Fenrir (pronounced “FEN-rir,” Old Norse Fenrir, “He Who Dwells in the Marshes”[1]) is the most well-known of Norse mythology‘s many wolves. His significance to the pre-Christian Scandinavians is evidenced by his depiction on multiple surviving runestones, as well as his frequent appearance in Old Norse literary texts.
He is the son of the god Loki and the giantess Angrboda, and the brother of the snake Jormungand and the goddess of the underworld Hel.
The Aesir gods raised Fenrir themselves to keep him under their control and prevent him from causing devastation over the Nine Worlds, as told in the story The Binding of Fenrir. However, he grew at an incredible rate, and the concerned gods eventually resolved to enslave him. Their first two efforts failed, but once the cunning gods persuaded Fenrir that it was just a game, a test of his might, he easily broke free. The gods had the dwarves make the strongest chain ever built for their third attempt, despite the fact that it appeared to be quite light and even soft to the touch.
Fenrir became dubious when the gods gave him with the third fetter, and he refused to accept it until one of the gods put his hand in his mouth as a sign of good faith. Tyr was the only one bold enough to do it, despite the fact that it meant losing his hand. When Fenrir was unable to break free from his bindings, he tore Tyr’s hand from its arm. The chain was then attached to a boulder, and Fenrir’s jaws were held open with a sword. A foamy river named “Expectation” (Old Norse Ván) spilled from his drooling mouth as he howled madly and continuously.
This was not the end of Fenrir, as the river’s terrible name suggests. He’ll break free at Ragnarok and run around the planet, his lower mouth on the ground and his upper jaw in the sky, eating everything in his path. He will even murder the god Odin before being killed by one of Odin’s vengeful sons.
Fenrir and Other Wolves in Norse Mythology
There’s evidence to believe that many of the other wolves recorded in Old Norse literature are Fenrir disguised as someone else. In one Old Norse poem, he is said to be swallowing the sun at Ragnarok, a feat formerly attributed to another wolf named Skoll (“Mockery”). Another Old Norse poetry frequently describes a wolf named Garm who will break free from bonds during Ragnarok; this is most likely Fenrir posing as someone else. In another tradition, the wolf who will devour the moon is referred to as “Moon-garm” (Mánagarmr).
Perhaps the Vikings believed that at Ragnarok, Fenrir would eat the sun and moon in addition to murdering Odin and destroying much of the planet. However, because the link between these wolves is never clearly defined in the main sources, we are forced to speculate. Thus, Hati (“Hatred”), the moon-eating wolf, could be another extension of Fenrir – or at the at least of Garm, assuming Garm is not also an extension of Fenrir.
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