Fenrir— Norse Creature"The Great Wolf"

The Wolf of Prophecy

Fenrir is the most terrible of Loki's monstrous children and the doom of the Allfather himself. Born to Loki and the giantess Angrboða, Fenrir grew so mighty that the gods realized the prophecies about him would come true: at the end of days, he would devour Odin. Yet killing the wolf was forbidden by sacred law, so they chose to bind him instead.

The Growing Terror

When Fenrir was young, the gods kept him in Asgard, thinking to tame him. But he grew at an alarming rate, fed by his destiny. Only Týr, god of war and oaths, was brave enough to feed the wolf. As Fenrir's size and strength increased, so did the gods' fear, until they knew they could delay no longer.

The Binding Attempts

The gods tried twice to bind Fenrir with chains of iron, framing it as a test of his strength. He broke the first chain, Lædingr, with ease. The second chain, Drómi, was twice as strong—Fenrir shattered it too, to the gods' dismay. For the third attempt, they sent to the dwarves.

Gleipnir, the Impossible Fetter

The dwarves crafted Gleipnir from six impossible things: the sound of a cat's footfall, a woman's beard, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish, and the spittle of a bird. The resulting fetter was soft as silk ribbon but stronger than any chain. When the gods presented it to Fenrir, the wolf grew suspicious—it looked too flimsy.

Týr's Sacrifice

Fenrir would only allow himself to be bound if one of the gods placed a hand in his mouth as a pledge of good faith. Only Týr had the courage. When Fenrir found he could not break Gleipnir, he bit off Týr's hand in rage. The gods bound him to a boulder, thrust a sword through his jaws to hold them open, and left him on an island where he howls until the end of the world—his drool forming a river called Ván ("hope" or "expectation").

Ragnarök

At Ragnarök, Fenrir will break free at last. The cosmos will tremble as he opens his jaws so wide that the upper jaw touches the sky and the lower scrapes the earth. He will devour Odin, fulfilling the prophecy. But Odin's son Víðarr will avenge his father, either tearing the wolf's jaws apart or stabbing him through the heart—ending the monster who was always destined to end the Allfather.