Here, the gods had Fenrir chained up, Hel was thrown down into the underworld, and Jormungand was cast into the sea. Odin, the chief of the gods, was fearful of Loki’s cunning kids, so he had them taken to Asgard (the stronghold of the gods). These awful offspring were Fenrir, Hel, and Jormungand.
Loki, the mischievous fire god, had three children with the frost giantess Angrboda. It represented darkness and destruction, death and the end times. Jormungand, the Midgard serpent, was such a terrible monster that it threatened the whole Norse world. Read more about: Mysteries Has Nessie been found? The true history of the Loch Ness monster Grendel slinked off to his swamp and bled to death.Īfter Grendel died it took four strong men to carry his head back to King Hrothgar as a trophy. He tussled with Grendel and ended up ripping off one of the creature’s big arms. Beowulf seized the opportunity to down the savage beast. Grendel snuck in and attacked a warrior, biting into the man’s body, drinking his blood, and devouring the soldier. One day, all the king’s men were asleep in the great hall. The warrior Beowulf journeyed from his home in Geatland (modern-day southern Sweden) to come to the aid of Hrothgar. Night after night, Grendel, sometimes depicted as a snarling bigfoot and other times as more like an ogre, would attack Hrothgar’s hall and carry men off into the night and to their deaths. Massive and invulnerable to weaponry, the monster was plaguing Hrothgar’s kingdom. In the dim past of Denmark, in the 6th century, lived King Hrothgar, a figure modern scholars describe as ‘semi-legendary’. This creature was called Grendel, notorious as the nemesis of the hero Beowulf. In the realm of Norse mythology lurked a man-eating amphibious monster. Read more about: Vikings Ásgard and the nine worlds of Norse mythology
Only the god of war, Tyr, dared to get near Fenrir to feed him, although Tyr lost his hand to the wolf’s savage jaws when tricking him into Gleipnir.įenrir eventually devoured Odin at Ragnarök, and Fenrir himself was then slain by Odin’s son, Vidar. This powerful binding, called Gleipnir, was made from some bizarre ingredients, including the sound of cats walking, fish breath, roots of stones, women’s beards, and more. It appeared to be as thin and delicate as a silk thread, but Fenrir, who had broken previous iron chains like they were nothing, could not sever this cord. This magic chain was made by dwarves at Odin’s request. The gods, to keep Fenrir under control, tricked him into having specially-made fetters put around his neck. Even the gods feared Fenrir, who was so big that when he stretched open his mouth with his bottom jaw to the ground, the top part of his mouth touched the sky. One of the most ferocious and powerful monsters of North mythology was Fenrir, the terrible wolf.įenrir was a son of Loki and the frost giantess Angrboda. Read more about: Mysteries Monster myths debunked: From Bigfoot to the Loch Ness monster When Fafnir passed over him Sigurd thrust his sword up into his belly and killed him.įafnir’s brothers were called Regin and Otter, and it was Regin who egged on Sigurd to go slay the fearsome dragon. The hero, Sigurd, made himself a hole in this trench in which he could hide and wait for the monster. He sprayed venom in all directions and his huge body left a slime-filled trench as he crawled. He was so big that the ground shook as he moved around. Those that dared approach the dragon’s lair with the idea of pinching his treasure died from the beast’s fire and venom. Overcome with envy brought on by the curse, Fafnir killed his father for the treasure and transformed into a dragon to guard it.įafnir took off with the treasure and made a new home in a place called the Glittering Heath. The young Fafnir found himself bewitched by his dad’s stolen loot, desiring it more than anything. It was Hreidmar who stole the cursed treasure of the dwarf Andvari. Read more about: Vikings Seven of the most important gods and goddesses in Norse mythologyįafnir was a son of the magician Hreidmar.
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