Sea serpent roof ornament, Lyttleton Street, East Launceston, Tasmania

PC020057.JPG

Dublin Core

Title

Sea serpent roof ornament, Lyttleton Street, East Launceston, Tasmania

Subject

architecture, domestic architecture, dragons, dragon, East Launceston, gargoyle, Jörmungandr, Launceston, Lyttleton Street, Midgard Serpent, Norse, Norse mythology, ornamentation, roof, Scandinavia, sea dragon, sea serpent, Tas, Tasmania, Thor, Viking, World Serpent

Description

One of three photographs of domestic roof-top adornments in Lyttleton Street, East Launceston. The ornament on this roof creates a sea serpent effect, with its body coiling along the roof line and its head raised to look over the roof. Also known as a sea dragon, sea serpents, while appearing in classical literature, are particularly prevalent in Scandinavian culture. In Norse (Viking) mythology, the Midgard or World Sea Serpent, Jörmungandr, lives in the ocean that surrounds the world and is so large that it can encircle the world and grasp its own tail. A number of stone carvings exist in Scandinavia and northern England from the early medieval period showing the god Thor fishing for Jörmungandr.

Creator

Dorey, Margaret

Date

2 December 2011

Rights

No Copyright

Format

Digital Photograph; JPEG

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Digital Photograph; JPEG