Am I the only person who has a problem with how Fenris was treated in the old northern myths, and think that maybe the gods get what they deserve?
To sum up, as I see it:
They were afraid he'd get big and strong, and instead of thinking "We could love him like family, and our family will have a mighty protector" they were cowardly and bound him til the end of the world because they were afraid of what he _might_ do.
Our children are _supposed_ to be able to do what we can't.
@AskTheDevil I've had Fenrir explained to me as a kind of "you can't avoid your destiny", with Odin being the one trying to do that. I don't know...I don't sit comfortably with the concept of destiny. But I can easily see it as a warning against acting strictly from fear. Because of the action chosen, Fenrir has plenty of reason to finally do it at Ragnarök.
@weirdfizz In short, I agree! ; )
@weirdfizz Of course, Fenry is my little poopsie, so I might be biased.
@weirdfizz To me, it seemed like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The reason Fenris comes back to kill the gods at Ragnarok is because they mistreated him. Why did they mistreat him? Because they were afraid he would try to kill them.
It feels to me as if the whole story is about people creating the very conditions that end them. In that, it is not too different from the story of Gilgamesh.