| “ | Treacherous Odin! If you had not lied to me, I would have been a friend to the gods. But your fear has betrayed you. I will kill you, Father of the Gods. I will wait until the end of all things, and I will eat the sun and I will eat the moon. But I will take the most pleasure in killing you. | „ |
| ~ Fenrir in Neil Gailman's Norse Mythology. |
Fenrir (Old Norse: "fen-dweller") or Fenrisúlfr (Old Norse: "Fenrir's wolf", often translated "Fenris-wolf"), also referred to as Hróðvitnir ("fame-wolf") and Vánagandr ("monster of the [River] Ván"), is a monster and wolf-like Jötunn in Norse mythology and one of the several monstrous offspring born to the traitorous god known as Loki. Fenrir was born as an abnormally large and powerful wolf with great intelligence but an evil temperament and became a formidable enemy of the gods until they arranged for mystical chains to be forged to contain the monstrous beast until the day of Ragnarök. When that day comes, Fenrir, alongside all other evils, engaged the Gods of Asgard in which he was prophesied to kill the Lord of Asgard by the name of Odin.
Biography[]
Born through the union between Loki and Angrboða, a giantess who was counted among his wives, Fenrir was unfortunate enough to be born as a Beast Jötunn like his brother Jörmungandr due to being born with monster form where in his case, a massive wolf-like creature. As if his accelerated growth and ferocity in the vein with ordinary wolves made him terrifying enough that only Týr who have the courage to form an amicable relationship with him, Fenrir was prophesied to take part in Ragnarök where he will devour his destined opponent Odin. Not only that, Fenrir has sired a number of children presumably with an unidentified wolf were among them happened to be Sköll and Hati who destined to slay Sól (personification of Sun) and Mani (personification of Moon) respectively.
To delay the inevitable, the Gods decided to restrain Fenrir with a mystical fetter called Gleipnir after other bindings failed. For such purpose, the dwarves crafted it out of equally impossible things:
- The stomping of cats.
- The beards of women.
- The roots of mountains.
- The spit of birds.
- The breath of fishes.
- The nerves (ie. nervousness) of bears.
Out of the involved Gods, only Týr had the courage to bind the wolf Jötunn. The plan worked at the cost of the courageous Týr losing one of his hands as the price of betraying the divine beast that used to be his friend. For a good measure, they inserted Gelgja, a cord hanging from Gleipnir into Gjöll, a large stone slab which then fastened deep into the ground with Thviti (a larger rock) to keep it in place before gagging Fenrir with a sword.
As Fenrir "howled horribly", his saliva formed the river Ván and remain trapped until Ragnarök. Even so, it was also a form of cruel mercy since the Gods refused to soil their home, Asgard, with his blood and that it was them who took the wolf Jötunn in to begin with.
During the Ragnarök, Fenrir successfully breaks free from his fetter and devours Odin. He then, in turn, was slain by one of his sons Víðarr.
Personality[]
Far more law-abiding than one might expect, Fenrir agreed to test the chain as long as the Gods of Asgard swore to let him go afterwards. However, this hardly veils his hostility towards the Gods he inherited from his Jötunn parent since the day the Gods killed their predecessor Ymir, showing genuine malice. When the gods broke their oaths, he bit off the hand of Týr in recompense, a sacrifice the War God humbly accepted due to their friendship.
That being said, despite aforementioned differences, Fenrir did had a second thought regarding his view on Gods of Asgard after spending much time with them unlike Loki and that the Beast-Jötunn only steeled his resolve to fulfill his eventual role in Ragnarök once they broke their oath. Neil Gailman's Norse Mythology touched upon such implication, as Fenrir rightfully pointed out to Odin that he had squandered the chance to have a powerful ally and friend in his paranoia. It's unclear whether he harbored ill-will towards Týr for his own part in such sordid affair in the same interpretation as the Beast-Jötunn ended up perished shortly after vanquishing the All-Father.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Beast-Jötunn Physiology: As the lupine son of Loki and Angrboda, Fenrir is a Jötunn born in/adopted the form of monstrous wolf endowed with biological and magical abilities comparable to those of most formidable among Gods of Asgard.
- Incalculable Strength: Fenrir's well-known feature is tremendous strength that not only he can overpower Odin and subsequently defeat the All-Father during the Ragnarök, but also broke enchanted bindings Gods of Asgard used to restrain him twice — only Gleipnir, the near-unbreakable binding forged by dvergar out of six impossible things in the world that can immobilize him.
- Supernatural Durability: Fenrir can take considerable punishments with the only beings that can significantly injure him are those around Odin or Víðarr's caliber.
- Supernatural Mobility: Considering that he finally managed to slay Odin during Ragnarök, it would be plausible that Fenrir's speed and agility are comparable to among fastest and agile of Gods of Asgard.
- Supernatural Reflexes: Fenrir's reaction time is plausibly great since he able to keep up against the likes Odin and Víðar, though he ultimately perished at hands of the latter.
- Supernatural Senses: Like ordinary wolves, Fenrir possesses keen sense of hearing, smell, and sight albeit greater tenfold than the former.
- Immortality: As with his fellow Jötunn, Fenrir can live forever, though his immortality extends only to immense durability and decelerated ageing since he can be killed by beings with sufficient power, most notably his destined bane Víðarr.
- Accelerated Growth: While under Gods of Asgard's care following his, Jörmungandr, and Hel's capture, Fenrir grows at disturbingly fast pace that he already gigantic in size by the time they decided to bind him.
- Magic/Mystical Abilities:
- Thermal Manipulation: Though accounts pertaining this very sparse, Fenrir possesses the power manipulate temperature around him. Snorri's Gylfaginning mentioned his eyes and nose 'blaze with fire' as he join forces with Jörmungandr and the rest of Loki's Jötnar army during Ragnarök, suggesting that he can project blasts of heat. He is also no slouch in manipulating cold for his advantage in even more obscure mythological accounts about him.
- Intelligence and Charisma: Fenrir is very clever and charismatic for such a Beast-Jötunn, presenting himself as an affable figure before Gods of Asgard during his stay at their home realm following his and his siblings's arrest. It's implied that he had put together reasons behind the tension between them (Fenrir's destiny as Odin's bane in Ragnarök and desire to avenge his ancestor Ymir) presumably prior or during Gods of Asgard's attempt to bind him but nonetheless maintained such facade until they succeeded with Gleipnir after previous bindings Leyding and Dromi failed under his might. While bitter about their victory in the end, Fenrir nonetheless persuaded the Gods to let him bite Týr's right hand off as the compensation in the way neither of them considered to refuse.
Modern Media[]
Fenrir is among the most popular of malevolent figures of Norse Mythology, alongside Loki, Hel, and Jörmungandr - as such he is depicted in many modern media outside his original Norse mythology.
- Harry Potter: Fenrir Greyback, a Death Eater werewolf who serves Lord Voldemort, shares the first name with the mythical Fenrir, given his lycanthropic appearance and tendencies.
- Marvel Comics: In Marvel Comics, Fenrir, under the name Fenris Wolf, shared his role and portrayal with that of his mythical counterpart. However, the character's history was expanded in which he was responsible for an event that became the staple of the tale called Little Red Riding Hood.
- Marvel Cinematic Universe: Fenris's Marvel Comics incarnation in turn, adapted into Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here, however, Fenris Wolf is a female and hailed from Asgardian Wolves, a race of giant wolves native at Asgard. By the time it appears in Thor: Ragnarok, Fenris Wolf already following Hela's exile before eventually revived as undead version of herself. She was then eventually killed by Hulk who hurled her to outer space.
- Magnus Chase: Fenrir is also featured in the Magnus Chase book series as Fenris Wolf and an antagonist.
- Saint Seiya: In the Asgard filler saga appears Epsilon Alioth Fenrir, one of the God Warriors in the service of the god Odin and his celebrant Hilda. It is a boy who grew up with a pack of wolves in the woods surrounding the city of Asgard after the violent death of his parents (killed by a bear) and the abandonment by the servants of the house, which later fell into ruin and forgotten. This led the young warrior to develop a hatred and a deep misanthropy towards men. It should also be noted that "Fenrir" is also the name of the boy's dynasty.
- Northgard: In addition of a playable eponymous clan which otherwise known as Clan of the Wolf, the real Fenrir appears as the main threat and final boss of the Norse real-time strategy's Cross of Vidar expansion.
- Twilight of the Gods: In this 2024 Netflix TV Series, Fenrir's portrayal is basically same as with in myths.
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