Fenrir

**Fenrir** is a major antagonist in the *Divine Comedy*.

The middle child of Loki and Delphyne, Fenrir is a monstrous wolf that is destined to bring about the gods' destruction during the Apocalypse and is the archenemy of Odin.

Once he was something of a friend to the gods but mainly through his friendship with Tyr, the god of war and justice, but after being betrayed by the only god he could call a friend, Fenrir vowed to show them the monster they all saw him as one day.

## History

### Background

Fenrir is the middle child of Loki and Delphyne and the sibling of Jormungandr and Hel. Much like his siblings, Fenrir's childhood was short but was spared the fate that befell his siblings as the gods would confine them in the darkest places in and outside the Earth to ensure that they do not bring about their destruction. Fenrir was only spared at Tyr's behest since the god, who was inspired by the friendship between Gilgamesh and Grendel, saw that instead of hastening their destruction by making enemies of them they would instead try to befriend them. The gods of course were hesitant but Odin would decide to play into Tyr's games and place Fenrir in Tyr's care to test his theory. Tyr took the pup and promised that he'd be safe with him.

Over the years, Fenrir lived a relatively happy time in Asgard (the home of the Norse gods) with Tyr, becoming best friends with the war god as the latter cared for and fed the pup. Fenrir even managed to get in contact with his father Loki who was grateful for Tyr's kindness towards his son but still detested Odin at what he did to his other children. This detestment towards Odin was also shared by Fenrir as he and the chieftain of the Aesir did not get along in the slightest. However, with each year, Fenrir would continue to grow and soon became so large he was downright bigger than any castle. Fenrir, like his father, was also something of a rebel but in his case he preferred to roam freely instead of being confined to one spot. Fenrir's eagerness and excitement to see other parts of the realm led Tyr to allow him to roam and explore these realms but under his supervision. During one of such times, Fenrir met and eloped with a female wolf giant who would give birth to three children; two sons named Skoll and Hati with a daughter named Garm.

### Binding of Fenrir

His growing size started to bring about an air of paranoia in Asgard especially towards Odin who had a nightmare about Fenrir destroying Asgard. Odin's fears overcame his rationality and opted to bind Fenrir but had to do so stealthily. Odin would decide to feign playing a game with Fenrir where seeing as how big he was growing then he would be able to break out of any chain that held him. So, to test his strength, Fenrir had the gods wrap him in chains that no man or even god could break but each one was snapped after the other. Out of options, Odin counseled with Mimir who advised that instead of binding Fenrir with something physical he should try something that does not exist. Odin headed to Hephaestus for help, who together with his dwarves crafted a rope made of the following: The sound of a cat's footfall, women's beard, mountain roots, bear sinews, fish breath, and bird spittle. Though the rope was thinner than ribbon it was stronger than any chain around.

Odin went back to Fenrir and presented the rope to him before telling him that if he could break out of this rope then he'll show that he is not a threat and he'd be free to go. Fenrir was getting tired of their games and was starting to smell something sour afoot which made the gods all the more nervous. It wasn't until he was approached by Tyr that he assured him it would be fine and to remember the promise he made to him when he was a pup. In addition, if he thinks Tyr is lying then he could take his hand to which Fenrir accepted. When the gods put the magical rope around him, Fenrir could not break out of it no matter how hard he tried and at the moment, he realized their treachery, but was not as heartbroken upon realizing Tyr's supposed betrayal who was frankly just as shocked and appalled by the gods' treachery. In a fit of rage, Fenrir bit off Tyr's hands at the joint and quickly attempted to devour Odin only for the gods to hold him down before gagging him with a sword. Despite the severity of the situation the gods actually laughed at the ordeal, all except for Tyr who could only look at them with scorn. Fenrir and Tyr shared one last look, their friendship now irreparably broken and sealing their fates at the End Times with Fenrir's binding being the last straw that led Loki to kill Baldr in revenge.

## Trivia

* Fenrir is based on the Norse mythological figure of the same name. In both the *Poetic Edda* and *Prose Edda*, Fenrir is the father of the wolves Sköll and Hati Hróðvitnisson, is a son of Loki and is foretold to kill the god Odin during the events of Ragnarök, but will in turn be killed by Odin's son Víðarr.
* His theme song would be "You Can't Take Me" by Bryan Adams.
* In the *Divine Comedy*, Garm is his daughter whereas in actual Norse writings Garm is male while either being separate from Fenrir or are same entity.
* According to Tyr, Fenrir learned how to speak when he was five in "Giant years".
* Fenrir has an indestructible bone he uses as a chew toy given to him by Eve.
* Fenrir was said to have hoarded all the bones from his meals on a remote island, leaving them in a pile. This led to mortal settlers avoiding the island at all costs thinking it was inhabited by cannibals.