KOTOW NEWSLETTER: COLUMN

Wolves are highly significant in Norse mythology. In ancient texts, the powerful hunters are both feared and praised. They are associated with death and destruction  - but also with change and transformation.
 

Skoll & Hati
 

Gylfaginning (stanza 11) tells that in a place called Ironwood dwells a witch, a troll woman, who, “bears many giants for sons, and all in the shape of wolves” (Trans. Bellows, 1916). The mysterious witch is mother of the two wolves, Hati and Skoll, who chase the sun and the moon. Skoll chases after the sun and Hati after the Moon. During Ragnarok, the sun and moon are swallowed:
 

…the Wolf shall swallow the sun; and this shall seem to men a great harm. Then the other wolf shall seize the moon, and he also shall work great ruin (Gyflaginning, stanza 51, Trans. Bellows, 1916).
 

Thus, these wolves are clearly associated with harm, ruin, death and destruction. But what is often overlooked is that they also drive the cycle of day and night, because it is for them that the sun and moon move with such great haste.
 

Fenrir
 

The wolf Fenrir is inexorable from Norse myth. He is infamous for causing the death of Odin at Ragnarok (Glyfaginning, stanza 51). Even in this most tragic of  tales, the wolf is profoundly associated with transformation; the terrible event marks the end of an age, and the beginning of the renewal of Midgard.
 

The binding of Fenrir is variously interpreted as a story of the gods attempting to forestall their fate, and sometimes as a story of the gods betraying Fenrir. Regardless, Fenrir was bound as he was growing beyond control. The gods failed to bind him with even the strongest ropes and chains available. Only with magical aid from the dwarves and with the sacrifice of a hand did they succeed, binding  him in a chain as thin as a ribbon, Gleipnir, made mostly of things that do not exist. This may be interpreted as a story of one attempting to bind their own inner wolf, their own primal nature, or nature itself, a feat which ultimately proves impossible, costly, dangerous and fatal.
 

Freki & Geri
 

Not all wolves in Norse myth are associated with the ruin of the gods, however, they, like jotnar, are consistently associated with primal devouring forces (Grant, 2019). Odin himself is accompanied by two wolves, his companions, Geri (greedy one) and Freki (ravenous one). In Grimnismal (stanza 19), we learn that Odin gives all his food to these wolves, as he himself feeds only on wine:
 

Freki and Geri | does Heerfather feed, 

The far-famed fighter of old: 

But on wine alone | does the weapon-decked god, 

Othin, forever live.

(Trans. Bellows, 1916)

Battle-winning Odin

feeds his tamed wolves, 

Geri and Freki, 

But for hist part

weapon-loving Odin

Feeds on wine alone

(Trans. Crawford, 2015).
 

From the poem, Helgakvida Hundingsbana, we learn that Geri and Freki accompany Odin to battlefields, where they devour the corpses of fallen warriors:
 

The warriors forth to the battle went,
The field they chose at Logafjoll;
Frothi's peace midst foes they broke,
Through the isle went hungrily Vithrir's hounds 

(Tran. Bellows, 1916).
 

In poems and kennings in Skaldscaparmal and in the Icelandic sagas, wolves, along with ravens, frequently occur in the aftermath of battles and feast on the flesh of the slain. Such sights were undoubtedly a grim reality for people of viking-age Scandinavia. Freki and Geri are associated with transformation at death,  vivified by the consumption of remains of those dead from weapons. This adds perspective to complex associations between Odin, wolves, and Valhöll as though Odin's wolves, along with his ravens, carry the slain to Odin's hall... in their bellies.
 

Garm

The wolf Garm is the very embodiment of death and transformation. What little is known of Garm is that he is stationed at the doorway to Hel,  the land of the dead. In Baldrs Draumar (stanzas 2-3), Odin passes Garm on his way to Hel. 

2. Then Othin rose, | the enchanter old, 

And the saddle he laid | on Sleipnir's back; 

Thence rode he down | to Niflhel deep, 

And the hound he met | that came from hell.  

3. Bloody he was | on his breast before,

 At the father of magic | he howled from afar; 

Forward rode Othin, | the earth resounded 

Till the house so high | of Hel he reached.  

Garm, Fenrir, and Hati are conflated in Norse myth. In Gylfaginning (stanza 11) tells,  "he that is named moon hound... shall consume all those men that die." In Baldrs Draumar, we glimpse a bloody-chested wolf devouring corpses at the very threshold between life and death. 

Werewolves & Berserkers
 

In the Saga of the Volsungs (Stanza 8), the father and son heroes, Sigmund and Sinfjotli, stole two wolf pelts. They put them on and could not remove them. Apparently cursed, “their voices changed into wolves." In this form they each prevailed against many men in battle. As Sinfjotli boasted about his remarkable accomplishment, having slain more men than his father, Sigmund leapt and bit him on the neck. Realizing what he had done, distraught over his dying son,  "there he sat over Sinfjotli and cursed the wolfskins” (Trans. Crawford, 2017). With help from a raven, Sinfjotli would eventually heal.
 

It is said that, "during that time of bad fate, they did many brave things..." (Trans. Crawford, 2015). Eventually, they freed themselves from the pelts and burned them. Thus, these wolves are associated with rage and battle-frenzy, potentially harmful to one’s own kin, but they are also associated with great accomplishments.
 

In numerous attestations in Norse myth and sagas, berserkers are similarly associated with both, great harm and great achievements. This is epitomized in the Saga of Hrolf Kraki. For instance, in a fierce battle with King Adil’s outlawed berserkers, the hero, Svipdag, lost an eye and suffered many wounds; comparatively, Svipdag allied with King Hrolf’s berserkers, and together they achieved many victories.  

A Primal Force

Wolves are inexorable from Norse mythos known from epic poems and sagas. In their role as antagonistic devourers, they are also agents of of transformation. The primal power they embody is unstoppable. They remind us that death is certain. In doing so, they also inspire greatness, drive courage,  and offer opportunities for entry to Valhöll. 

By Andżelika Brocka (Roots)  

Edited by Rick Rulf

References

Gardela, L. (2009). The Good, the Bad and the Undead: New Thoughts on the Ambivalence of Old Norse Sorcery. Á Austrvega Saga and East Scandinavia. Papers from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. The 14th International Saga Conference, 1(14).     Grande, L., Augustyn, A., & Weinstein, J. (2009). Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World. University of Chicago Press.     

Grant, T. (2019). 'A Problem of Giant Proportions: Distinguishing Risar and Jötnar in Old Icelandic Saga Material', gripla 30 (2019), 77–106. Academia.edu. Retrieved March 18, 2022, from https://www.academia.edu/39789075/A_Problem_of_Giant_Proportions_Distinguishing_Risar_and_J%C3%B6tnar_in_Old_Icelandic_Saga_Material_Gripla_30_2019_77_106?email_work_card=title&fbclid=IwAR386-BeumvzZ-83eAGRLLMLQMT7EUqHyVbbcCTv5q4ysSEKOcpm7yMxRcA 

Sturluson, S., (1916). The Prose Edda. (Translated by A.G. Brodeur). Penguin Books. (original work circa 1272).

Sturluson, S. (1936) The Poetic Edda. Translated by H. A. Bellows. Princeton University Press. (original work circa 1272).

Sturluson, S. (2005). The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology. (Translated by J.L. Byock). Penguin Books. (original work circa 1272).

Sturluson, S. (2015). Prose Edda Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes. Translated by Jackson Crawford. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.