Midgard Serpent (Marvel Comics)
Jormungand, also known as The Midgard Serpent or World Serpent, is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, based on the serpent Jörmungandr from Norse mythology, first appears in "Marvel Tales" #105 (Feb. 1952), in the period between the Golden Age of Comic Books and the Silver Age of Comic Books.
Rhinemaidens
Wagner may also have been influenced by the Rhine River-based German legend of Lorelei, the lovelorn young maiden who drowns herself in the river and becomes a siren, luring fishermen onto the rocks by her singing. Further possible sources lie in Greek mythology and literature. Similarities exist between the maiden guardians in the Hesperides myth and the Rhinemaidens of "Das Rheingold"; three females guard a highly desired golden treasure that is stolen in the telling of each tale. Wagner was an enthusiastic reader of Aeschylus, including his "Prometheus Bound" which has a chorus of Oceanids or water nymphs. One author, Rudolph Sabor, sees a link between the Oceanids' treatment of Prometheus and the Rhinemaidens' initial tolerance of Alberich. Just as in Greek myth the Oceanids are the daughters of the titan sea god Oceanus, in Norse mythology—specifically the "Poetic Edda"—the jötunn (similar to a giant) sea god Ægir has nine daughters. The name of one of these means "wave" ("Welle" in German) and is a possible source for Wellgunde's name.