Norse Myths · Part 10 · Towards the end · B1–B2
The Binding of Fenrir
Part 10 of the Norse Myths: Loki’s son Fenrir, a wolf cub who grows so large and strong that the gods are afraid of him. They try to chain him twice, and he breaks both chains. The third time, they use a magic ribbon made from impossible things, and the wolf only agrees if one god will put a hand in his mouth as a pledge. Only Tyr is brave enough. Make, let, allow, force, persuade + object, promises and pledges, and the language of trust and deception, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
Loki had three monstrous children with a giantess: the Midgard Serpent, which you met fishing; Hel, the half-dead queen of the dead; and a wolf called Fenrir. The gods brought the wolf to Asgard as a cub, to keep an eye on him. And he grew, and grew.
Terribly, Marcos. Only one god, Tyr, the god of law and courage, was brave enough to feed him. Then the prophecies said Fenrir would one day kill Odin, and the gods decided to bind him forever. Tonight’s story is about trust, and what it costs to break it.
Is it fair to punish someone for something they haven’t done yet?
Fenrir (or Fenris) is the wolf son of Loki and the giantess Angrboda. The gods brought him to Asgard as a cub, but he grew huge and fierce, and only Tyr, the god of law, justice and courage, dared to feed him. When the gods learned from prophecies that Fenrir would destroy them, they decided to bind him.
They made a great iron chain, Læding, and asked Fenrir to test his strength against it, as a game; he broke it easily. They made a second chain twice as strong, Drómi; he broke that too. Then Odin sent to the dwarves, who made a ribbon as soft and smooth as silk called Gleipnir, from six things: the sound of a cat’s footsteps, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a bear, the breath…
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