Fenrir the Great Wolf

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I have travelled, tried out, tested the Powers; where will a sun come into heaven when Fenrir has assailed this one? - Odin

Mythology weaves a tapestry of tales usually geared towards understanding the nature and behaviors of man. The Norse myths are no different than many tall tales of Gods and monsters. Everyone knows Thor and Odin, particularly the Marvel characters. These Gods from Norse mythology were nothing like the romanticized Hollywood versions we see today.

Fenrir is known as the Great Wolf. He is the son of the God Loki and was taken in by Odin while still a pup. Fenrir fit in well and was close to Odin for the majority of his life. Fenrir grew fast, powerful, and quite large causing fear among many other Gods. It wasn’t until Odin was told by a Seer that Fenrir will kill him during Ragnarök causing Odin to now fear Fenrir as well. 

Odin turned on Fenrir and had him bound to a rock. Ragnarök is a series of events and catastrophes that will ultimately lead to the end of the world. Ragnarök culminates in a final battle between the gods and the demons and giants, ending in the death of the gods. Indeed, the Seer was correct, Fenrir killed Odin in battle. After Ragnarök and the death of the Gods, the world was reborn into the world we have now. One could argue that this was a positive change. It can also be argued that once Odin turned on his favored canine, his fate was sealed.

Although Fenrir is understood as an antagonist of the gods and one of the “villains” of the story of Ragnarök, the original story makes clear that Odin’s and the other gods’ treatment of the great wolf contributed to his siding with the forces of chaos against them.

In Norse belief, one’s fate was already decided at one’s birth and the best one could do was to live well and hope for a good reputation that would survive one’s death. What one did between birth and death, however, was entirely up to the individual. Considering this understanding, it is likely that Odin had a choice in how he treated Fenrir and chose poorly, thereby aligning the great wolf with the forces of chaos when he could have stood as an ally and defender of the established order of the gods. 

We chose the name Fenrir for several reasons but primarily because of the centuries of respect man has for the cunning, ingenuity, drive, determination, and intelligence of the wolf. Wolves have had a place both with and against man for many millennia and are still revered today as one of creation's most amazing species. Fenrir was a master at breaking the chains that bound him. 

At Fenrir, we have a close relationship with our environment and embrace the ways of the wolf as an ethos ingrained in the culture and the way we approach challenges.