The Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas on Fenris

Contents > Chapter V: Tyr

• attestation: Fenris refused to be bound by Gleipnir unless one of the Aesir would place his hand in the wolf's mouth as a pledge of good faith that no magic arts were being used.

  "Fenris had grown still stronger, he mistrusted the bond which looked so slight. He therefore refused to allow himself to be bound, unless one of the Æsir would consent to put his hand in his mouth, and leave it there, as a pledge of good faith, and that no magic arts were to be used against him."

• attestation: Fenris was bound with Gleipnir and fastened by the fetter Gelgia through the rock Gioll, anchored to the boulder Thviti; a sword was thrust in his mouth propping his jaws, and blood formed the river Von.

  "The gods, in spite of the wolf's struggles, drew the end of the fetter Gelgia through the rock Gioll, and fastened it to the boulder Thviti, which was sunk deep in the ground. Opening wide his fearful jaws, Fenris uttered such terrible howls that the gods, to silence him, thrust a sword into his mouth, the hilt resting upon his lower jaw and the point against his palate. The blood then began to pour out in such streams that it formed a great river, called Von."

• attestation: Fenris was destined to remain chained until Ragnarok, when he would burst his bonds and avenge his wrongs.

  "The wolf was destined to remain thus chained fast until the last day, when he would burst his bonds and would be free to avenge his wrongs."

Contents > Chapter Xxviii: The Twilight Of The Gods

• attestation: Vidar wore the specially thick-soled shoe prophesied for slaying Fenris; after Fenris swallowed Odin, Vidar stepped into the wolf's jaw and tore it apart.

  "Vidar now came rushing from a distant part of the plain to avenge the death of his mighty sire, and the doom foretold fell upon Fenris, whose lower jaw now felt the impress of that shoe which had been"

Contents > Chapter Xxix: Greek And Northern Mythologies

• comparison: Vidar parallels Hercules: just as Hercules used only a club against the Nemean lion and tore it apart, Vidar used only his special thick shoe to rend the Fenris wolf at Ragnarok.

  "The Northern god of silence, Vidar, has some resemblance to Hercules, for while the latter has nothing but a club with which to defend himself against the Nemean lion, whom he tears asunder, the former is enabled to rend the Fenris wolf at Ragnarok by the possession of one large shoe."

• comparison: The Fimbul-winter has been compared to the long siege of Troy, and Ragnarok to the burning of Troy; Thor is Hector, Fenris wolf is Pyrrhus, Vidar is Aeneas.

  "The Fimbul-winter has been compared to the long preliminary fight under the walls of Troy, and Ragnarok, the grand closing drama of Northern mythology, to the burning of that famous city. "Thor is Hector; the Fenris wolf, Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, who slew Priam (Odin); and Vidar, who survives in Ragnarok, is Æneas.""