Fenrir

Fenrir, bound with Gleipnir

Fenrir, gigantic wolf from Norse mythology.

Quotes

• I'm not afraid of anything. [...] I think it's you, little creatures, who are afraid of me. (Neil Gaiman) ^{[citation needed]}
• It seems to me with this ribbon, that I will not gain any fame from it even if I tear such a thin lace to pieces. But if it is done with art and deception, even if it seems trivial, then this ribbon will not be placed on my paws. (Snorri Sturluson)^{[citation needed]}
• If you tie me up so that I cannot free myself, you will have made fun of me and it will be late before I can get help from you. I'm reluctant to have this tape put on me. But rather than you reproach me for not having courage, one of you should place his hand in my mouth as a guarantee that this is done without deception. (Snorri Sturluson)^{[citation needed]}
• Disloyal Odin! [...] If you had not lied to me, I would have been a friend of the gods. But fear ruined you. I will kill you, Father of the Gods. I will wait until the end of all things, and then I will eat the sun and I will eat the moon. But my greatest joy will be to kill you. (Neil Gaiman)^{[citation needed]}

Quotes about Fenrir:

• – Fenrir, the gigantic wolf, could not be captured by any means known to man. Then the elves forged a chain made of no metal. Nothing man made could bind Fenrir. They forged it with things that cannot be seen, things that cannot be heard, like the breathing of a fish, the noise a cat's paws make.
  – The roots of a mountain. (Vikings)^{[citation needed]}
• The gigantic wolf Fenrir has grown so large that when he opens his jaws wide, his face moves the stars and his chin drags across the earth. He has freed himself from the gnomes' shackles and escaped from the prison on the island of Lyngvi, and soon Loki's son will devour Odin, father of all gods and men, before being killed by Odin's son, the silent god Vidharr. Ursula wants to look away, wants to turn and run back into the fortress, but she can't take her eyes off Fenrir filling the entire torn sky. It has teeth like mountains and its shaggy shape prevents the sunlight from spreading. From its jaws drip steaming rivers that burn the world. (Caitlín R. Kiernan)^{[citation needed]}
• The wolf, giant Fenrir, will break his invisible chains. [...] Odin will ride out of the gates of Valhalla to fight one last battle against the wolf. [...] And, in the end, Fenrir will swallow the sun. (Vikings)^{[citation needed]}
• The wolf growled, and so much saliva flowed from his mouth that it formed a river. If you didn't know it was a wolf, you might have thought it was a small mountain, with a river flowing out of a cave. (Neil Gaiman)^{[citation needed]}

Snorri Sturluson:

• Then Gangleri spoke: «[...] But why didn't the Aesir kill the wolf from whom they should expect nothing but harm?»
  Hár replied: «The gods considered their temples and places so sacred that they did not want to contaminate them with the blood of the wolf, although the prophecies say that it will be the cause of death for Odin."
• The Fenrir wolf will advance with its mouth wide open, its upper jaw against the sky and its lower jaw against the earth; it would open it wider if there was room. Fires will blaze from his eyes and nostrils. Miðgarðr's serpent will breathe so much poison that it will splash all the air and water, and it will be very scary, and it will stand by the wolf's side.
• When the Aesir flattered the wolf Fenrir to put the magical chain Gleipnir on him, he did not trust them to free him until they put Týr's hand in his mouth as a pledge. But when the Aesir did not want to untie him, he bit off his hand in the place now called the "wolf's joint", and he is maimed and is not called the peacemaker of men.

Related Items:

• Hel, sister
• Loki, father
• Miðgarðsormr, brother