Fenrir

Fenrir spurned against Læding, the fetter the Æsir had brought to test him. He had grown rapidly. First he was the size of a wolf, then a cave bear, and later a great elk. Tyr alone was not afraid of him. He played with Fenrir and fed him meat each day. The wolf ate more each day, while his strength and fierceness increased. Odin watched him with foreboding, for Fenrir had appeared in his dreams of the end of everything.

The Æsir had decided that Fenrir would become fatal to them, so they forged Læding in their smithies. Fenrir did not think it could hold him. When he strained against it, the fetter burst apart.

They then made a second fetter, called Drómi, from the strongest metal they could find. It included iron from the earth and iron that had fallen from the sky. Each link was too heavy for an ordinary man to lift. The Æsir told Fenrir that his strength would become known in all the worlds if he broke it, and that he would gain renown. Fenrir knew that he had grown stronger since breaking Læding, but accepted the risk. Drómi also burst apart when he strained against it.

In another account, the final binding uses a magic chain that resembles a strand of silken flax. Fenrir suspects a trick and refuses to be bound unless one of the gods places a hand between his jaws. Tyr steps forward and puts his right hand in the wolf’s mouth. The other gods fasten the chain around Fenrir.

Loki and Angerboda produced three offspring: Fenrir the wolf, Jörmungandr the serpent, and Hel. The gods had been warned that these children would cause great calamities. They dealt with them separately. Jörmungandr was cast into the deep ocean, where he grew until he encircled the earth. Hel was sent to Niflheim, where she became queen of the underworld. Fenrir remained among the Æsir and was brought up in their home.

Fenrir grew rapidly. He became the size of a wolf, then a cave bear, and then a great elk. Each day he ate more meat than the day before. He also became fiercer and stronger. The gods feared him, except Tyr, who continued to play with him and feed him each day. Odin watched Fenrir with foreboding. In his dreams, the wolf appeared at the end of everything, with topaz eyes and sharp white teeth.

The Æsir held a council and decided to bind Fenrir. They first brought heavy chains and shackles, presenting them as part of a game. Fenrir broke the first two restraints with ease. The gods then made a slender fetter called Gleipnir. It was made from the noise of a cat’s paw, a woman’s beard, the roots of a mountain, a bear’s sinews, a fish’s breath, and a bird’s spittle. Fenrir suspected deception and refused to let them place it on him. He agreed only after Tyr put his right hand into the wolf’s mouth as a pledge.

Odin entered Vafþrúðnir’s hall disguised as a poor wanderer. He used the name Gagnrad and challenged the giant to a contest of questions. Odin had set out against his wife’s advice because he wanted knowledge of Ragnarök and wished to test his wisdom against Vafþrúðnir.

Vafþrúðnir asked Odin about the horse that draws day over mankind. Odin answered that the surviving question does not preserve its name, but says that its mane always gleams. The questions then turned to the sources of the moon and the sun. Vafþrúðnir said that Mundilfaeri was their father. The sun and moon circle through the sky each day and count the years for mankind.

The contest continued until Odin was allowed to question Vafþrúðnir. His questions concerned the ordering of the world and the events still to come. In the prophecy of Ragnarök, Fenrir catches or devours the sun. The sun’s daughter then follows the path her mother had taken. The prophecy places the sun’s destruction and the daughter’s continuation within the same final crisis.

Snorri’s prose account gives the sun’s pursuit to another wolf, Sköll. In that version, Sköll and his companion Hati chase the sun and moon and swallow them at Ragnarök. The poetic account connects the sun’s capture or devouring with Fenrir, who is also called Hrodvitnir in the notes to the poem. The sources therefore differ over which wolf takes the sun.