Garmr
Garmr
Wolf or dog described as a guardian of Hel's gate.
In Norse mythology, Garmr or Garm (Old Norse: Garmr [ˈɡɑrmz̠]) is a wolf or dog associated with both Hel and Ragnarök, and described as a blood-stained guardian of Hel's gate.
The etymology of the name Garmr remains uncertain. Bruce Lincoln brings together Garmr and the Greek mythological dog Cerberus, relating both names to a Proto-Indo-European root *ger- "to growl" (perhaps with the suffixes -*m/*b and -*r).[1] However, Daniel Ogden notes that this analysis actually requires Cerberus and Garmr to be derived from two different Indo-European roots (*ger- and *gher- respectively), and in this opinion does not establish a relationship between the two names.[2]
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál mentions Garmr:
One of the refrains of Völuspá uses Garmr's howling to herald the coming of Ragnarök:
Now Garm howls loud | before Gnipahellir,
The fetters will burst, | and the wolf run free;
Much do I know, | and more can see
Of the fate of the gods, | the mighty in fight.[4]
After the first occurrence of this refrain the Fimbulvetr is related; the second occurrence is succeeded by the invasion the world of gods by jötnar; after the last occurrence, the rise of a new and better world is described.
Baldrs draumar describes a journey which Odin makes to Hel. Along the way he meets a dog.
Then Óðinn rose, | the enchanter old,
And the saddle he laid | on Sleipnir's back;
Thence rode he down | to Niflhel deep,
And the hound he met | that came from hell.
Bloody he was | on his breast before,
At the father of magic | he howled from afar;
Forward rode Óðinn, | the earth resounded
Till the house so high | of Hel he reached.[5]
Although unnamed, this dog is sometimes assumed to be Garmr.[6] Alternatively, Garmr is sometimes assumed to be identical to Fenrir. Garmr is sometimes seen as a hellhound, comparable to Cerberus.
Prose Edda
The Prose Edda book Gylfaginning assigns him a role in Ragnarök:
- Then shall the dog Garmr be loosed, which is bound before Gnipahellir: he shall do battle with Týr, and each become the other's slayer.[7]
Garm appears as a boss fight in both 2017's Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and 2022's God of War Ragnarök.[8]
- Lincoln 1991, p. 289.
- Ogden 2013, p. 105.
- Lincoln 1991, p. 97.
- "God of War Ragnarök - PS5 and PS4 Games". PlayStation. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
- Bellows, Henry Adams (trans.). 1923. The Poetic Edda. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
- Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (trans.). 1916. Snorri Sturluson: The Prose Edda. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
- Lincoln, Bruce (1991). Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology & Practice. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-48199-9.
- Ogden, Daniel (2013). Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199557325.
- Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 978-0-304-34520-5.
- Simek, Rudolf (1996). Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer. ISBN 978-0-85991-513-7.
Media related to Garmr at Wikimedia Commons
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