Odin, the king of Asgard, was plagued by nightmares. Three fearsome figures haunted his dreams: a massive, writhing shadow; a shambling, rotting corpse; and worst of all, a monstrous beast with a deadly bite. Night after night, the creatures besieged the king. And although their true forms were unknown to him, he could tell they were related to Asgard’s most persistent problem: Loki.
Odina, vladara Asgarda opsjedale su noćne more. Progonile su ga tri užasne spodobe: divovska, zavojita sjena, trulo truplo, i najgora od svih, čudovišna zvijer sa smrtonosnim čeljustima. Noćima su stvorenja opsjedala vladara. Iako im nije znao stvarni oblik, znao je su nekako povezane s najdugotrajnijim problemom Asgarda: Lokijem.
Despite having settled down with his wife and sons, Loki had been sneaking off to visit the giantess Angrboda. And when the king learned this affair had produced three children, he was filled with unease. Odin summoned Thor and Tyr, two of his bravest warriors, to travel to Jotunheim to capture Loki’s secret children.
Iako se skrasio sa ženom i sinovima, Loki se iskradao u posjete gorostasnoj Angrbodi. Kad je Odin saznao da im se rodilo troje djece, obuzela ga je strepnja. Odin je pozvao Thora i Tyra, dvojicu svojih najhrabrijih ratnika, da odu u Jotunheim i ulove Lokijevu tajnu djecu.
Upon arriving at Angrboda’s home, the pair were immediately accosted by Loki's first child, a serpent named Jörmungandr. The God of Thunder dodged the snake’s venom and swiftly bound him to a pine tree. The second child, Hel, appeared as a glowing young woman from the right and a moldering corpse from the left. Her flesh flaked onto the ground as she silently submitted to her captors. Finally, the third child leapt at Tyr. The small wolf was fierce but harmless. Tyr playfully cuffed its claws and stowed the cub in his pocket.
Kad su stigli u Angrbodin dom, par ratnika je odmah napalo Lokijevo prvo dijete, zmija zvana Jörmungandr. Bog groma je izbjegao zmijski otrov i zavezao je za bor. Pojavilo se drugo dijete, Hel, blještava mlada žena s desne strane i raspadajuće truplo s lijeve strane. Meso joj je otpadalo na tlo dok se šutke predavala. Konačno, treće dijete je skočilo na Tyra. Vučić je bio žestok, ali bezopasan. Tyr mu je zaigrano zavezao šape i stavio ga u džep.
Back in Asgard, the warriors presented their prisoners and fearful recognition seized Odin's heart. Though these three were meager reflections of his dark dreams, the king was determined to dispose of them before his visions came true.
U Asgardu su ratnici predstavili zarobljenike i Odin je sa strahom shvatio. Iako tek odbljesci njegovih mračnih snova, odlučio ih se riješiti prije nego se njegove vizije obistine.
First, he banished Jörmungandr to the sea at the edge of the world. Then he sent Hel deep below the earth to join her fellow corpses. But the wolf, named Fenrir, presented a challenge. He’d already grown strong enough to threaten the gods, so Odin took a more patient approach. For months, he supervised the creature, watching Fenrir grow from a cub to a wolf to a beast who spoke with the voice of a God. Tyr visited frequently and found Fenrir to be strong and clever. But as their bond deepened, Odin's fear only grew.
Najprije je prognao Jörmungandr u more na rubu svijeta. Hel je poslao duboko pod zemlju da se pridruži drugim truplima. Ali vuk nazvan Fenrir bio je izazov. Već je ojačao dovoljno da zaprijeti bogovima pa se Odin odlučio za strpljivost. Mjesecima je nadgledao Fenrira koji je rastao iz mladunčeta u zvijer koja je govorila glasom boga. Tyr ga je često posjećivao i otkrio da je Fenrir snažan i pametan. Kako je njihova veza jačala, Odinov strah je rastao.
One day, Odin forged his heaviest chains and hauled them to Fenrir with a challenge. He would bind the wolf to test his growing strength. Fenrir eagerly accepted the challenge and splintered the metal like old wood. Odin returned to the forge, crafting shackles that no man could lift alone. These sturdy chains gave Fenrir pause. But with an encouraging wink from Tyr, he accepted the challenge. The beast strained for a moment and then shattered his restraints into a thousand pieces. Desperate, Odin sought help from the most skilled makers of all: the Dwarves. Rather than metal, they sought the rarest ingredients; from feline footsteps and fish breath to the sinews of mountains and mighty bears. With these, the Dwarves crafted Gleipnir, an unbreakable chain in the guise of fine thread. When Odin challenged Fenrir a third time, the wolf laughed. But as he examined the thread more closely, Fenrir sensed Odin’s trickery and began to feel some fear himself.
Jednog dana Odin je iskovao najteže lance i dovukao ih do Fenrira uz izazov. Zavezat će ga lancima da iskuša njegovu snagu. Fenrir je rado prihvatio izazov i prelomio metal kao suhu grančicu. Odin se vratio u kovačnicu i skovao okove koje nitko nije mogao podići sam. Pred tim okovima Fenrir je oklijevao. Ali Tyr mu je ohrabrujuće namignuo i prihvatio je izazov. Zvijer se napinjala na tren, a onda je rastrgala okove na tisuću komadića. Očajan, Odin je potražio pomoć od najvještijih kovača: patuljaka. Oni su umjesto metala tragali za najrjeđim sastojcima: od mačjih koraka i ribljeg daha, do tetiva planina i moćnih medvjeda. Od njih su skovali Gleipnir, neslomljivi lanac koji je izgledao kao najtanja nit. Kad je Odin izazvao Fenrira treći put, vuk se nasmijao. Ali kad je pažljivije promotrio nit, Fenrir je nanjušio lukavstvo i počeo se bojati.
Fenrir struck a deal. He would accept the challenge, but only if a god kept their hand in his mouth throughout. With a heavy heart, Tyr volunteered. The gods bound the wolf and as he strained Gleipnir only grew tighter. Fenrir felt the agony of betrayal— not only from Odin, but from his reluctant friend. With a howl of fury, he bit through Tyr’s wrist and vowed to destroy Odin for tricking him.
Stoga je predložio pogodbu. Prihvatit će izazov, ali samo ako mu bog pristane držati ruku u čeljustima. Tyr se teška srca ponudio. Bogovi su svezali vuka i svaki put kad bi se napeo, nit bi postala čvršća. Fenrir je osjetio agoniju izdaje, ne samo Odinove, već i njegovog prijatelja. S urlikom bijesa, pregrizao je Tyrovu ruku i zakleo se uništiti Odina jer ga je prevario.
Watching his nightmare come to life, Odin thrust Tyr’s blade between Fenrir jaws, releasing a torrent of saliva that became a furious river. While the beast was not dead, he was bound, and Odin celebrated his victory over fate. But in truth, his actions had only sealed his doom. Beneath the waves, Jörmungandr grew to encircle the world. Hel rose to rule the dead as queen of the Underworld. And every day, Fenrir strained a little more against his chains, inching ever closer to his bloody revenge.
Gledajući svoju noćnu moru, Odin je gurnuo Tyrovu oštricu Fenriru u čeljusti, i pustio poplavu sline koja je postala riječna bujica. Zvijer nije bila mrtva, ali bila je sputana i Odin je slavio svoju pobjedu nad sudbinom. Ali zapravo su njegova djela zapečatila njegovu sudbinu. Pod morem, Jörmungandr je rasla dok nije obavila sav svijet. Hel je postala kraljica u carstvu mrtvih. A Fenrir se svakog dana snažnije opirao okovima, bližeći se krvavoj osveti.