Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. For today’s post, I am sharing my second post in a small four-part series on the children of Loki. As they all tend to be seen as monstrous, I thought this was an ideal mini-series for October! This post is about Fenrir, the fierce wolf most associated with Ragnarok.
Fenrir is the son of Loki and Angrboða, a Giant (or jotunn) from Jotunheimen. He is one of the three children of Loki and Angrboða; the others are Jormungandr, whom I wrote about yesterday, and Hel, whom I will be writing about on Friday. When Odin received a prophecy of what would happen during Ragnarok, he decided that the children of Loki must be sent away to hold off the coming Twilight of the Gods as long as possible. This is how, due to the fear of the Gods of Asgard, Fenrir was chained up. The saddest part of this was that Fenrir and his siblings were only young when they were taken away from their mother and separated from each other, such was the fear of the other Gods!
The chain that bound Fenrir was made out of the sounds of a cat’s footsteps, the beard of a woman, and the breath of fish. These were obviously occult elements called forth to bind such a powerfully monstrous Wolf! There is something so evocative about imagining how this chain was actually made, as it must have been a truly fantastical process. The fact that they felt the need to use these arcane elements proved just how powerful and dangerous he was when he was first bound, even at such a young age. During the process of chaining up Fenrir, the monstrous Wolf bit off the hand of the God Tyr! Now, it is often that Fenrir having bit off Tyr’s hand is seen as proof of his monstrosity, and that certainly could be the case. However, looking at the situation through a more nuanced lens, we may also see this as Fenrir attempting to protect himself, as he must have been frightened during this process and clearly would not want to lose his freedom.
In any case, that is the most important story of Fenrir, outside of Ragnarok, so let’s finish off this post discussing Ragnarok. As a side note, I will be writing about Ragnarok in the future tense, as that is how it is discussed in Norse myth, as an event that is prophesied to come in the future. Fenrir’s association with Ragnarok is the most important role he has in Norse myth. At the beginning of Ragnarok, Fenrir will break free from his chains and devour the Sun. This will lead to Fenrir fighting Odin himself, the All-Father and Chief of the Norse Gods. Fenrir is destined to devour Odin in this fight! Later, as Ragnarok rages on, Odin’s son, Vidar, will avenge his father by slaying Fenrir. In some accounts, Fenrir will be slain by being stabbed in the heart, while in others, he will be slain by having his jaws torn asunder. No matter what, just like his brother Jormungandr, Fenrir will kill a great God and die for it during Ragnarok!
It is truly fascinating for me to explore the stories of the children of Loki, who were taken from their mother so young and locked away due to the fear of the other Gods. They are figures who are tragic as well as monstrous! I hope you have enjoyed this short post discussing Fenrir. What is your favorite part of his story? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a lovely artwork of Fenrir. I found the art on https://thevikingdragon.com/blogs/news/the-binding-of-the-wolf-fenrir?srsltid=AfmBOoprClDvI57rldoScRBlyzDLFYcs18xINO51rR_K6NaQ4Scrqn21.
LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries
Further Reading
- Bulfinch’s Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch
- Mythology by Edith Hamilton
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fenrir