Gleipnir- Norse ArtifactArtifact"The Open One"
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Description
A magical ribbon forged by the dwarves to bind the monstrous wolf Fenrir. Though thin as a silk ribbon, it is unbreakable, made from six impossible things: the sound of a cat's footfall, a woman's beard, a mountain's roots, a bear's sinews, a fish's breath, and a bird's spittle.
Mythology & Lore
Made of the Impossible
The gods had already tried two iron chains. Fenrir broke Lædingr with a kick and burst Drómi with a single effort. No metal could hold the wolf. Odin sent Skírnir to Svartálfaheim, and the dwarves forged Gleipnir from six things that do not exist: the sound of a cat's footstep, 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.
Snorri explains in the Gylfaginning that this is why these things are no longer found in the world. The dwarves used them up. The resulting fetter looked like a silk ribbon, smooth and thin, seemingly easy to snap.
The Binding
On the island of Lyngvi, Fenrir smelled the magic and refused to be bound unless one of the gods placed a hand in his mouth as a pledge. Týr put his right hand between the wolf's jaws. Gleipnir held. The more Fenrir strained, the tighter it gripped. Týr lost his hand. The gods anchored the fetter through a boulder called Gjöll and fixed it with the stone Þviti, then thrust a sword through Fenrir's jaws. There the wolf remains until Ragnarök, when Gleipnir will finally snap.