These creatures are: mythological
Some aspects of Norse mythology are pretty well-known, appearing often in pop culture… but have you heard of Ratatoskr the unicorn squirrel?
Ratatoskr is a “squirrel” who runs up and down the Yggdrasil (the Yggdrasil is a giant ash tree that links the nine realms). He carries messages between an eagle at the top of the Yggdrasil and Níðhöggr the dragon who dwells at its roots. The messages aren’t exactly kindly, they are mostly gossip and insults, it’s a way of the eagle and Níðhöggr being able to insult each other without having to move from their stations.
The name Ratatoskr is generally considered to mean “drill-tooth” or “bore-tooth”, with a few other translations relating to gnawing, tusks, and travelling.
But why does Ratatoskr sport a unicorn horn? His horn is not mentioned in any of the texts (the Poetic and Prose Eddas) that he features in, he is simply described as a “Squirrel”. But on one 17th century Icelandic manuscript (manuscript AM 738 4to, now in the care of the Árni Magnússon Institute in Iceland), there is a picture of Ratatoskr where he is green, decidedly un-squirrel-looking and has a thick horn on his forehead… Why? I think (and please note I am not an expert in squirrel distribution) squirrels were not found in Iceland, so the artist has tried their best to depict one without knowing how they look… and for some reason decided to plonk a big drill-like tusk/horn on its head (Drills and augers have existed since ancient times but of course were not aways electric!). So now Ratatoskr is a unicorn.
Now what about the creatures the squirrel is carrying messages between?
At the top of the Yggdrasil lives an eagle. The eagle is unnamed in the eddas and is said to have “knowledge of many things”. Presumably it has a good view from its perch, too. Between the eagle’s eyes sits Veðrfölnir the hawk (Veðrfölnir is only mentioned in the Prose Edda). No one is quite sure why the hawk is sitting there on the head of the eagle with no name. John Lindow (Professor Emeritus of Old Norse and Folklore at University of California, Berkeley) theorises that “perhaps, like Odin's ravens, it flies off acquiring and bringing back knowledge” for the eagle. So maybe Veðrfölnir helps the eagle gather knowledge… or maybe the eagle’s head is just a really comfy perch. We’ll never know for sure. Veðrfölnir means “storm pale”, “wind bleached” or “wind-witherer”. It seems a bit odd to me that the mysterious hawk gets a name and the eagle doesn’t.
And then, down at the roots of the Yggdrasil, there is Níðhöggr, a ‘worm’ (a serpentine, winged dragon). Appearing in both the Poetic and Prose Eddas, Níðhöggr gnaws at the roots of the tree over Náströnd, an area of the underworld where people who were not good in life end up (he also has a chew on these people). It is sometimes believed that the roots are keeping Níðhöggr trapped down there and, come Ragnarök (Norse Mythology’s apocalypse), he will finally chew through them and escape. It isn’t very clear what the dragon will do with his freedom, it could be that he carries out the bodies of righteous rulers from the underworld so that they can dwell in Gimlé, a lovely place in Asgard where the good survivors of Ragnarök are foretold to live. But, for the time being the great serpent is trapped tree-root gnawing, but he still wants to exchange insults with the eagle. So, Ratatoskr tells him what the eagle has said, he responds, and the unicorn squirrel runs back up to the bird’s perch to tell them of the worm’s reply.
External links:
On Wikipedia:
Yggdrasil on Mythopedia and Wikipedia
This is the 17th century manuscript I mentioned, on Wikipedia. Here is the picture of Ratatoskr and friends, on Wikimedia commons. Ratatoskr is green and near the bottom of the image, below him is Níðhöggr, at the top is Veðrfölnir and the eagle. The four brown creatures in the middle are stags eating the Yggdrasil’s leaves.
And in case you were wondering “Do these critters exist in Marvel comics?” the answer is yes, yes they do. Here are the Marvel Database pages for Ratatoskr and Nidhogg from Earth-616. Ratatoskr carries messages between Nidhogg and an eagle just like in the mythology, although I cannot find a mention of Veðrfölnir the hawk.
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