Nidhogg

Nidhogg was a primordial Lindwyrm who dwelt among the branches and roots of the World Tree, Yggdrasil, protecting its roots as part of the cycle of the Nine Realms. She had been there long before Ratatoskr, the Tree's caretaker, and was one of the oldest and most powerful beings in the realms until she was slain by Kratos and Freya.

Caretaker of the roots#

Nidhogg was the caretaker of the roots of the World Tree. Though her origins were unknown, Ratatoskr noted that she had dwelt there long before him. Her purpose was to gnaw the roots of Yggdrasil to prevent overgrowth at the Tree's base, and to defend any roots that came under attack. The two caretakers held a working relationship across the ages.

The unwitting pawn#

When Freya, alongside Kratos, sought to destroy the cursed roots Odin had created to bind her to Midgard, Nidhogg immediately appeared to stop them. She engaged Kratos in battle until Freya lifted her own curse and joined the fight against the Lindwyrm. When Nidhogg tore open a hole between realms to continue her attack, Kratos used the Blades of Chaos to hold her in place long enough for Freya to close the portal, cutting off the beast's head. To Freya's anger, she realized that Nidhogg's duty to defend the roots meant Odin had known the creature would attack anyone who tried to free Freya of her curse. The Lindwyrm had been an unwitting pawn, as much a victim of the All-Father's schemes as Freya herself.

The orphaned brood#

With Nidhogg dead, her six orphaned children escaped into the various realms and began causing trouble. Ratatoskr, saddened but understanding of why she had been killed, tasked Kratos with retrieving the young Lindwyrms so that he could raise them himself, giving them a father figure and himself some long-desired company. By the time Ragnarok had ended, he noted with amusement that the young Lindwyrms had begun to recognize him as their surrogate father rather than as a potential snack.

Nature and powers#

Nidhogg was a seemingly nonsentient creature who cared only for protecting her territory and was willing to fight two gods to that end. Her lack of intelligence left her unable to grasp the complexities of a situation, which allowed Odin to exploit her, yet she was still cunning enough to open portals to redirect her attacks and to know when to retreat. Ratatoskr noted that she was caring toward her offspring but also strict, keeping them in check.

As a primordial matriarch of the Lindwyrms, Nidhogg possessed incredible power. She could tear rifts between realms to travel or to send her attacks through, and could even draw matter into herself before spitting it back out charged with Bifrost energy. She sensed any disturbance to Yggdrasil's roots no matter where it occurred, possessed immense strength and durability that let her endure the combined might of Kratos and Freya, and could wield Bifrost energy to enchant her claws, fire projectiles, or project a beam from her tail. Having existed since primordial times, she was effectively immortal, and only the closing of her escape rift allowed her to be killed.