Longtime before the Apocalypse and Ragnarok, in Egyptian mythology, the End of The World was thought to happen when the big snake ate Re (the sun). It just struck me that Ragnarok too involves a big snake (eating its own tail).
The wyrm, Jormundgand, would stop eating his own tail and come to the surface to do battle. Interesting thing is that Ragnarok also involved the wolf Fenris (alt. spelling 'Fenrir) swallowing the sun.
