Chapter 65: Lædingr

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Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi

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-Asgard-

The binding of Fenrir.

A tale as old as time, written in the annals of Nordic mythology when Ragnarok threatened to consume all and destroy everything in order to restart the cycle of life. A series of events from great battles between gods and giants, to the looming death of those considered the strongest. Where giants and demons would approach from all points of the compass to attack the gods, who would meet them and face death like heroes. The sun darkening, the stars vanishing, and the Earth sinking into the sea

A few beings were tied to the upcoming Ragnarok. The Æsir, and Vanir all feared the end, yet deep inside them, they knew that there was very little they could do to stop it. This happened countless times in the past, what stopped it from happening again? 

But the Allfather and Thor had different plans, a desire to combat this treacherous fate they refused to bow down to and surrender—especially Odin. Known as the strongest, deadliest, and wisest of the Æsir, the ruler of all Nine Realms sought to stop the coming of Ragnarok by any means necessary.

Amongst his current goal, he moreover tried to bound down the son of the god Loki and a giantess, Angerboda—Fenrir. Initially fearing strength and knowing that only evil could be expected of him. Representing savagery that ultimately cannot be controlled, and worst of all, fated to be Æsir's destruction.

At first, they built a fetter named Lædingr to bind the wolf. But to their dismay, the beast managed to overwhelm the chains and break out of them with little to no struggle. His strength ever growing and the approach of winter tolling the end of their fate, they forged another one.

The second fetter, Drómi.

Drowned by arrogance, the beast allowed for the gods to chain him with this new creation. Wanting to prove his strength once again to these fools, Fenrir shook his entire body with unimaginable strength, using greater force and showing a visible amount of struggle; the chains broke in the end as well. 

For their third and final attempt, the gods requested the dark elves and the dwarves for help, and through this mutual partnership, forged a fetter far stronger than all past chains. Using materials that defied the laws of creation itself, they forged Gleipnir.

Though they succeeded in bounding the wolf, Odin still remained transfixed with the first two chains. He gathered them up, searching for each fragment across all the different realms one by one, collecting millions of shards; he kept them in his vault for an innumerable amount of centuries. Seeing their hidden potential, he couldn't bring himself to discard them or destroy the precious artifacts.

Time passed, and the war ended as they managed to delay Ragnarok through the combined might of every god and with assistance from other pantheons. Odin lived a life of peace and serenity, choosing to spend the rest of his life reflecting and learning from his own actions which he later labeled as mistakes made by a power-hungry tyrant. At some point, he began seeing the failure of his past beliefs.

He was supposed to be a ruler, one who protected his people and led them to a better future. Yet here he was bringing them pain and suffering with every war. If he continued with such a path, then Asgard would one day end up as prey to one of the many pantheons for their warmongering. 

Growing to hate the taste of blood in his mouth, the smell of iron drowning his surroundings, and the many valkyries, gods, friends and family that died at the end of every war—Odin retired.

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