Gleipnir
In Norse mythology, Gleipnir was the third chain used to tie up Fenrir, the wolf.[1] Fenrir was the son of Loki and Angrboða, the giantess.[2] The first two chains, named Lædingr and Dromi, were forged by Thor and did not hold him.[1] Gleipnir was created by the sons of Ivaldi and did hold Fenrir.[1] It was as thin as spider's silk.[3] Gleipnir was made from six things:[4]
- The stomping of cats
- The beards of women
- The roots of mountains
- The spit of bird
- The breath of fishes
- The sinew of a bear
This was probably used to explain why all of those things are impossible.
The gods lured Fenrir to the island of Lyngvi.[3] They challenged him to be bound by Gleipnir. To show Fenrir it was no trick, Týr put his hand in Fenrir's mouth.[3] When he could not break Gleipnir's grip on him and they refused to let him out, Fenrir naturally bit off Týr's hand.[3] Fenrir was to remain bound by Gleipnir until Ragnarök (the final great battle of the gods).[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Heilan Yvette Grimes, The Norse Myths (Boston, MA: Hollow Earth Publishing, 2010), p. 271
- ↑ FenrirEncyclopedia Mythica. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Josepha Sherman, Storytelling: An Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore (London; New York: Routledge, 2015), p. 163
- ↑ John Lindow, Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs (New York; Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 163
