Chapter 6


    RATATOSKR, THE SQUIRREL OF YGGDRASIL


    <hr>


    He came right in front of my eye, So I could see him. He was very tiny compared to me of course. ‘You sure are big’ he said ‘I think you are even more terrifying than Nithhogg’ I didn’t know if this was supposed to be a compliment or not. Nithhogg was the dragon that was below the tree of Worlds, Yggdrasil. So, I just answered him with only a ‘Thank You’.


    He laughed for some reason. ‘I came here because Nidhogg himself is really fond of you and didn’t want you to be miserable like a little worm in the oceans, those are my comments by the way.’ He took his time giggling with his comment and then he offered me something I could not believe…


    ‘So, I am here to answer you three questions about anything’


    I knew Ratatoskr was the only creature that could talk between the Eagle Hraesvelgr and Nithhogg, the only being that existed even before anything, so if there is someone who knows what is going on in the world of the living is the Eagle and in the world of the dead would be the Dragon according to some old jotunn myths… So, I took the opportunity to take information about my siblings.


    ‘What happened to Hel?’ was my first question.


    ‘Hel earned the position as the ruler of the realm of the dead, which is now being called Helheim, after her. She is the only queen, ruler there until the end of the gods...”


    “What is the end of the gods?


    “Nithhogg calls it Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods. The last war between giants and gods that would mean the end of their dominion. While Hraesvelgr thinks of it as the rebirth of the true and right world… don''t worry about it, you will live seeing it. Now your last question?


    Without realizing it I used my second question out of curiosity, of Ratatosk sayings, he tricked me. He tricked me, so I could not have taken a clear answer. I could ask him more about Ragnarok, because he clearly knew something, but I wanted to know what has become of my brother Fenrir, so I asked him that. With a smile on his tiny furry face Ratatoskr answered me:


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    “Well, this will take some time…


    Your Brother was brought to Asgard and was taken good care of by Tyr. I make you sure, Tyr was treating him like his own child. But Odin saw a dream of Fenrir''s teeth, so he believed him as a threat of the gods in the future to come. So, he demanded to bind Fenrir, in secret. The gods crafted heavy chains and shackles in their forges and they told Tyr to bring Fenrir in their meeting hall.


    They represented the chains to Fenrir like it was a way to test his strength. Fenrir was proud of his power, so he accepted the challenge. He broke the chains with ease. The gods brought new heavier chains than before, asking Fenrir if he could break through them if he was bound by them. And so, Fenrir broke every chain again and again. Tyr was happy for him and cheered for him, because he was the only god who did not know the true intention of the other gods.


    Odin, then desperate, asked the dwarfs, the master builders, who can build anything, if they could craft a chain that could bind Fenrir. The dwarfs could craft a chain called Gleipnir, a ribbon that could be crafted by six things: Footsteps of a cat, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinew of a bear, the breath of a fish and lastly the spittle of a bird. With these things they made Gleipnir. Gleipnir looked like a silken ribbon, smooth and soft to the touch.


    When Fenrir was called once again to be tested, he sensed trickery into this, and demanded Odin that if he was to be tested by this Ribbon, a god should place his hand into his mouth so if gods imprison him with magic, he would bite off the hand. He represented this as a guarantee to have so they would release him. No god dared even to think of doing this. Only Tyr, who was sure that Odin wouldn’t trick Fenrir and his challenge was true.


    So, it happens. In the end Fenrir couldn’t escape from his binding and gods only laughed at him. Fenrir looked at Tyr, with a betrayed face… Tyr looked at Fenrir giving a sign with his head, saying while whispering “Do it...”.


    Tyr lost his hand. Skoll and Hati, oh I forgot to mention them, they were Fernirs children. Yeah, Skoll and Hati tried to defend their father but Odin put a spell on them and they meaningless now chase at the Sun and Moon. Fenrir promised revenge on Odin while he, bound, was taken away deep at a mountain as his prison. For all eternity…”


    With that, Ratatoskr finished his explanation and answered me the three questions and left with no other word.


    With the answers I got, I found my will to live again. I decided… I would help Fenrir take his revenge, I would help my brother and start this Ragnarok, that Ratatoskr said to me. And I would persuade Hel, to bring the dead she ruled to fight by our side in this battle against the gods! Their dominion should come to an end, they brought enough misery to us! It was payback time!