The Binding Of The Beast
Fenrir ("He Who Dwells in the Marches" in old Norse) is the most infamous of many wolves in the Norse
mythology, and the namesake of Fenrir, Fenrir is the great wolf in Norse Mythology, He who breaks
free from his chains of Ragnarök, The Twilight Of The Gods, He is also known as Fenris Wolf and
vanargand (Monster of Van) usually understood to mean(creature of expectation).
Fenrir is the son of the trickster god Loki and brother of the World Serpent Jormungandr and Hel a
goddess who is half living woman and half dead, The Binding of Fenrir begins with A prophecy foretold
that the children of Loki would cause the gods of Asgard trouble and so they were taken from
Jotunheim, land of the giants where they lived with their mother, and brought to Asgard. Odin then
hurled the world serpent Jormungandr into the sea, dropped Hel into the depths of the realm of
Niflheim, and, eventually, had Fenrir the wolf chained to a rock. All three children would avenge
themselves at Ragnarök.
Fenrir is kept by the gods as a pet and is raised by them, but he begins to grow at an alarming rate
and only the god Tyr is brave enough to feed him which encourages a friendship between the two. As
Fenrir grows larger and larger, the gods remember the prophecy and think it in their own best interests
to bind the wolf. They invite Fenrir to a contest of strength, telling him they don’t believe he will be
able to break free of the fetter known as Leyding. Fenrir allows himself to be chained and then easily
breaks his bonds. The gods then forge a stronger chain they call Dromi and try again but Fenrir breaks
these chains just as easily.
Odin is determined to have the wolf bound before he grows too large and strong to control, even
though, at this point in the story, Fenrir has caused no trouble and is living peacefully with the gods –
and sends a messenger, the god Skirnir, to the dwarves at their fiery forges beneath Midgard asking
them to make a fetter Fenrir will not be able to break. The dwarves send back the chain
called Gleipnir (“entangler”) made of six elements: the sound of cat’s footsteps, a woman’s beard,
mountain roots, sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish, and the spittle of a bird.
Odin and the other gods then invite Fenrir to join them on the island of Lyngvi in the middle of the
great lake Amsvartnir to try his strength a third time with the new chain. Upon seeing the new fetter,
Fenrir is suspicious because it looks like a woman’s hair ribbon and there could be no honor in
breaking free from such a flimsy band. Fenrir suspects some trickery and tells the gods he will only
allow himself to be bound if one of them agrees to put their hand in his mouth and keep it there
throughout the ordeal. The gods hesitate to give answer, making Fenrir more suspicious, but his friend
Tyr volunteers, placing his hand in the wolf’s mouth.
Fenrir is bound and then tries to break free. The harder he struggles against the ribbon, however, the
tighter it becomes until, realizing he has been trapped, he snaps his jaws closed, taking Tyr’s hand.
The wolf begins to howl in pain and rage, but the gods – except for Tyr - only laugh at him and then
force a great sword into his mouth with the pommel in the lower jaw and point in the upper, keeping
them apart so he cannot make any more noise or present any threat. They then fasten Gleipnir to a
large stone on the island which they anchor with an even larger stone, and leave Fenrir there as they
return home. Fenrir’s two loyal sons, Sköll and Hati, try to free him but nothing can break Gleipnir, and
they are caught in their attempts and imprisoned by Odin.
At the end Fenrir remains chained on the island until the day of Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods,
when the Nine Realms are destroyed in a great battle.
Hatem Almousa 2|A
