    in norse mythology, a vargr (pl. vargar; often anglicised as warg or varg) is a wolf and in particular refers to the wolf fenrir and his sons skÃ¶ll and hati. based on this, j. r. r. tolkien in his fiction used the old english form warg (other o.e. forms being wearg and wearh) to refer to a wolf-like creature of a particularly evil kind. ==etymology== in old norse, vargr is a term for "wolf" (ulfr). the proto-germanic *wargaz is related to sanskrit vá¹ka, proto-iranian *verk "wolf", avestan vehrka, mazandarani varg, zazaki verg, old persian varka-, persian gorg etc. in line 1514 of beowulf, grendel's mother is described as a grund-wyrgen or "warg of the depths." ==norse mythology== in norse mythology, wargs are in particular the mythological wolves fenrir, skÃ¶ll and hati. in the hervarar saga, king heidrek is asked by gestumblindi (odin), :what is that lamp :which lights up men, :but flame engulfs it, :and wargs grasp after it always. heidrek knows the answer is the sun, explaining, :she lights up every land and shines over all men, and skoll and hatti are called wargs. those are wolves, one going before the sun, the other after the moon. wolves also served as mounts for more or less dangerous humanoid creatures. for instance, gunnr's horse was a kenning for "wolf" on the rÃ¶k runestone, in the lay of hyndla, the vÃ¶lva (witch) hyndla rides a wolf and to baldr's funeral, the giantess hyrrokkin arrived on a wolf. == in popular culture == ===j. r. r. tolkien's wargs=== taken from the old english warg, the wargs or wild wolves are a race of fictional wolf creatures in j. r. r. tolkien's books about middle-earth. they are usually in league with the goblins or
Middle-earth_animals Middle-earth_races Mythological_canines Werewolves_in_written_fiction Wolves_in_Norse_mythology