Fenrir breaks the fetter Læding, then shatters the heavier Drómi as his strength grows. The Æsir resort to a magical chain resembling silk, while Tyr places his right hand in the wolf’s mouth as a pledge against deceit.
Fenrir Breaks the First Chains
Fenrir spurned against Læding, the fetter the Æsir had brought to test him. He had grown rapidly. First he was the size of a wolf, then a cave bear, and later a great elk. Tyr alone was not afraid of him. He played with Fenrir and fed him meat each day. The wolf ate more each day, while his strength and fierceness increased. Odin watched him with foreboding, for Fenrir had appeared in his dreams of the end of everything.
The Æsir had decided that Fenrir would become fatal to them, so they forged Læding in their smithies. Fenrir did not think it could hold him. When he strained against it, the fetter burst apart.
They then made a second fetter, called Drómi, from the strongest metal they could find. It included iron from the earth and iron that had fallen from the sky. Each link was too heavy for an ordinary man to lift. The Æsir told Fenrir that his strength would become known in all the worlds if he broke it, and that he would gain renown. Fenrir knew that he had grown stronger since breaking Læding, but accepted the risk. Drómi also burst apart when he strained against it.
In another account, the final binding uses a magic chain that resembles a strand of silken flax. Fenrir suspects a trick and refuses to be bound unless one of the gods places a hand between his jaws. Tyr steps forward and puts his right hand in the wolf’s mouth. The other gods fasten the chain around Fenrir.
Fenrir Is Bound by Gleipnir
Fenrir lay on his side as the gods prepared to bind him with Gleipnir. He had already broken large iron fetters, so he said that he could easily break the thin band. He would accept the test only if one god placed a hand in his mouth as a pledge against deceit. He feared that the gods would bind him and then leave him without help.
None of the gods offered a hand. Tyr, Odin’s son, stepped forward and placed his right hand between Fenrir’s jaws. One account says that Tyr had done this before, when Fenrir was a puppy and the two played together.
The gods wrapped Gleipnir around Fenrir. It appeared as a narrow ribbon, or as a shimmering trail, but it held his legs and left him unable to move. Odin told him to break the fetter. Fenrir strained, twisted, and pushed against it. Each effort made the band tighter and stronger. When he realised that the gods had deceived him, he bit down and severed Tyr’s hand. Tyr grasped the stump with his left hand and held it tightly.
The gods fixed Gleipnir to a great stone and drove it deep beneath the ground with another rock. Fenrir snapped at them as they worked, but they stayed beyond his jaws. He accused Odin of treachery. He said that, if Odin had not lied, he might have become a friend to the gods. Fenrir then threatened to kill Odin and eat the sun and moon at the end of all things. From that time, Tyr wielded his sword with his left hand and carried his shield on the stump of his right arm.
At Ragnarök, Fenrir will break free from his magical restraint. He will kill and devour Odin. Víðar, one of Odin’s sons, will avenge him by killing the wolf.
The Birth and Rise of Fenrir
Loki and Angerboda produced three offspring: Fenrir the wolf, Jörmungandr the serpent, and Hel. The gods had been warned that these children would cause great calamities. They dealt with them separately. Jörmungandr was cast into the deep ocean, where he grew until he encircled the earth. Hel was sent to Niflheim, where she became queen of the underworld. Fenrir remained among the Æsir and was brought up in their home.
Fenrir grew rapidly. He became the size of a wolf, then a cave bear, and then a great elk. Each day he ate more meat than the day before. He also became fiercer and stronger. The gods feared him, except Tyr, who continued to play with him and feed him each day. Odin watched Fenrir with foreboding. In his dreams, the wolf appeared at the end of everything, with topaz eyes and sharp white teeth.
The Æsir held a council and decided to bind Fenrir. They first brought heavy chains and shackles, presenting them as part of a game. Fenrir broke the first two restraints with ease. The gods then made a slender fetter called Gleipnir. It was made from the noise of a cat’s paw, a woman’s beard, the roots of a mountain, a bear’s sinews, a fish’s breath, and a bird’s spittle. Fenrir suspected deception and refused to let them place it on him. He agreed only after Tyr put his right hand into the wolf’s mouth as a pledge.
