89. Fenris.

There are many wolves in Norse mythology, both good and bad, and some of them have important tasks at Ragnarok - the death of the gods and the end of the world. Fenris, or Fenrir, or Fenre, is the son of the jotuns (or frost giants, as they for some reason have been named in English), Loki and Angerboda. Fenris' siblings were the Midgard Serpent and Hel, who would later give her name to Hell. I'll bet those three were the terror of their kindergarten...

Actually, Fenris grew up among the gods in Asgard. But it didn't take long before he had grown so big that even the aesir got spooked, so they decided to put a leash on him. Finding something strong enough to hold Fenris was another matter though. Finally, Odin commissioned the dark elfs, who were master blacksmiths, to make a thin, innocent looking, but super strong chain they called Gleipne. Then the gods lured Fenris out on an island in a lake, where they managed to bind the large wolf - after the war god Ty had lost a hand to Fenris' teeth. And this is were he still is.

But at Ragnarok Fenris will tear himself loose and kill and eat Odin The Allfather.

Odin's last battle.

After this, Fenris himself gets killed by Vidar, one of Odin's sons. It is said only Tor the thunder god is stronger than Vidar. Tor, by the way, dies fighting the Midgard Serpent, Fenris' brother, who also dies.

And when is this Ragnarok supposed to happen, you may ask. Well, first there's three winters of war, brother against brother, son against father. Then there's the Fimbulwinter - three years of continuing, harsh winters - before all Hel breaks loose.

Personally, I think Norse mythology has the absolute coolest doomsday predictions. Antichrist and all that is okay, but there are no giant wolves in the Revelation. Norse mythology has three, and I will get back to the others later on.

Next: In addition to the continuing comic, a bunch of pics from yesterday's photo shoot with one of my favorite models, Rikke Norby.