A Guide to Mythology

by Helen A. Clarke

STORY OF THE MIDGARD SERPENT AND FENRIS THE WOLF

(From the Norse Eddas)

This huge beast was one of the children of Loke, a troublesome, mischievous giant, who forced himself upon the society of the gods. His delight was to get them into all sorts of difficulties, and then by his cunning, wit and skill to extricate them. The gods knew that as the Midgard serpent grew larger he would bring untold troubles upon gods and men. So Odin thought the best way to dispose of him would be to throw him into the deep ocean which surrounds the earth. He did so, but the serpent has grown to such an enormous size, that holding his tail in his mouth, he encircles the whole earth. One time the god Thor went with his servant Loke to the land of the giants. After some adventures they came to a city, standing in the middle of a plain. It was so lofty that they were obliged to bend their necks quite back on their shoulders in order to see the top of it. On arriving, they entered the city, and seeing a large palace before them with the door wide open, they went in and found a number of men of prodigious stature sitting on benches in the hall. Going further they came before the king, Utgard-Loke, whom they saluted with great respect. The king, regarding them with a scornful smile, said, “If I do not mistake me, that stripling yonder must be the god Thor.” Utgard-Loke then asked Thor and his companions in what feats they excelled, for he said, “No one is permitted to remain here who does not, in some feat or other, excel all other men.” Various feats of strength were tried, then Utgard-Loke said, “We have a very trifling game here. It consists merely in lifting my cat from the ground; nor should I have dared to mention such a feat to the great Thor if I had not already observed that thou art by no means what we took thee for.”

As he finished a large gray cat sprang on the hall floor. Thor put his hand under the cat, and did his utmost to raise him from the floor, but the cat, bending his back, had, notwithstanding all Thor’s efforts, only one of his feet lifted up, seeing which Thor made no further attempt.

“This trial has turned out,” said Utgard-Loke, “just as I imagined it would. The cat is large, but Thor is little in comparison with our men.”

The next morning, at break of day, Thor and his companions dressed themselves and prepared for their departure. Utgard-Loke ordered a table to be set for them, on which there was no lack of victuals or drink. After the repast, Utgard-Loke led them to the gate of the city, and on parting asked Thor how he thought his journey had turned out, and whether he had met with any men stronger than himself. Thor told him that he could not deny but that he had brought great shame on himself. “And what grieves me most,” he added, “is that thou wilt call me a person of little worth.”

“Nay,” said Utgard-Loke, “it behooves me to tell thee the truth, now thou art out of the city, which so long as I live and have my way thou shalt never enter again. And, by my troth, had I known beforehand that thou hadst so much strength in thee, and wouldst have brought me so near to a great mishap, I would not have suffered thee to enter this time. Know then that I have all along deceived thee by my illusions.” He then complimented Thor upon each feat he had performed, and as for the cat, he said, “Thou hast indeed performed a wonderful feat by lifting up the cat, and to tell thee the truth, when we saw that one of his paws was off the floor we were all of us terror-stricken, for what thou tookest for a cat was in reality the Midgard serpent that encompasseth the earth, and he was so stretched by thee that he was barely long enough to enclose it between his head and tail.”

The wolf Fenris was also one of Loke’s children, and gave the gods a great deal of trouble until they succeeded in chaining him. He broke the strongest fetters as if they were made of cobwebs. Finally the gods sent a messenger to the mountain spirits, who made for them the chain called Gleipnir. It was fashioned of various things: the noise made by the footfall of a cat, the roots of stones, the breath of fishes, the nerves of bears, and the spittle of birds. When finished it was as smooth and soft as a silken string. But when the gods asked the wolf to suffer himself to be bound with this apparently slight ribbon he suspected their design, fearing that it was made by enchantment. He therefore only consented to be bound with it on condition that one of the gods put his hand in his (Fenris’s) mouth as a pledge that the band was to be removed again. Tyr alone had sufficient courage to do this. But when the wolf found that he could not break his fetters and that the gods would not release him, he bit off Tyr’s hand. Tyr, consequently, has ever since remained one-handed.