World of Myth

Fenrir

Fenrir Fast Facts

Powers: Massive size, his jaws stretched from the earth to the heavens

Place: The empty island Lyngvi, where he was chained by the gods

Appearance: A huge hairy wolf

Primary Texts: The Prose Edda

Bound Fenrir, from the 17th century Icelandic manuscript AM 738 4to. (Creative Commons)

Fenrir Student Research

Fenrir is described as a large hairy beast that rapidly grew everyday. He is known to be aggressive and very strong, and with jaws so large when he reached his full size that they could touch the sky when he opened them. He also drools so much that he creates a river in his spit. The gods saw him as clever and dangerous, and he often touted his size vainly, thus making them feel justified in their assumptions. He has limitless growth. His eyes are said to be either black or red, to show his alliance with Loki and darkness. Fenrir is meant to represent rebellion, evil, and chaos, but on the flip side, he also can be viewed as representing what happens to creatures if they are, from birth, viewed and treated as though they were evil.

Claire Guthrie & Rachel Weintraub

Fenrir's Origin Story

Loke had yet more children. A giantess in Jotunheim, hight Angerboda. With her he begat three children. The first was the Fenris-wolf; the second, Jormungand, that is, the Midgard-serpent, and the third, Hel. When the gods knew that these three children were being fostered in Jotunheim, and were aware of the prophecies that much woe and misfortune would thence come to them, and considering that much evil might be looked for from them on their mother’s side, and still more on their father’s, Alfather sent some of the gods to take the children and bring them to him. The wolf was fostered by the asas at home, and Tyr was the only one who had the courage to go to him and give him food. When the gods saw how much he grew every day, and all prophecies declared that he was predestined to become fatal to them, they resolved to make a very strong fetter, which they called Lading.

-Sturluson, Snorri. The Younger Edda; Also Called Snorre’s Edda, or The Prose Edda

Guerber, H. A., ‘Myths of the Norsemen from the Eddas and Sagas,’ 1909. (Creative Commons)

Select Fenrir Myth

An illustration of the wolf Fenrir biting the right hand off the god Týr, from an Icelandic 18th century manuscript, SÁM 66. (Creative Commons)

The Chaining of Fenrir

The gods brought the fetter (chain) to Fenrir, urging him to test his strength against it. Confident of his might, the wolf allowed them to proceed. Yet, as soon as he exerted force, the fetter snapped, granting him freedom. Undeterred, the gods crafted a stronger fetter named Drome, enticing the wolf with the promise of fame should he break it. Evaluating the risk, the wolf accepted the challenge. Despite the increased strength of Drome, he snapped it as well, reaffirming his dominance.

Concerned they couldn’t bind Fenrir, Odin sent Skirner, Frey’s messenger, to the dwarves in Svartalfaheim to forge the chain Gleipner. Crafted from six unusual materials: of the footfall of cats, of the beard of woman, of the roots of the mountain, of the sinews of the bear, of the breath of the fish, and of the spittle of the birds, Gleipner was deceivingly soft yet incredibly strong. Though skeptical and wary of trickery, Fenrir agreed to try to break Gleipner. To reassure him, there was no deceit, Tyr offered his hand as a pledge of honesty.

Fenrir struggled against Gleipner, which continued to tighten despite his strength. Fenrir bit off Tyr’s hand as punishment for the deceit while the gods the secured Fenrir to a rock deep underground, using a sword to gag him. Despite his continued struggles, Fenrir could only howl in agony, and his saliva formed the river Von.

Resources

Norse Sources

Lindow, John. Old Norse Mythology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2021.

Snorri Sturluson, and Jesse L. Byock, eds. The Prose Edda: Tales from Norse Mythology. London: Penguin, 2005.

Pettit, Edward, ed. The Poetic Edda: A Dual-Language Edition. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2023.

General Sources

Daly, Kathleen N., and Marian Rengel. Norse Mythology A to Z. 3rd ed. Mythology A to Z. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2010.