Fenrir- Norse CreatureCreature · Monster"The Great Wolf"

Loki's Children

When the gods learned that Loki had fathered three children in Jötunheim by the giantess Angrboða, they sent for all three. Prophecy marked each one: the serpent Jörmungandr would encircle Midgard, the half-dead Hel would reign over Niflheim's corpses, and the wolf Fenrir would swallow Odin. The gods cast the serpent into the ocean and sent Hel below to rule the dead. But Fenrir they kept in Asgard, thinking to control what they could not yet kill. Sacred ground forbade bloodshed, so the wolf grew among the gods who feared him.

Only Týr dared approach. Each day the god of war brought meat to the wolf while the others watched from a distance. Fenrir's growth was unnatural. He was larger each morning than he had been the night before, his appetite doubling with his size. The prophecy that had seemed distant grew teeth.

The Failed Chains

The gods' first attempt was Lædingr, the strongest iron chain their smiths could forge. They presented it to Fenrir as a test of strength: would the mighty wolf prove himself against this fetter? Fenrir, still young and proud, allowed them to wrap it around him. He flexed once. Lædingr shattered.

The second chain, Drómi, was twice as strong. Fenrir examined it longer this time. He reckoned his own strength had also grown, and that no renown was won without risk. He allowed the binding, then burst the chain with a single effort. Its shards scattered like shrapnel. From this came the proverb "to get loose out of Lædingr" or "to strike out of Drómi," meaning to free oneself through extraordinary effort.

Gleipnir

The gods sent the messenger Skírnir to Svartálfaheim. The dwarves forged Gleipnir from six things that do not exist: the sound of a cat's footfall, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish, and the spittle of a bird. This is why none of these things can be found in the world today. The resulting fetter looked like a silk ribbon, thin and soft, with no visible strength. It could not be broken by any force.

The Binding

When the gods brought Gleipnir to Fenrir on the island of Lyngvi in the lake Ámsvartnir, the wolf had grown suspicious. He examined the silk ribbon and saw the trick. Why would the gods present something so flimsy unless it held hidden power? He refused to be bound unless one of the gods placed a hand in his mouth as a pledge that he would be freed if the fetter held.

The gods looked at one another. They knew this was a lie; they had no intention of releasing him. Whoever placed their hand in the wolf's mouth would lose it. One by one, they refused. Týr stepped forward and placed his right hand between Fenrir's jaws.

Gleipnir held. The more Fenrir strained, the tighter it gripped. He realized the deception and bit down. Týr's hand came off at the wrist. The god of war became the one-handed god. The Æsir all laughed at Fenrir's rage. Only Týr did not laugh.

The Island Prison

The gods drove the fetter's end through a great stone called Gjöll and deep into the earth, anchoring it with the boulder Þviti. To prevent Fenrir from biting, they thrust a sword through his jaws: the hilt wedged against his lower jaw, the point against his upper palate. His mouth is held open in a permanent howl.

The saliva that runs from his jaws has formed a river called Ván, meaning "Hope" or "Expectation." The hope is Fenrir's: that he will break free. The expectation is the gods': that when he does, they will die.

Ragnarök

At Ragnarök, Gleipnir will snap. Fenrir will open his jaws so wide that his upper jaw touches the sky and his lower jaw scrapes the earth. Fire will burn from his eyes and nostrils. The Völuspá names him simply: the wolf advances.

On the field of Vígríðr, Fenrir will find Odin. The Allfather will fall. The wolf will swallow him whole.

Then Víðarr, Odin's silent son, will step forward. Snorri says Víðarr wears a shoe assembled over all of history from the leather scraps that cobblers trimmed and discarded. He will plant that thick sole on Fenrir's lower jaw, grasp the upper jaw, and tear the wolf apart.