The Myths

Ragnarok
The Doom of the Gods will follow Fimbulvetr, the winter of winters. Three such winters will follow each other with no summers in between. Conflicts and feuds will break out, even between families, and all morality will disappear. This is the beginning of the end.

The wolf Skol will finally devour the sun, and his brother Hati will eat the moon, plunging the earth into darkness. The stars will vanish from the sky. The cock Fjalar will crow to the giants and the golden cock Gullinkambi will crow to the gods. A third cock will raise the dead.

The earth will shudder with earthquakes, and every bond and fetter will burst, freeing the terrible wolf Fenris. The sea will rear up because Jormungandr, the Midgard Serpent, is twisting and writhing in fury as he makes his way toward the land. With every breath, Jormungand will stain the soil and the sky with his poison. The waves caused by the serpent's emerging will set free the ship Naglfar, and with the giant Hymir as their commander, the giants will sail towards the battlefield. From the realm of the dead a second ship will set sail, and this ship carries the inhabitants of Hel, with Loki as their helmsman. The fire giants, led by the giant Surt, will leave Muspell in the south to join against the gods. Surt, carrying a sword that blazes like the sun itself, will scorch the earth.

Meanwhile, Heimdall will sound his horn, calling the sons of Odin and the heroes to the battlefield. From the far corners of the world, gods, giants, dwarves, demons and elves will ride towards the huge plain of Vigrid ("battle shaker") where the last battle will be fought. Odin will engage Fenris in battle, and Thor will attack Jormungand. Thor will be victorious, but the serpent's poison will gradually kill the god of thunder. Surt will seek out the swordless Frey, who will quickly succumb to the giant. The one-handed Tyr will fight the monstrous hound Garm and they will kill each other. Loki and Heimdall, age-old enemies, will meet for a final time and neither will survive their encounter. The fight between Odin and Fenris will rage for a long time but finally Fenris will seize Odin and swallow him. Odin's son Vidar will at once leap towards the wolf and kill him with his bare hands, ripping the wolf's jaws apart. Then Surt will fling fire in every direction. The nine worlds will burn, and friends and foes alike will perish. The earth will sink into the sea.

After the destruction, a new and idyllic world will arise from the sea and will be filled with abundant supplies. Some of the gods will survive, others will be reborn. Wickedness and misery will no longer exist and gods and men will live happily together. The descendants of Lif and Lifthrasir will inhabit this earth.

The Binding of Fenris
Long ago, when the Nine Worlds were yet young, a certain wolf was born. He was the son of the trickster Loki and the giantess Angrbotha, the Bringer-of-Sorrow. and his name was Fenrir, the dweller in the marshlands. Because of his father’s mischief-making, and the evil nature of his mother, the Great Gods expected only harmful deeds to come from the FenrisWolf, as the apple never falls far from the tree. However, One-Eyed Odin wished for the Wolf, the son of his blood-brother, to be given every chance for a good life, so he bid the Gods bring him to Asgard, that he might have a proper upbringing, far from the baleful influences in Jotunheim. Though only a puppy, Fenrir was already ferocious, glaring at the Gods as if nothing would give him more pleasure than to tear them apart, limb from limb.

Of all the Mighty Æsir, only Tyr had the courage to feed the Wolf his daily meat. This duty to the guest of the Gods he performed all too well, for Fenrir grew and grew, and his ill-temper waxed with his size. The Gods could see that the Wolf would soon be so huge that he would be able to devour them all, and that if they were ever to control him, it needed to be done now, while he was still young and foolish enough to fall for their tricks. So the Æsir gathered together much iron, and their Smiths labored long to forge a chain they called Loething.

The links in this chain were as thick as a child’s leg, tough and strong, and the Gods thought it would hold the Wolf. They brought this chain to the FenrisWolf, and asked if he thought he were strong enough to break it. The Wolf knew his own strength, and believed that he could break it, so he told the Gods, “Do as you wish with your chain.” The Æsir wrapped Fenrir with Loething, and thought him well-bound, but when first the Wolf strained against it he burst it asunder, and so he got loose from Loething.

But the Gods do not give up easily. They then gathered all of the iron readily available to them, and forged a great chain called Dromi. This chain was much larger and stronger than Loething. Each link was as thick as the body of a child. Surely, the Gods thought, even the mighty FenrisWolf could not break so strong a fetter. So, they carried Dromi to the Wolf, straining under the heavy load, though many of the Æsir helped bear the weight. They asked Fenrir if he thought he could break this chain, playing to the young Wolf’s vanity by declaring that he would achieve everlasting fame if so strong a fetter could not hold him. The Wolf could see that this chain was much larger and stronger than the previous one, but he knew that in the meantime he himself had grown much larger and stronger. He also wanted to be famous, known to all wights throughout the Nine Worlds, and understood that for this to be so he must take some risks, as without danger, there can be no glory. So he said to the Æsir, “Go ahead and wrap your chain about me.” Fenrir waited until the Gods said that they were ready, then he shook himself, struggling against the great chain, and finally it snapped, sending the shattered pieces flying far and wide. Thus he broke free of Dromi.

After witnessing this feat of strength, the Æsir feared that they had waited too long, and would never be able to bind the Wolf, so greatly had Fenrir waxed in might and main. Grey-Bearded Odin saw that merely physical chains could never hope to hold the FenrisWolf; rather was cunning craft needed. So he sent one named Skírnir, the Shining One, Frey’s messenger, down to the world of the dark elves deep beneath Midgard to ask the dwarves to make a magical rope to tie the Wolf. It was in the best interests of the dark elves that Fenrir be bound, because if he devoured everything in Ásgard and Midgard, surely they would be next on his menu, and he would be far too strong to stop at that late date, so they agreed to undertake the task. Thus the dwarves forged the fetter called Gleipnir from six ingredients: the noise a cat makes when it moves, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish, and the spittle of a bird. To be sure Gleipnir were as strong as possible, the dwarves searched throughout the Nine Worlds to obtain all that could be had of these ingredients, and you can see that they were successful in their quest, for who among you has seen a woman with a beard, or heard a cat moving, or felt the breath of a fish? The cunning craft of the dark elves wove these things into a silken ribbon, soft and smooth, yet as strong as this tale now tells.

Skírnir carried the fetter back to Ásgard, and the Æsir thanked the messenger for successfully completing his mission. Gleipnir they bore to the island called Lyngvi because it was overgrown with heather, in the lake called Ámsvartnir for its pitch black waters. The Gods called to Fenrir to join them there and showed him the silken strand, asking if he thought he were strong enough to snap it. One after another the Æsir wrapped their hands in the ribbon and attempted to pull it apart, and not even the mighty Thor could tear it. “It is rather stronger than it appears,” they told Fenrir, “but surely so powerful a Wolf as you could break it.” The FenrisWolf replied, “I could gain no fame from snapping so fine a cord.” He looked suspiciously at the assembled Gods and added, “It may be this ribbon has been made with cunning craft. Slender as it seems, it is not going to be tied about my body.”

The Gods taunted him, “Why are you afraid of a silken strand, you who have burst iron chains? And,” they added, “If you cannot even break so fine a fetter, we Gods will have no reason to fear you, and so you can be sure that we shall set you free.” The Wolf said, “If I am unable to break this fetter, you will sneak away, and I shall have to wait until the end of time before I am helped by you.” Fenrir glared at the assembled Æsir. “I do not wish to be bound by this band. But you question my courage.” The Wolf sneered at the Gods. “Rather than accusing ME of cowardice, let one of the Æsir place his hand in my mouth as a pledge that this is done in good faith.”

The gathered Gods looked at one another: only Týr boldly strode forward and placed his right hand in the mouth of the Wolf, saying, “If we do not release you, you may take my hand.” Fenrir nodded his agreement, and the Gods bound him securely with Gleipnir. When the Æsir said the knots were ready, the Wolf began to struggle. The more fiercely Fenrir fought, the firmer the ribbon became; the harder he strove, the stronger the band. When it was clear to the Gods that the Wolf was well and truly bound, the Æsir all laughed at him; all but Týr, that is, for the Wolf took his hand, as was agreed. And to this day, Fenrir lies in the heather by the dark waters, waiting to burst his bonds at the Ragnarok, the Doom of the Gods, when this age shall come to an end that a new age may begin.

Lif & Lifthrasir
After the final, terrible battle at Ragnarok all the heavens and the nine worlds will be destroyed. Some gods will survive or be resurrected. The only humans who will survive this destruction will be Lif ("life") and Lifthrasir ("eager for life") because they hid themselves in Hodmimir's Forest, the forest that the flaming sword of the fire-giant Surt cannot destroy. There they will sleep through the destruction of the earth and when they awaken, they will find the earth is green and verdant again. Lif and Liftrasir will become the progenitors of a new race of humans and their descendants will inhabit this world.