Fenrir, or Fenris, is the son of
Loki. He is seen as a giant wolf and is associated with the end of the world. Because of that, the Norse gods locked him in a cage, where only Tys, god of
war, had the courage to feed him. Once he had grown, the gods tried to
trick him into chains by making it into a test of strenght. Fenrir accepted, eager to show off his brute force. The chains the gods put on him snapped easily. So, the gods, afraid of Fenrir, needed an alternative. They asked the dwarves to make a magic chain, to be known as Gleipnir. It is made of the footsteps of the cat, the spittle of a bird, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the breath of fishes and the sinews of a bear. Fenrir was wary of their
trick this
time, and only complied if one of the gods would put their hand in his arm. Only Tys agreed. Once Fenrir found he could not break free of his binds, he
bit off Tys's hand. However, he was bound with chain so strong, the gods did not
fear to carry him to a rock, to which he would be chained. This rock's name is Gioll and it rests a mile under the surface of the earth. However, Fenrir will not always be bound to Gioll. On Ragnarok, he
will break through Gleipnir and battle against the gods alongside the giants. He is destined to kill and eat
Odin, who
will be avenged by Vidar,
Odin's son.
