Tatzelwurm

The Tatzelwurms were serpentine, feline beasts that haunted the wilds of the Nine Realms, part lizard and part cat, tunneling through the earth to ambush any soul that wandered into their territory. Kratos and Atreus met them in numbers across the Norse lands, often alongside other beasts.

Form and habits#

A Tatzelwurm was a strange combination of creatures, part lizard and part cat, with a serpentine body, sharp claws, and sharp teeth, its head recalling the great sabre-toothed cats of old. They liked to burrow underground to close the distance between themselves and their prey, moving through the earth as a fish moves through water and lying in wait for any unsuspecting soul to step on the wrong patch of ground. They seldom traveled alone, usually appearing in groups of two or more and often in the company of other beasts. Few ventured into the lands where these tunneling creatures roamed, and even fewer survived an encounter, for the beasts were said to toy with their victims with an almost playful cruelty.

Venom and the cursed kind#

Their claws and teeth were dangerous in their own right, but the true threat lay in the barbed tail. The barb pierced flesh with ease and flooded its victim with venom. Beyond the common kind there was a more dangerous breed, the Cursed Tatzelwurm, alike in form to the regular ones but able to inflict outright poison upon those it struck.

Across the realms#

The Tatzelwurms were widespread across the Norse realms. In the early days of their journey Kratos and Atreus found many of them around the Lake of Nine in Midgard and in parts of Alfheim, and later faced the poisonous Cursed Tatzelwurms among them. In their later travels both kinds appeared first in Svartalfheim. A related creature, a burrowing lizard that lurked in the mountains, could likewise vanish into the earth, though it did not attack, and these tunneling beasts, known as Ormrs, were found throughout the Nine Realms.