Fenrir

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"An eye for an eye. A son for a son. For if ours must suffer needlessly to the end of his life, so too will his tormentor."

―Loki, on Fenrir's imprisonment by Odin.

Fenrir was an Isu that was imprisoned by the Æsir Odin. Mythologized in Norse folklore as a legendary wolf and bastard son of Loki and the jötunn Angrboða, Fenrir was the eldest sibling of Jörmungandr and Hel.

Biography

Fenrir was born in a cave beneath a waterfall just south of the Heart of the Wood in Jötunheimr, an illegitimate child resulting from Loki's affair with his mistress Angrboða. Fearing the fallout from his indiscretion, Loki broke into the Well of Urðr and hid Fenrir there, hoping he would be safe. However, Odin and Tyr were alerted to the entry when Asgard's security failed and they found that the reflective solar lenses which locked the Well had been moved.

Entering the Well to ensure that nothing was amiss, Odin came across the great wolf who appeared as a cub. Fearing the Nornir's prophecy which foretold that his fate was to be killed by a wolf, Odin came close to slaying Fenrir, only for Tyr to intervene, arguing it was forbidden to take a life within the Well.

File:ACV - Eivor fighting Fenrir.jpg

Odin fighting Fenrir on the plateau

He then brought the rapidly maturing wolf back to Asgard, where it broke free and led Havi on a chase, ending with the two of them facing off on a plateau. Loki intervened before Havi could kill Fenrir, confessing that the wolf was in fact his son. Thus, Havi charged Tyr to imprison Fenrir in Lyngvi.

To bind the wolf, Odin had the dwarf Ivaldi craft for him the magical cord Gleipnir, which would hold Fenrir until Ragnarök. Once he obtained Gleipnir, Odin visited Tyr and Fenrir, and found that their treatment of the wolf had turned him cruel. Odin then convinced Fenrir and Tyr, under false pretenses both, that he was to place a tracking collar on Fenrir and allow him to roam free. To alleviate Fenrir's fears of betrayal, Tyr stuck his right hand within the wolf's maw in order to appease his suspicions.

Fenrir caught in Gleipnir.

Upon placing Gleipnir on Fenrir, however, the cord burned the wolf, causing him to bite down on Tyr's hand and tear it off at the elbow. Fenrir attacked Odin, taunting him with the words of prophecy he feared. Odin questioned where the wolf had heard these, and Fenrir replied that it was a tale he told himself every night. Eventually besting the beast and tying him down with the cord, Odin left Fenrir confined and badly hurt.

Enraged at Fenrir's imprisonment and believing it an arbitrary decision directed against him, Loki wanted to go public to force Odin's hand, but Angrboða was against it, knowing that they would have to explain themselves to Loki's wife Sigyn and fearing for the safety of the rest of their children. In retaliation for this, Loki poisoned Odin's son Baldr, leading to his death.

Legacy and influence

Fenrir passed on to myth after the Great Catastrophe, where he was depicted as a great wolf, with his parentage intact. In myth, Odin and the Æsir feared him due to prophecy that he would kill Odin during the final battle of Ragnarök, before being killed in turn by Víðarr as he avenged his father. When Fenrir was imprisoned by the gods who feared his prophesied wrath, he managed to bite off the arm of Tyr, one of his captors.

Due to the beast's legendary nature, Vikings like Eivor Varinsdottir and Dag Nithisson were known to curse oaths revolving around Fenrir.

In the 9th century, Viking children played a game of hide-and-hunt, in which others hid while one, pretending to be Fenrir, "hunted" them. While visiting East Anglia, Eivor joined one group of children in their game and won due to her superior hiding skills.

Behind the scenes

Fenrir is a mythological creature featured in Norse mythology as a large wolf, the son of Loki and Angrboða that was foretold to kill the god Odin during Ragnarök. In the Assassin's Creed series, Fenrir was first mentioned as a mythological being in Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Fate of the Gods and presented as a character in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla.

Etymology

Fenrir is Old Norse for fen-dweller.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Fate of the Gods (mentioned only)
• Echoes of Valhalla (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Song of Glory (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Rebellion – The Ravens' Wound (mentioned only)