fire and poison Dragons with poisonous breath are believed to predate those who breathe fire in Germanic folklore and literature, consistent with the theory that Germanic dragons developed from traditions regarding wild snakes, some of whom produce venom. The Nine Herbs Charm describes nine plants being used to overcome the venom of a slithering . It tells that Wōden defeats the by striking it with nine twigs, breaking it into nine pieces. In Eddic poetry, both and the sea serpent are described as having poisonous breath. In Gylfaginning it is told that during Ragnarök, Thor will kill Jörmungandr however after taking nine steps, he will be in turn killed by the worm's venom. A similar creature from Orcadian folklore is the poisonous stoor worm which was killed by the hero Assipattle, falling into the sea and forming Iceland, Orkney, Shetland and the Faroe Islands. As in the English tale of the Linton worm, the stoor worm is killed by burning its insides with peat. Beowulf is one of the earliest examples of a fire-breathing dragon yet it is also referred to as "the poison scourge" (). After burning homes and land in Geatland, it fights the eponymous hero of the poem who bears a metal shield to protect himself from the fire. The dragon wounds him but is slain by the king's thane Wiglaf. Beowulf later succumbs to the dragon's poison and dies. The other dragon mentioned in the poem is further associated with fire, melting from its own heat once slain by Sigmund. Both fire and venom are also spat by dragons in the Chivalric saga Sigurðr saga þögla and in Nikolaus saga erkibiskups II, written around 1340 AD, in which the dragon is sent by God to teach an English deacon to become more pious. Material culture Carved dragon heads Drakkar were ships used by Vikings in the Medieval period that featured carved prows in the shape of dragons. One version of the Icelandic Landnámabók states that the ancient Heathen law of Iceland required any ship having a dragon figurehead in place on one's ship "with gaping mouth or yawning snout" to remove the carving before coming in sight of land because it would frighten the landvættir. Stave churches are sometimes decorated by carved dragon heads which has been proposed to have originated in the belief in their apotropaic function. Depictions of entire dragons Medieval depictions of worms