [[Sweden]]. At (5), [[Sigurd]] plunges his sword into [[Fafnir]]'s underside.]]
In the [[Old Norse]] poem ''[[Grímnismál]]'' in the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'', the dragon [[Níðhöggr]] is described as gnawing on the roots of [[Yggdrasil]], the world tree.{{sfn|MacCulloch|1998|page=156}} In [[Norse mythology]], [[Jörmungandr]] is a giant serpent that encircles the entire realm of [[Midgard|Miðgarð]] in the sea around it.{{sfn|West|2007|page=159}} According to the ''[[Gylfaginning]]'' from the ''[[Prose Edda]]'', written by the thirteenth-century Icelandic mythographer [[Snorri Sturluson]], [[Thor]], the Norse god of thunder, once went out on a boat with the giant Hymnir to the outer sea and fished for Jörmungandr using an ox-head as bait.{{sfn|West|2007|page=159}} Thor caught the serpent and, after pulling its head out of the water, smashed it with his hammer, [[Mjölnir]].{{sfn|West|2007|page=159}} Snorri states that the blow was not fatal: "and men say that he struck its head off on the sea bed. But I think the truth to tell you is that the Miðgarð Serpent still lives and lies in the surrounding sea."{{sfn|West|2007|page=159}}

Towards the end of the [[Old English]] epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]'', a slave steals a cup from the hoard of [[The dragon (Beowulf)|a sleeping dragon]],{{sfn|Rauer|2000|pages=81–81}} causing the dragon to wake up and go on a rampage of destruction across the countryside.{{sfn|Rauer|2000|pages=74–77}} The [[Beowulf (hero)|eponymous hero of the poem]] insists on confronting the dragon alone, even though he is of advanced age,{{sfn|Rauer|2000|pages=77–81}}{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=122}} but [[Wiglaf]], the youngest of the twelve warriors Beowulf has brought with him, insists on accompanying his king into the battle.{{sfn|Niles|2013|pages=122–123}} Beowulf's sword shatters during the fight and he is mortally wounded,{{sfn|Rauer|2000|pages=80–82}}{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=123}} but Wiglaf comes to his rescue and helps him slay the dragon.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=123}} Beowulf dies and tells Wiglaf that the dragon's treasure must be buried rather than shared with the cowardly warriors who did not come to the aid of their king.{{sfn|Niles|2013|pages=123–124}}

In the Old Norse ''[[Völsunga saga]]'', the hero [[Sigurd]] catches the dragon [[Fafnir]] by digging a pit between the cave where he lives and the spring where he drinks his water{{sfn|Haimerl|2013|pages=36–38}} and kills him by stabbing him in the underside.{{sfn|Haimerl|2013|pages=36–38}} At the advice of [[Odin]], Sigurd drains Fafnir's blood and drinks it, which gives him the ability to understand the [[language of the birds]],{{sfn|Haimerl|2013|page=41}} who he hears talking about how his mentor [[Regin]] is plotting to betray him so that he can keep all of Fafnir's treasure for himself.{{sfn|Haimerl|2013|page=41}}{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=119}} The motif of a hero trying to sneak past a sleeping dragon and steal some of its treasure is common throughout many [[Old Norse]] sagas.{{sfn|Rauer|2000|page=85}} The fourteenth-century ''Flóres saga konungs ok sona hans'' describes a hero who is actively concerned not to wake a sleeping dragon while sneaking past it.{{sfn|Rauer|2000|page=85}} In the ''[[Yngvars saga víðförla]]'', the protagonist attempts to steal treasure from several sleeping dragons, but accidentally wakes them up.{{sfn|Rauer|2000|page=85}}