Fenrir

Quick TriviaFenrir is a gigantic and terrible monster in the shape of a wolf. He is the oldest child of Loki and the giantess Angrboda. The gods learned of a prophecy which stated that the wolf and his family would one day be responsible for the destruction of the world. They caught the wolf and locked him in a cage. Only the god of war, Tyr, dared to feed and take care of the wolf.

RunesFenrir “He Who Dwells in the Marshes” is the most infamous of the many wolves in Norse mythology. His importance for the pre-Christian Scandinavians is demonstrated by his being depicted on numerous surviving runestones, not to mention his ubiquity in Old Norse literary sources.

The Binding of FenrirAs is recounted more fully in the tale The Binding of Fenrir, the Aesir gods raised Fenrir themselves in order to keep him under their control and prevent him from wreaking havoc throughout the Nine Worlds. He grew at an astonishingly fast pace, however, and eventually the troubled gods decided to chain him up. Their first two attempts were unsuccessful; while the cunning gods convinced Fenrir that it was only a game, a test of his strength, he broke through the fetters easily. For their third attempt, the gods had the dwarves forge the strongest chain ever built, which nevertheless gave the appearance of being very light and even soft to the touch. When the gods presented Fenrir with this third fetter, he became suspicious, and he refused to be bound with it unless one of the gods would stick their hand in his mouth as a pledge of good faith. Only Tyr was brave enough to do this, knowing that it would mean the loss of his hand. And, sure enough, when Fenrir found himself unable to break free of his bonds, he ripped Tyr’s hand from his arm. The chain was then tied to a boulder and a sword was placed in Fenrir’s jaws to hold them open. As he howled wildly and ceaselessly, a foamy river called “ Ván” flowed from his drooling mouth.

RagnarökAt Ragnarök(The end of the world), Fenrir broke free and ran throughout the world with his lower jaw against the ground and his upper jaw in the sky, devouring everything in his path. Swallowing the Sun and the Moon. He even killed the god Odin before finally being put to death by Vidar, one of Odin’s sons.

After RagnarökA new heaven and a new earth will emerge after Ragnarök with a few of the gods surviving including Vidar, the son of Odin, who avenges his father's death and kills Fenrir the wolf. Balder will also emerge from Hell. Vali another of Odin's sons will emerge. Modi and Magni the sons of Thor will come forth to claim their father's hammer. Líf and Lífthrasir, male and female, the last humans on the earth will re-emerge from the Hoddmimir's Forest and according to the myth in Gylfaginning, the offspring of the two will be so numerous that the entire world will be repopulated. It will be a time of peace and a golden age for man. (Fun fact! The way Christians converted the Norse was by starting the story of Adam and Eve right where the Norse myths ended.)