Wyrm

The term of Wyrms (pronounced the same as “worms”) was used to describe large, magical creatures similar to serpents.

The exact definitions that separated Wyrms, serpents, snakes, or even Dragons varied between universes and even simply from person to person. In the Prime Universe, Sigyn and Odin both took the view that “wyrms” were terrestrial supernatural serpents, who burrowed underground, such as the non-sapient Wyrm of Loki, while a sea serpent like Jormungandir was best thought of as in fact a “serpent”. However, Jormungandir himself was uncertain what term best applied to him, confessing that he simply thought of himself as a “snake” to a frustrated Pythagoras-858 and Juliet-178 in 2021. (PROSE: The Winter Quests)

Behind the scenes

“Wyrm” was an old English term simply meaning snake or serpent, related to the modern “worm”. Because Dragon-like figures in early folklore were essentially large or unusually dangerous snakes (with the term “Dragon”, for its part, deriving from the Latin word for “snake”), medieval legends often use “Wyrm” to refer to serpentine dragons, and even as it fell out of usage for mundane snakes, the word remained extant into modern English for such creatures. However, within fantasy works which utilise more modern conceptions of Dragons, with legs and wings, authors are divided on whether “Wyrm” is simply an alternative name for a Dragon, a specific type of serpentine Dragon, or a creature related but distinct from Dragons. J. R. R. Tolkien's works popularised usage of “Wyrm” as a synonym for Dragons including of the winged kind.