Lindwurm

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A mythical dragon or serpent often depicted in European folklore as an enormous, wingless creature
2. An imagined creature resembling a dragon; typically described as a long, winding serpent or snake in legends
3. A legendary beast characterized by its serpentine body and association with waters, sometimes representing chaos or destruction

Etymology: Lindwurm is a German word for a legendary dragon-like serpent, and its first element is the key to the whole thing. "Lind" is an old word for a serpent or snake, related to the English "lithe" in the sense of bending, and it survives in Middle High German as a term for a snake or worm. "Wurm" in this compound means a creature of the serpent or dragon kind, not the earthworm meaning the word carries today; in older German "wurm" could mean any beast, including large monsters. The compound therefore reads as something like "snake-worm," a doubled description of a serpentine monster. The word is attested in German medieval literature and is used for the dragons of heroic legend, where it names a huge creature that guards treasure or terrorises a region. Its prominence in folklore owes much to the tale of Siegfried and the dragon in the Nibelungen tradition and to local legends across German-speaking lands, where a lindwurm is often said to have been slain by a hero.

Synonyms: dragon, serpent

Antonyms: angel, fairy