Frigg and Fulla, unknown artist.
Frigg and Fulla, unknown artist.
"Mistress, what troubles you?" a timid voice asked.
I wiped a stray tear from my cheek and continued petting Odin's ravens. "Just...remembering. With some visual help from these two."
I heard a rustle of robe as Fulla, my handmaiden and best friend, folded herself by my side. The marble floor was cold in one of the few unscathed rooms of Valhalla. The other survivors of the fighting had let me have this room, one of Odin's quarters, to myself.
Fulla looked at the Hugin and Munin curiously. "What do you mean, visual help? I thought Odin's ravens were just pets."
Despite everything, I smiled. "Oh, they are more than pets. They were Odin's memory and thought keepers, as well as his eyes to everything in the Nine Worlds. I was sitting here, brooding as I know I shouldn't, and these fellows landed in my lap. When I started petting them, I saw flashes of what Odin saw in the last days. Some details I...I'd rather not have seen."
Fulla laid her hand on mine. "I'm so sorry. I guess I was lucky not to have seen much of what has happened. Loki should count himself lucky that I didn't see much of him during those last days." Fulla glared at nothing. It was cute coming from such a sweet-looking goddess.
We sat silently for a moment. Hugin and Munin looked up at me and squawked, cocking their heads to the side.
"IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!" Fulla suddenly screamed. I jumped, startled. Hugin and Munin cawed indignantly.
"Sorry, Mistress. But I can't help it. If it weren't for all of Loki's meddling, none of this would have happened!"
Finally recovering myself, I sighed. "It's true, Loki had quite a large hand in all this. But Ragnarok was our fate, Fulla, and its no one god's fault that they all died. Odin tried binding those wretched offspring of Loki's, hoping that would save us, but you can't stop fate . . .
The Binding of Fenrir
Fenrir by Giovanni Caselli
"Odin, just what are you going to do about those monster children of Loki's? They are growing more vicious and powerful each day. And what if Loki decides to bring them back to Asgard? I don't think the Aesir are going to enjoy those creatures romping around and wreaking havoc up here," I asked, perturbed.
Odin sighed, his far-reaching gaze looking down at Jotunheim, where Loki and his offspring were currently residing. The three monsters were easily more hideous than their giantess mother. Hel most closely resembled an Aesir, but her cold, frost-bitten appearance and skull-like face betrayed her parentage. She cackled joyfully as Fenrir, the gigantic wolf, taunted Jormungand.
Odin fixed his one eye on my face. "I understand your fears, Frigg. I just...I wanted to give Loki, and his children, the benefit of a doubt."
"Benefit of a doubt? Odin, you know the prophecy! How can you, of all people, allow that monstrous wolf to live!? He's going to kill you in the final battle unless we do something!"
"If it is my fate to fall, then anything we do with Loki's children will be futile in the end," he replied, smiling sadly at me.
I peered sternly into his face. "We are the Aesir, and you are our lord. You have to at least try to stop them!"
"Ah, my spirited wife." He put his hand on my shoulder. " Very well, I'll have Loki and his children brought here tomorrow. We'll deal with them. Somehow."
"Loki, I suppose you know why I brought you here."
Loki smirked. His ice-blue eyes gleamed, a striking contrast to his flame-colored hair.
"I can guess." He shot a proud look over at Hel, Jormungand, and Fenrir.
Odin, as usual, forgave Loki's insolence. "Then you know what I must do. Your children are growing up to be a dangerous threat. They cannot be allowed to roam freely anymore."
Loki smiled dangerously. "And what do you plan to do with them?"
"They each will have a place in the Nine Worlds. Just not here."
With those words, Odin raised his arms. Hel's face registered a brief alarm before she vanished, sent to Niflheim by a wave of Odin's hand. A second later, Jormungand disappeared as Odin flung him into Midgard's ocean.
"What is the meaning of this! I will not allow you to exile my children!" Loki screamed, stomping up to the throne.
"I suggest you step back to a respectful distance, Loki. We may be brothers, but you will not yell in your lord's face," Odin said, his voice cold and quiet.
Loki jerked back, a brief look of fear clouding his face. Odin raised his arms, preparing to send Fenrir away. "Wait! Odin, please wait!"
Odin hesitated.
"Allow me this one child! Is it fair to separate a father from all his children?"
Odin's resolve faltered. "Can you promise me that you will keep Fenrir under control, if he remains in Asgard?"
Loki's face lit up. "I swear, Odin, he will cause no problems. You have my word."
Time passed, and Fenrir grew stronger. All the Aesir avoided him, for the wolf was violent and ill-tempered. Tyr, who feared nothing, was the only one who would feed him.
Odin soon realized that allowing Fenrir free access to Asgard was a grave mistake. Fear of the prophecy finally outweighed his love for Loki, and he called the council of Aesir together to decide Fenrir's fate.
"Fellow Aesir, I have called you from your halls today for a task of grave importance. As you all know, Fenrir is growing stronger every day, and I fear that before long he will be uncontrollable. It was a mistake for me to bring him here. We must find a way to disable this threat, or face the destruction that he will later bring down upon us."
Odin paused, looking at the faces of Thor, Tyr, Frey, and the others. "How should I deal with him?"
"Lord, you must kill him! It's the only way to stop the prophecy!" one of the Aesir shouted.
A chorus of voices murmured assent. Odin raised a hand to silence them. " I will not allow blood to be shed in these halls! He has already desecrated Valhalla enough with his mere presence. Furthermore, he is the son of my blood-brother, and as hideous a creature as he may be, I will not murder him."
"Then chain him," Thor suggested, "He will be disabled, and you will not have his blood on your hands."
Odin smiled. "That just might work. Can you handle it?" he asked Thor.
Thor saluted, fist to his chest. "Of course. I can handle anything."
The gods worked all night in the smithy, constructing the largest and strongest chain the worlds had ever seen. When finished, Thor was rightly proud of his handiwork. The great chain Leding would surely bind the gigantic wolf.
Odin and the other Aesir, bearing the gigantic chain, cornered Fenrir. The wolf snarled, baring dagger-like teeth.
The gods advanced with the chain. Fenrir's growls grew quiet, and his lips curled in an intelligent smile. He was skeptical that the piece of mere metal would be able to hold him.
The chain was soon draped around the wolf's body. The gods began to breathe a sigh of relief when Fenrir suddenly screamed, strained his massive body against the coils of iron, and snapped Leding into a dozen pieces.
"You have got to be kidding me," Thor muttered. He and Tyr bent to pick up the pieces of chain.
"At least we tried," Odin replied.
Thor looked up at him. "Oh, I'm not done yet. I may have underestimated this beast once, but i'm not going to let him get the best of me." He laughed. "I've dealt with much bigger problems than this."
That evening, Thor and his helpers constructed an even bigger chain. Naming the massive links Drome, the Aesir were confident that Fenrir would be no match for it.
"Ha, he's not going to break through it this time," Thor announced, smiling confidently. Fenrir snarled at him as he advanced.
"I have no doubt," Odin replied.
Fenrir, however, was not amused. Once the massive chain was draped around him, he launched himself into the air and slammed himself onto the ground. The links exploded off his body and buried themselves like meteors into the ground.
"Well...crap. Stupid mutt," Thor grumbled, picking up the pieces.
Odin patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Even you aren't perfect." The Aesir stood in silence, trying to think of what to do next.
Odin suddenly grinned. "I think I have an idea. Frey, is Skirner here?"
"He's right here, Odin."
"Excellent. Skirner, run to Nidavellir as fast as you can. See if the dwarves can come up with a bit of enchanted chain for us."
"It'd be my pleasure," he announced, casting a smug look over at Fenrir. With that, Skirner was off to the underground world of the dwarves.
The next day, Skirner returned with the new chain. The fine, delicate looking chain was very different from the first two bindings.
Thor fingered the fine cord. "That is supposed to tie up Fenrir?" He sniffed skeptically.
"What, just because the mighty Thor didn't create it, it cannot possibly work?" Tyr teased.
"Well, look at it. I bet any one of us could break it. It looks like a spider web," Thor grumbled.
"Well, let's see you try," Frey challenged him.
"Fine." Thor grasped the chain and tried to break it. It held fast.
"Hmph. You guys try then." Each god tried to break the chain, and all failed.
Thor looked at Fenrir. "Still...I bet that mutt'll break it. There's no way this thing will hold when the chains did not."
Fenrir snarled. But there was a note of doubt in his voice, though, after having watched the gods fail to break it.
"That thread annoys me. I will get no satisfaction in breaking that tiny thing. And if it holds me with its magic, I will be quite angry," the wolf boomed in a deep voice.
Thor jumped. Thor never jumped. "No one told me that bloody wolf could talk!"
Odin suppressed a smile. "Don't look at me. I don't think any of us knew." He walked up to Fenrir. "Mighty Fenrir, you will likely destroy the chain. After all, you tore the other two chains apart."
"That may be so, but if I get stuck, you will not let me go. I do not wish to be bound, but I'll break it if one of you lays a hand in my mouth as a pledge that you are not deceiving me about this weak chain."
There was a long pause. "Well, this is a lovely little proposition. So who's going to be the lucky one to pull this stunt?" Frey asked.
"I'll do it," Thor cried.
"No!" his brother Tyr cried. "How would you use that hammer of yours one-handed? I'll do it; I can adapt and use my weapons one-handed if I have to."
And with that, Tyr placed his right hand in Fenrir's mouth. Odin and the other gods began draping the thin cord around Fenrir. The wolf growled and began to struggle, but the more he writhed, the tighter the cord drew. Bound tightly in the cord, the enraged wolf clamped down on Tyr's hand, ripping it from his arm.
"Yes! The chain worked! It worked!" cried Frey, cheering. The gods smiled in relief.
Thor ran to his brother, wrapping his bleeding stump in a fold of scarf. "It worked, but one of us paid a hard price." Frey and the other Aesir sobered.
Fenrir finally lay quiet. Odin waved a hand, embedding the end of the chain into Lake Amsvartner's island.
Realizing he was trapped, Fenrir tried one more time to break free. It was no use; he was imprisoned.
Odin wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Maybe we've bought us some time. I might be able to stop Ragnarok yet," he whispered to himself.
Frigg looked up at Fulla, the flashback sent by the ravens fading from her sight. "I wish that imprisoning that awful wolf had worked. It bought us some peace of mind and maybe a little time. But our sorrows were only beginning, weren't they Fulla?"
Fulla's eyes met mine, a shining tear sliding down her ivory face. "Yes," she whispered quietly. "Poor Balder. I miss him most of all . . .
To Be Continued...
Bibliography Information:
Authors Note: As with most story retellings, I have taken a few liberties. I wanted to give the gods personality, so a lot of their little quirks were invented from favorite people/characters i've come across. Most of these traits I invented, and but I tried to stay true to what I could learn of the gods.
I changed the events of the story a little in a few different ways. I took the liberty of having Frigg talk to Odin at the beginning in order to tie the frame to the flashback events. The conversation between Loki and Odin was invented. Frey was not specifically mentioned in the events of the Fenrir story, but since his messenger was there, I thought it would make more sense if he was present as well.
In the Hamilton Wright Mabie retelling, he calls the land of the dwarves Svarthalfheim. In my references about the Nine Worlds, the world of the dwarves was listed as Nidavellir. I changed their land to Nidavellir in my story.
This is the first of five stories that will continue the story of Ragnarok. The individual stories are more like one big saga, and they should flow together. I enjoyed writing this, and I welcome any criticisms.
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