Fenrir is the true star of Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology #5 from Dark Horse Comics. Definitely more so than any of the other Norse gods and goddesses. If he were the hero, he’d definitely be a tragic hero-type figure.
Warning: Big fluffy spoilers for Norse Mythology #5. If you have any desire to read this, stop here. Unless you already know your Norse mythology, then you can see where this is going.
To recap, the gods and goddess had just gotten done with dealing with two of Loki’s kids. Jormangandr, they just tossed into the sea. Hel, they just tossed into the underworld for the unworthy dead. You know, all the people that died of causes other than battle. And now in Norse Mythology #5, they have to figure out what to do about the adorable little pupper named Fenrir.
Norse Mythology #5: The Saddest Pupper of Them All
So apparently, when Loki basically put Fenrir up for adoption at the beginning of Norse Mythology #5, Tyr was the only one of the gods who saw an adorable, floofy pupper. So of course, Tyr adopts him. Much frolicking ensued. No matter how big Fenrir got, he was still Tyr’s cute pupper who still thought he could fit in his lap.
Alas, if you know your Norse mythology, you know the frolicking must end at some point. In this case, Odin decided that he has had enough of a happy pupper, all due to some audiovisual hallucination about the pupper nomming on him really hard. Thus, he decides that it’s a great idea to try to chain the pupper up.
Fortunately, Fenrir is a very strong pupper, and no chain could keep him from his frolicking. Unfortunately, the gods of Norse Mythology didn’t learn from this, and just got an unbreakable chain/ribbon thing to chain the pupper down. Even worse, Tyr betrayed his trust by being a party to the chaining. You can see just why Fenrir bit off Tyr’s hand at this point, even if Tyr seemed to do it unwillingly. So good job Odin, in chaining the happy pupper up, you’ve now made a very sad pupper and a very sad Tyr. I hope you enjoy your animal abuse until Ragnarok, Mr. King of the Norse Pantheon.
Conclusion
Fenrir was a happy pupper until the gods chained him up. Then he became a very sad and angry pupper. The lesson here from the Norse Mythology #5 comic book? Don’t chain up your puppers. A chained pupper is a choked soul. Also, your pupper might turn on you come Ragnarok, so there’s that.
