Fenrir/Fenris Wolf/Hródvitnir

Fenrir is a giant monstrous wolf from Norse mythology. Fenrir is a wolf so large his jaws stretch from the ground to the sky. He was born as one of the children of Loki and Angrboda. Some believe Fenrir embodied the chaotic and destructive aspects of nature, and represented subterranean fire. Some see the binding of Fenrir as symbolic of humanity trying to contain nature. Fenrir was taken to Asgard by Odin, with the intent of taming him. He grew to remarkable size and ferocity, so much so that almost all the gods were too afraid to approach him. Tyr was the only one not afraid, and was the one to feed him. Soon the gods decided Fenrir needed to be removed from Asgard, but didn’t want to kill him. The gods presented a challenge to Fenrir to see if he could break the bindings they presented. The first two chains failed immediately, but the third was a magical binding made by the Dwarves. It was made from the sound of cats moving, spit from a bird, the beard of a woman, roots from a mountains, and breath from fishes. The paradoxical nature made it incredibly powerful though it resembled lithe silken flax. They took Fenrir to an isolated island, and challenged him with this magic binding. Fenrir became suspicious at the seemingly weak binding, and only agreed to the challenge if Tyr would place his hand in Fenrir’s mouth as collateral. After he was bound, Fenrir found that the bindings tightened as he struggled, and bit Tyrs hand off. Some think that Tyr losing his hand to Fenrir is symbolic, him being the god of justice and Fenrir representing violent crime. The gods chained down the binding and used a sword to gag Fenrir. At the time of Ragnarok, it is thought that Fenrir will swallow Odin. He will then be killed when the son of Thor named Vidar, pries opens his mouth.

Citations:

Andrews, Tamra. Dictionary of Nature Myths: Legends of the Earth, Sea, and Sky. United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, 2000.

Leeming, David. The Oxford companion to world mythology. Spain, Oxford University Press, USA, 2005.

Redmond, Shirley Raye. Norse Mythology. United States, Greenhaven Publishing LLC, 2012.