Frigg and Fulla, unknown artist.

"Mistress, what troubles you?" a timid voice asked.

I wiped a stray tear from my cheek and continued petting Odin's
ravens. "Just...remembering. With some visual help from these
two."
I heard a rustle of robe as Fulla, my handmaiden and best friend,
folded herself by my side. The marble floor was cold in one of the
few unscathed rooms of Valhalla. The other survivors of the
fighting had let me have this room, one of Odin's quarters, to myself.
Fulla looked at the Hugin and Munin curiously. "What do you
mean, visual help? I thought Odin's ravens were just pets."
Despite everything, I smiled. "Oh, they are more than pets. They
were Odin's memory and thought keepers, as well as his eyes to
everything in the Nine Worlds. I was sitting here, brooding as I
know I shouldn't, and these fellows landed in my lap. When I
started petting them, I saw flashes of what Odin saw in the last
days. Some details I...I'd rather not have seen."
Fulla laid her hand on mine. "I'm so sorry. I guess I was lucky
not to have seen much of what has happened. Loki should count
himself lucky that I didn't see much of him during those last days."
Fulla glared at nothing. It was cute coming from such a sweet-
looking goddess.
 We sat silently for a moment. Hugin and Munin looked up at
me and squawked, cocking their heads to the side.
"IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!" Fulla suddenly screamed. I jumped,
startled. Hugin and Munin cawed indignantly.
"Sorry, Mistress. But I can't help it. If it weren't for all of
Loki's meddling, none of this would have happened!"
Finally recovering myself, I sighed. "It's true, Loki had quite a
large hand in all this. But Ragnarok was our fate, Fulla, and its no
one god's fault that they all died. Odin tried binding those wretched
offspring of Loki's, hoping that would save us, but you can't stop
fate . . .

The Binding of Fenrir

Fenrir by Giovanni Caselli

"Odin, just what are you going to do about those monster

children of Loki's? They are growing more vicious and powerful each
day. And what if Loki decides to bring them back to Asgard? I
don't think the Aesir are going to enjoy those creatures romping
around and wreaking havoc up here," I asked, perturbed.
Odin sighed, his far-reaching gaze looking down at Jotunheim,
where Loki and his offspring were currently residing. The three
monsters were easily more hideous than their giantess mother. Hel
most closely resembled an Aesir, but her cold, frost-bitten
appearance and skull-like face betrayed her parentage. She cackled
joyfully as Fenrir, the gigantic wolf, taunted Jormungand.
Odin fixed his one eye on my face. "I understand your fears,
Frigg. I just...I wanted to give Loki, and his children, the benefit of
a doubt."
"Benefit of a doubt? Odin, you know the prophecy! How can
you, of all people, allow that monstrous wolf to live!? He's going to
kill you in the final battle unless we do something!"
"If it is my fate to fall, then anything we do with Loki's children
will be futile in the end," he replied, smiling sadly at me.
I peered sternly into his face. "We are the Aesir, and you are our
lord. You have to at least try to stop them!"
"Ah, my spirited wife." He put his hand on my shoulder. " Very
well, I'll have Loki and his children brought here tomorrow. We'll
deal with them. Somehow."

"Loki, I suppose you know why I brought you here."

Loki smirked. His ice-blue eyes gleamed, a striking contrast to his
flame-colored hair.
"I can guess." He shot a proud look over at Hel, Jormungand,
and Fenrir.
Odin, as usual, forgave Loki's insolence. "Then you know what I
must do. Your children are growing up to be a dangerous threat.
They cannot be allowed to roam freely anymore."
Loki smiled dangerously. "And what do you plan to do with
them?"
"They each will have a place in the Nine Worlds. Just not here."
With those words, Odin raised his arms. Hel's face registered a
brief alarm before she vanished, sent to Niflheim by a wave of
Odin's hand. A second later, Jormungand disappeared as Odin flung
him into Midgard's ocean.
"What is the meaning of this! I will not allow you to exile my
children!" Loki screamed, stomping up to the throne.
"I suggest you step back to a respectful distance, Loki. We may
be brothers, but you will not yell in your lord's face," Odin said, his
voice cold and quiet.
Loki jerked back, a brief look of fear clouding his face. Odin
raised his arms, preparing to send Fenrir away. "Wait! Odin, please
wait!"
Odin hesitated.
"Allow me this one child! Is it fair to separate a father from all
his children?"
Odin's resolve faltered. "Can you promise me that you will keep
Fenrir under control, if he remains in Asgard?"
Loki's face lit up. "I swear, Odin, he will cause no problems.
You have my word."

Time passed, and Fenrir grew stronger. All the Aesir avoided
him, for the wolf was violent and ill-tempered. Tyr, who feared
nothing, was the only one who would feed him.
Odin soon realized that allowing Fenrir free access to Asgard
was a grave mistake. Fear of the prophecy finally outweighed his
love for Loki, and he called the council of Aesir together to decide
Fenrir's fate.
"Fellow Aesir, I have called you from your halls today for a task
of grave importance. As you all know, Fenrir is growing stronger
every day, and I fear that before long he will be uncontrollable. It
was a mistake for me to bring him here. We must find a way to
disable this threat, or face the destruction that he will later bring
down upon us."
 Odin paused, looking at the faces of Thor, Tyr, Frey, and the
others. "How should I deal with him?"
"Lord, you must kill him! It's the only way to stop the
prophecy!" one of the Aesir shouted.
A chorus of voices murmured assent. Odin raised a hand to
silence them. " I will not allow blood to be shed in these halls! He
has already desecrated Valhalla enough with his mere presence.
Furthermore, he is the son of my blood-brother, and as hideous a
creature as he may be, I will not murder him."
"Then chain him," Thor suggested, "He will be disabled, and
you will not have his blood on your hands."
Odin smiled. "That just might work. Can you handle it?" he
asked Thor.
Thor saluted, fist to his chest. "Of course. I can handle
anything."

The gods worked all night in the smithy, constructing the largest
and strongest chain the worlds had ever seen. When finished, Thor
was rightly proud of his handiwork. The great chain Leding would
surely bind the gigantic wolf.
Odin and the other Aesir, bearing the gigantic chain, cornered
Fenrir. The wolf snarled, baring dagger-like teeth.
The gods advanced with the chain. Fenrir's growls grew quiet,
and his lips curled in an intelligent smile. He was skeptical that the
piece of mere metal would be able to hold him.
The chain was soon draped around the wolf's body. The gods
began to breathe a sigh of relief when Fenrir suddenly screamed,
strained his massive body against the coils of iron, and snapped
Leding into a dozen pieces.
"You have got to be kidding me," Thor muttered. He and Tyr
bent to pick up the pieces of chain.
 "At least we tried," Odin replied.
Thor looked up at him. "Oh, I'm not done yet. I may have
underestimated this beast once, but i'm not going to let him get the
best of me." He laughed. "I've dealt with much bigger problems than
this."

That evening, Thor and his helpers constructed an even bigger

chain. Naming the massive links Drome, the Aesir were confident
that Fenrir would be no match for it.
"Ha, he's not going to break through it this time," Thor
announced, smiling confidently. Fenrir snarled at him as he
advanced.
"I have no doubt," Odin replied.
Fenrir, however, was not amused. Once the massive chain was
draped around him, he launched himself into the air and slammed
himself onto the ground. The links exploded off his body and buried
themselves like meteors into the ground.
"Well...crap. Stupid mutt," Thor grumbled, picking up the pieces.
Odin patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Even you
aren't perfect." The Aesir stood in silence, trying to think of what
to do next.
Odin suddenly grinned. "I think I have an idea. Frey, is Skirner
here?"
"He's right here, Odin."
"Excellent. Skirner, run to Nidavellir as fast as you can. See if
the dwarves can come up with a bit of enchanted chain for us."
"It'd be my pleasure," he announced, casting a smug look over at
Fenrir. With that, Skirner was off to the underground world of the
dwarves.
 The next day, Skirner returned with the new chain. The fine,
delicate looking chain was very different from the first two
bindings.
Thor fingered the fine cord. "That is supposed to tie up Fenrir?"
He sniffed skeptically.
"What, just because the mighty Thor didn't create it, it cannot
possibly work?" Tyr teased.
"Well, look at it. I bet any one of us could break it. It looks
like a spider web," Thor grumbled.
"Well, let's see you try," Frey challenged him.
"Fine." Thor grasped the chain and tried to break it. It held
fast.
"Hmph. You guys try then." Each god tried to break the chain,
and all failed.
Thor looked at Fenrir. "Still...I bet that mutt'll break it. There's
no way this thing will hold when the chains did not."
Fenrir snarled. But there was a note of doubt in his voice,
though, after having watched the gods fail to break it.
"That thread annoys me. I will get no satisfaction in breaking
that tiny thing. And if it holds me with its magic, I will be quite
angry," the wolf boomed in a deep voice.
Thor jumped. Thor never jumped. "No one told me that bloody
wolf could talk!"
Odin suppressed a smile. "Don't look at me. I don't think any of
us knew." He walked up to Fenrir. "Mighty Fenrir, you will likely
destroy the chain. After all, you tore the other two chains apart."
"That may be so, but if I get stuck, you will not let me go. I do
not wish to be bound, but I'll break it if one of you lays a hand in
my mouth as a pledge that you are not deceiving me about this weak
chain."
 There was a long pause. "Well, this is a lovely little proposition.
So who's going to be the lucky one to pull this stunt?" Frey asked.
"I'll do it," Thor cried.
"No!" his brother Tyr cried. "How would you use that hammer of
yours one-handed? I'll do it; I can adapt and use my weapons one-
handed if I have to."
And with that, Tyr placed his right hand in Fenrir's mouth.
Odin and the other gods began draping the thin cord around Fenrir.
The wolf growled and began to struggle, but the more he writhed,
the tighter the cord drew. Bound tightly in the cord, the enraged
wolf clamped down on Tyr's hand, ripping it from his arm.
"Yes! The chain worked! It worked!" cried Frey, cheering. The
gods smiled in relief.
Thor ran to his brother, wrapping his bleeding stump in a fold of
scarf. "It worked, but one of us paid a hard price." Frey and the
other Aesir sobered.
Fenrir finally lay quiet. Odin waved a hand, embedding the end
of the chain into Lake Amsvartner's island.
Realizing he was trapped, Fenrir tried one more time to break
free. It was no use; he was imprisoned.
Odin wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Maybe we've bought
us some time. I might be able to stop Ragnarok yet," he whispered
to himself.

Frigg looked up at Fulla, the flashback sent by the ravens fading

from her sight. "I wish that imprisoning that awful wolf had
worked. It bought us some peace of mind and maybe a little time.
But our sorrows were only beginning, weren't they Fulla?"
Fulla's eyes met mine, a shining tear sliding down her ivory face.
"Yes," she whispered quietly. "Poor Balder. I miss him most of all . .
.
 To Be Continued...

Bibliography Information:
 Story retold from: "The Binding of the Wolf," found in
"Norse Stories Retold from the Eddas" by Hamilton Wright
Mabie (1901). Original text.
 First image: "Frigg and Fulla" by an unknown artist.
Original picture.
 Second image: "Fenrir" by Giovanni Caselli, 1978. Original
picture.

Authors Note: As with most story retellings, I have taken

a few liberties. I wanted to give the gods personality, so a lot of
their little quirks were invented from favorite people/characters i've
come across. Most of these traits I invented, and but I tried to stay
true to what I could learn of the gods.
I changed the events of the story a little in a few different ways.
I took the liberty of having Frigg talk to Odin at the beginning in
order to tie the frame to the flashback events. The conversation
between Loki and Odin was invented. Frey was not specifically
mentioned in the events of the Fenrir story, but since his messenger
was there, I thought it would make more sense if he was present as
well.
In the Hamilton Wright Mabie retelling, he calls the land of the
dwarves Svarthalfheim. In my references about the Nine Worlds,
the world of the dwarves was listed as Nidavellir. I changed their
land to Nidavellir in my story.
This is the first of five stories that will continue the story of
Ragnarok. The individual stories are more like one big saga, and
they should flow together. I enjoyed writing this, and I welcome
any criticisms.