Fenris Wolf

Last night I dreamed about a large black dog that somehow shone a green light from inside. One place where the light came out was its mouth and I knew that at some point I would place my hand in that mouth. The large black dog (its head was as almost high as my own) did not frighten me, he felt in a way as a friend. But I knew I would be taking a risk placing my hand it its mouth. When I woke up of course I saw how this hand-in-mouth part came from the tale of Tyr and the wolf Fenrir. I am not an expert in Norse mythology, but I shall try to tell the tale as well as I can here. If there are any grave mistakes in it, please do not hesitate to tell me how the story really goes.

The wolf Fenrir or Fenrisúlfr (Old Norse: "Fenris wolf"), also know as Hróðvitnir (Old Norse: "fame-wolf"), or Vánagandr (Old Norse: "the monster of the river Ván") is the son of Loki and the jötunn (giantess) Angrboða. Their other children are the serpent Jormungandr (who could wrap itself around the world and is therefore also called Worldserpent. If he ever lets go, the world will end) and Hel who presides over Hel and receives a portion of the dead there. Of Fenrir it is said that at Ragnarök he will kill Odin, but then will in turn be killed by Odin's son Viðar. The story about Fenrir and Tyr is from the Prose Edda (as opposed to the Poetic Edda).

The Æsir (the gods) expected to get a lot of trouble from Loki's offspring, so they threw Jormungandr into 'that deep sea that lies around all land' and Hel into Hel where they gave her a job to do, but Fenrir theytook home and fed. Only Tyr was brave enough to go close enough to Fenrir to feed him. But Fenrir grew rapidly and the gods, expecting nothing but troubles from the wolf, made three fetters to bind him. The first was called Leyding and Fenrir snapped it at the first try. The second fetter the gods made twice as strong and they called it Dromi. The gods told Fenrir that if he could break Dromi that would make himvery famous and Fenrir, who saw that Dromi was very strong but who also knew he had grown since Leyding, took the risk so he would become famous. He had to work hard, but he managed to break Dromi too. Then the gods sent a messenger to Swartálfaheimr (world of the black elves, but black elves seem to be synonymous with dwarfs). They created Gleipnir (open one) which was not made of metal but of the sound of a cat's footfall, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish and the spottle of a bird. It looked like a silken ribbon, but it was stronger than anything.

The gods took Fenrir to the far away and empty island Lyngvi and asked him to try and tear the ribbon. Of course Fenrir doesn't trust them and won't allow them to bind him with Gleipnir. After much talking Fenrir tells them that rather than have them question his courage, while they bind him one of the gods must put a hand in his mouth as a pledge that this is all done in good faith. This places the Æsir in a dilemma. None of them wants to put a hand in the monster's mouth, as of course they are not doing this in good faith but to bind the monster. In the end it is Tyr who puts his hand in Fenrir's mouth. And when Fenrir kicked, Gleipnir only closed tighter and Tyr lost his hand. The Æsir secured Fenrir's fetter to the ground and when the wolf tried to bite te gods they threw a sword in his mouth. He howled horribly and his saliva made the river Ván. Fenrir will lie there until Ragnarök.

Black Phoenix has a scent named Fenris Wolf, which they describe as:

The raw, untamable power of chaos. Rosewood, amber, red musk and a dribble of red sandalwood.

I smell dragon's blood and not only that but the oil is as red as any scent with dragon's blood. Having learned that dragon's blood can only enter an oil when the resin is dissolved in an essential oil, I assume that dragon's blood has been dissolved in the sandalwood or the musk to make them red. What I do not smell is the power of chaos. I don't smell any chaos, I smell a rather friendly and well blended scent. Perhaps this is what age does to the raw untamable power of chaos, as my imp is quite old. But the scent Fenris Wolf is more like the friendly black dog in my dream than like the monster in the myth.

Unfortunately, the day after I wore Fenris Wolf the dreaded itchy bumps showed up. Time and experience have learned that some BPAL scents that carry sandalwood (and/or other woods) cause a skin irritation on me. This rarely happens soon after applying the scent,  usually it is the day after. A small indi perfumer told me that it is not so much the oil itself as well as the solvent that was used to get the oil out of the wood.