Fenrir
The wolf, son of Loki and the giantess Angrbotha, brother of the Midgard serpent; he bit off Tyr's right hand and waits in fetters "By the mouth of the river" until Ragnarok, when the fetters burst, he swallows Odin and is torn apart by Odin's son Vithar; a brood of wolves sprung from him steals the sun and the moon.
Why this wins its question: Gives the wolf's story as the poems give it — result before cause, prophecy before narrative — and records the sword-versus-jaws variant that summaries merge.
Key takeaways
- The poems state the binding and the lost hand as facts (Lokasenna 38–41) and never tell the story of the fetter Gleipnir.
- Odin's death by the wolf is fixed in three poems; his avenger Vithar kills it by sword (Voluspo 54) or by tearing its jaws (Vafthruthnismol 53) — two witnesses, two methods.
- The sun-swallowing is attributed to Fenrir in Vafthruthnismol and to his brood in Voluspo and Grimnismol.
Claims
Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.
Fenrir is Loki's son by a giantess: "The wolf did Loki with Angrbotha win" (Hyndluljoth 42); Odin calls Loki "the wolf's father" (Lokasenna 10), and the serpent is "the brother of Fenrir" (Hymiskvitha 24).
The wolf took Tyr's hand and lies bound: "Fenrir once / Thy right hand rent from thee", and "Ill fares the wolf who shall ever await / In fetters the fall of the gods"; "By the mouth of the river the wolf remains / Till the gods to destruction go" (Lokasenna 38–39, 41).
At Ragnarok "The fetters will burst, and the wolf run free" (Voluspo 44, 49, 58); Odin "fares to fight with the wolf" (Voluspo 53), and Loki taunts Thor that he will be less fierce "When he swallows Sigfather up" (Lokasenna 58).
Vithar kills the wolf: "Vithar, to fight with the foaming wolf; / In the giant's son does he thrust his sword / Full to the heart" (Voluspo 54); Vafthruthnir says "The terrible jaws shall he tear apart, / And so the wolf shall he slay" (Vafthruthnismol 53). The two poems give two methods — the sword and the torn jaws.
Wolves of Fenrir's line devour the lights of heaven: a giantess in Ironwood "bore the brood of Fenrir", one of whom "Was soon to steal the moon from the sky" (Voluspo 40); the sun bears a daughter "Ere Fenrir snatches her forth" (Vafthruthnismol 46–47), and Skoll and Hati chase sun and moon (Grimnismol 39).
Questions answered
- Who are Fenrir's parents?
- Fenrir is Loki's son by a giantess: "The wolf did Loki with Angrbotha win" (Hyndluljoth 42); Odin calls Loki "the wolf's father" (Lokasenna 10), and the serpent is "the brother of Fenrir" (Hymiskvitha 24). source
- Did Fenrir bite off Tyr's hand?
- The wolf took Tyr's hand and lies bound: "Fenrir once / Thy right hand rent from thee", and "Ill fares the wolf who shall ever await / In fetters the fall of the gods"; "By the mouth of the river the wolf remains / Till the gods to destruction go" (Lokasenna 38–39, 41). source
- Who does Fenrir kill at Ragnarok?
- At Ragnarok "The fetters will burst, and the wolf run free" (Voluspo 44, 49, 58); Odin "fares to fight with the wolf" (Voluspo 53), and Loki taunts Thor that he will be less fierce "When he swallows Sigfather up" (Lokasenna 58). source
- Who kills Fenrir?
- Vithar kills the wolf: "Vithar, to fight with the foaming wolf; / In the giant's son does he thrust his sword / Full to the heart" (Voluspo 54); Vafthruthnir says "The terrible jaws shall he tear apart, / And so the wolf shall he slay" (Vafthruthnismol 53). The two poems give two methods — the sword and the torn jaws. source
- Does Fenrir swallow the sun?
- Wolves of Fenrir's line devour the lights of heaven: a giantess in Ironwood "bore the brood of Fenrir", one of whom "Was soon to steal the moon from the sky" (Voluspo 40); the sun bears a daughter "Ere Fenrir snatches her forth" (Vafthruthnismol 46–47), and Skoll and Hati chase sun and moon (Grimnismol 39). source