Víðarr in Norse tradition
At Ragnarök, Víðarr confronts Fenrir after the wolf swallows Odin. Víðarr, Odin’s son and the Silent God, wears a specially prepared shoe made from pieces of discarded leather, forces Fenrir’s jaws apart, and tears him in two to avenge his father. He survives the cosmic destruction and returns with other surviving gods to the renewed world.
The quick answers
Who is Víðarr?
Víðarr is a Norse deity associated with vengeance and retribution, Ragnarök, defence against monstrous forces, survival after cosmic destruction, silence and endurance.Source
Source
- Dictionary of northern mythology
- Norse Mythology
- Price, The Viking Way
What is Víðarr the god of?
vengeance and retribution, Ragnarök, defence against monstrous forces, survival after cosmic destruction, silence and enduranceSource
Source
- Dictionary of northern mythology
- Norse Mythology
What family links are recorded for Víðarr?
Father: Odin, Mother: Gríðr, 7 siblings.
Víðarr’s family, at a glance
Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.
The names Víðarr answers to
The Silent God
Víðarr's characteristic silence
SourceDictionary of northern mythology
Owner of the Iron Shoe
Bearer of the specially reinforced shoe used against Fenrir
SourceDictionary of northern mythology
Avenger of Odin
The son who avenges Odin by killing Fenrir
SourceNorse Mythology
Fenrir's Foe
The god destined to defeat the monstrous wolf
SourcePrice, The Viking Way
The myths of Víðarr
2 myths, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.
Víðarr Avenges Odin
The battle joined on the plain of Vigrid. The sons of Muspel, Fenrir, the Midgard Serpent, Loki, Hrym, the frost giants, and the allies of Hel gathered there. Heimdal blew the Gjallar-horn. The gods armed themselves. Odin rode out with his spear, Gungner. Thor rode with him, but the Midgard Serpent attacked him, so he could not aid Odin.
Odin faced Fenrir, a wolf vast beyond measure. Fenrir was larger than the sun and the moon. Odin thrust his spear into the wolf’s mouth, but Fenrir snapped it away. The wolf bit Odin, crushed him, and swallowed him. Odin, Víðarr’s father, was killed and disappeared from sight. The battle continued around them. Thor struck the World Serpent with his hammer, but its venom reached him and killed him.
Fenrir gloated over Odin’s death. Víðarr advanced against him. He planted one foot on the wolf’s lower jaw. His shoe was made from pieces of leather cut from shoes at the toes and heels. Víðarr pressed down on the lower jaw and forced the wolf’s mouth wider. He gripped the upper jaw with his hands and tore the mouth apart. Fenrir split in two. Víðarr killed the wolf and avenged Odin.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
2 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1Norse MythologyT1
- 2the ancient sourcesT1
Quote
“At Ragnarök, Fenrir swallows Odin, and Víðarr kills the wolf by forcing its jaws apart and tearing them apart.”
the ancient sources
Víðarr in the Renewed World
Fenrir swallowed Odin during the battle at Ragnarök. Víðarr advanced to avenge his father and drove a sword into the wolf, killing him. Thor killed the Midgard Serpent with his hammer, then took nine steps before he fell dead from its poison. Loki and Heimdall fought each other and died from their wounds. Freyr fell before Surtr, the fire giant, and Surtr set the rainbow bridge alight.
Surtr’s flames spread across the world. The oceans boiled and sent up steam. Black ash fell from the sky, and smoke blotted out the stars. The old earth sank beneath smoke, flood, darkness, and ice. The armies of the living and the dead vanished. The fire burned out, and the waters covered the land.
Víðarr survived the battle and the flames. His brother Vali, Odin’s son, survived with him. Móði and Magni also lived through the destruction. In one telling, Baldr and Höðr remained in Hel among their protected followers. The burning did not reach them there.
The green earth rose again from the grey ocean. The surviving gods dwelt in the renewed divine world. Líf and Lífthrasir hid in Hoddmimir’s wood and lived on morning dew. New generations came from them. Fenrir destroyed the old sun, but its daughter survived and followed her mother’s path across the renewed sky.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1Legends of Norse MythologyT1
- 2the ancient sourcesT1
Quote
“After the destruction, Víðarr and Vali survive with Móði and Magni, and the green earth rises again as the gods and human survivors inherit a renewed world.”
the ancient sources
- 3Price, The Viking WayT1
Also appears in
The myths across MythSource where Víðarr features, each on that figure’s page.
- Fenrir at Ragnarök · on Jötnar
- Sköll Swallows the Sun at Ragnarök · on Sköll
- Thor’s Journey to Geirröðr · on Thor
1 work catalogued
This is the candidate catalogue for Víðarr: candidate reworks first, then references, then names used as atmosphere. Nothing here has been checked against a source yet. Only reviewed myth-to-work links are promoted in Overview.
Showing 1 of 1 works.
Film1
- VidarRework
These are catalogue candidates, not proof that every work retells this figure. Reviewed myth-to-work links appear in Overview.
What this page is built from
About this page
Written and maintained by MythSource. Last reviewed not yet recorded. How a page gets built.
4 sources are cited on this page, primary texts and corpus scholarship, listed below.
Cite this page
MythSource. (n.d.). Víðarr. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/viarr
"Víðarr." MythSource, n.d., www.mythsource.com/figures/viarr.
"Víðarr." MythSource. n.d. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/viarr.
The mythology summaries and identity fields on this page are grounded in the primary texts and scholarship above. The appearance table records candidates separately; only reviewed joins are presented as modern reworks in Overview.
The film
The Underdrawing video on Víðarr embeds here once it publishes.