Thor, son of Odin, left Asgard where the gods lived. Disguised as a young man, Thor went into a small fishing village. The village was the home of Hymir, a giant who thought that he was the best fisherman in the country.

Thor asked Hymir if they could go fishing together. Hymir laughed at the young man. "You are too weak and small. You couldn't row the boat properly and you wouldn't be strong enough to survive the freezing winds out in the ocean."

Thor pestered Hymir until, at last, the giant agreed to let Thor go fishing. However, Hymir told Thor that he'd have to get his own fishing bait. So mighty Thor took his hammer, Moljnir, and found a herd of oxen which belonged to Hymir. Thor chose the largest ox, which was called Sky-Bellower, and lopped of its head. The head was placed into a bag and taken down to the boat. Thor had his bait.

They climbed into the boat and Hymir let Thor row. Even in his disguise as a young man, Thor had enormous strength. He flexed his muscles and began to row powerfully. Hymir, sitting in the bow,  was amazed at the speed at which the small boat moved through the rough waters. Thor kept rowing, even when Hymir began to get worried about being too far from land. Hymir was worried about being so far from land because this was where the Midgard serpent lived.

Finally, Thor stopped rowing and Hymir began fishing. Thor pulled out the ox's head, put it onto a huge hook and threw it over the side of the boat. After only a few minutes, Thor's huge bait was taken. Thor pulled and the hook sank into the mouth of the Midgard Serpent, for it was the serpent which had swallowed the bait.

A mighty struggle followed. Thor pulled so hard on the line that his feet went through the bottom of the boat. Thor had the serpent next to the boat. Thor raised his hammer, ready to give the monster a killing blow on its head. Hymir was scared. "You can't pull that into the boat. It's too big and it hisses poison from its foul smelling mouth." With that, Hymir took his sharp fishing knife and cut Thor's fishing line.

Thor roared in anger. For a moment, the exhausted monster floated on the surface very close to the boat Thor threw his hammer at the serpent, but he just missed. He managed to breathe deeply and control his anger. Thor reached out and pushed Hymir out of the sinking boat. Then Thor swam and waded to the shore. The Midgard Serpent sank back slowly to the bottom of the ocean.

This is a myth by Snorri Sturlason. It was written in about 1220 AD.