Fenrir and Hel — The Wolves at the Threshold

Fenrir and Hel are the children of Loki and the giantess Angrboða. Fenrir is the great wolf. Hel is his sister, the powerful ruler of the realm of the dead.

The Prose Edda tells us that Loki and Angrboða had three children: Fenrir, Jörmungandr and Hel. The gods became fearful of the prophecy surrounding them and separated the three.

Jörmungandr was cast into the sea, Hel was sent to Niflheim and given authority over the dead, while Fenrir was kept among the gods and eventually bound.

These are not stories about harmless companion animals. They are stories about enormous primordial powers. And that is precisely why I find working with them so fascinating.

Where do Fenrir and Hel live?

It is important not to confuse the Norse mythological geography with modern geography. Fenrir does not historically have a home in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany or Russia.

Hel does not historically live in a particular cave somewhere in Scandinavia. These are mythic landscapes.

Fenrir belongs to the world of the gods and giants and is eventually bound until Ragnarök. Hel is given dominion over the dead and a dwelling in the realm associated with Niflheim.

So when a modern shamanic witch feels the presence of Fenrir or Hel in a forest, beside a lake, in a house, or during a drumming journey, I would understand this as an encounter within the witch’s spiritual or visionary practice, rather than claiming that Fenrir has physically relocated to Finland or Hel has taken up residence in Germany.

For me, that distinction does not make the experience less magickal. It makes it more honest.

Fenrir as the guardian wolf

Fenrir is usually approached through his terrifying aspect. He is enormous. He cannot be controlled by ordinary chains.

The gods eventually bind him with Gleipnir, the magickal binding fashioned by the dwarfs. In the myths, Fenrir’s destiny is tied to Ragnarök and his confrontation with Óðinn.

But a witch working with Fenrir can choose to approach another symbolic dimension: the wolf that cannot be broken.

Fenrir can therefore become a powerful figure for work involving:

courage;
independence;
protection of boundaries;
resistance to oppression;
instinct;
fierce loyalty;
awareness of danger;
freedom from unhealthy restraints.

I would not tell a witch, “Fenrir will protect your house because the Norse believed he was a house guardian.” They did not. Instead, I would say:

If you develop a personal relationship with Fenrir, you may choose to invite his wolf-image into your protective practice. That is a modern devotional and magickal relationship.

You need to go on shamanic trips by visualizing yourself in the company of wolves in the forest. I have done this so many times and I used to end up in Siberia together with many wolves.

I used to gently scratch one of the wolves on his throat and his stomach. After this I and the wolf became very close friends. Fenrir is at my home right now and he says that I met him in Siberia.

I believe that an astral representation of Fenrir can be found in almost every big forest. Fenrir is the leader of all the forest wolves.

Hel as the Guardian

of the Threshold

Hel is different. She is not simply “the goddess of death” in the simplistic modern sense. In Gylfaginning, she is given authority over the dead who come to her, particularly those who die from sickness or old age. Her hall has high walls and great gates.

That imagery makes her fascinating for a witch working with boundaries and thresholds. Hel can be approached as the keeper of a boundary that every living person will eventually encounter.

In a contemporary magickal practice, a witch might therefore ask Hel to teach:

discernment, boundaries, acceptance, protection at thresholds, ancestral awareness, and the wisdom of endings.

She does not need to be imagined as an evil creature.

Nor does she need to be made into a sweet, harmless spirit.

Her power lies precisely in her otherness.

If you want to meet Fenrir and Hel, I think that it makes sense to talk about this desire with Loki, because he is their father. Or you might talk about this with Jormungandr and Odinn.

The gods have special astral devices and they can even call Fenrir and Hel to visit you during your ritual.

Can Fenrir and Hel

take human form?

The surviving Norse sources do not describe Fenrir or Hel routinely changing into human forms. If a modern witch encounters them in human form during meditation, trance, dreaming or shamanic journeying, I would describe that as a form chosen by the practitioner’s visionary experience, not as something documented in the Eddas.

I asked Fenrir: “Can you turn into a human?” He said: “Of course I can turn into a human”. Moreover, Fenrir practices magick and this wolf can teach you magick.

Personally, I think this can be a beautiful way of approaching a powerful being. A witch might say:

Fenrir, great Wolf,
if you choose to come near me,
come in a form my human mind can understand.
Do not diminish your nature,
but make your presence known to me
in a form I can meet without fear.

And to Hel:

Hel, Lady of the Threshold,
if you choose to appear before me,
come in a form I can recognize.
Let me see you clearly
without terror clouding my understanding.
Teach me to stand calmly before the unknown.

What would they eat?

Again, there is no surviving Norse ritual instruction saying, “Leave this food for Fenrir” or “Hel prefers this particular meal.”

So I would not invent a Viking-age menu and present it as historical fact. Instead, the witch can choose offerings according to symbolism.

For Fenrir, I might choose:

meat, dark bread, water, or a simple food associated with strength and the wild.

For Hel, I might choose:

bread, meat, grain, herbs, water, or another simple food associated with nourishment and the boundary between life and death.

The important thing is that these are modern devotional choices, not historically documented offerings to Fenrir and Hel.

And I would never leave meat outside where it could attract wildlife or create a nuisance. An offering can be placed symbolically and disposed of respectfully afterward the ritual.

Can they become guardians

of the Witch’s home?

This is where I personally find the symbolism of the wolf particularly powerful. Imagine the threshold of the house.

Imagine Fenrir standing there—not as a literal animal occupying the physical property, but as a guardian-image within the witch’s magickal world.

Ask Odinn or Loki to call Fenrir and Hel towards your ritual circle. The wolf watches. The wolf listens. The wolf notices what approaches.

The witch can create a relationship with the wolves of Loki through ritual offerings, drumming and protective magick.

A simple request might be:

Fenrir, Wolf of the wild power,
stand at the boundary of this home.
Let nothing harmful cross this threshold.
Let me recognize danger before it reaches me.
Guard what is mine to protect,
and let this house remain a place of peace.

Learning the intuition of the wolf

My shamanic drum is made of reindeer skin. I and the reindeer often talk about various subjects. The reindeer possessed me, because I had been already possessed by the spirits of the dead, and I was shocked: 15 minutes before a dangerous situation the reindeer ran away to the forest.

The spirit of the reindeer informed me that now it has to quickly leave, because a large bear will come towards my ritual circle. The reindeer could see into the future.

I would be especially careful with the idea of allowing Fenrir to “possess” the witch, because possession can result in hallucinations and other not so good effects that will need some astral surgeries.

I would not recommend attempting literal possession or surrendering control of the body. There is a much safer and, in my opinion, more interesting alternative: wolf embodiment.

During drumming or trance work, the witch can invite the qualities of the wolf into her awareness. Sit or stand. Breathe slowly. Listen.

Imagine the ears of the wolf. Notice every sound. Imagine the nose of the wolf. What information is carried by the air? Imagine the eyes of the wolf.

Perhaps shamanic journeying or meditations can help you to develop the intuition of a wolf. You might find out that you are now a wolf and run on four legs.

Try to change your shape back to the human shape. In my meditations I can change into a wolf, a tiger, a shark, an owl and an eagle.

At one point and during my meditation, I was the owl in Siberia and I met a male owl there. We became parents to four small owls. I can fly in my meditations on the astral plane.

You could also train yourself to shapeshift into various animals, and you could be together with the animals in the forest. The animals will talk to you about their lives in the forest.