Chapter 18: Unexpected
The beginnings of a new religion are born from the slaughter, and a friendly relationship becomes much more.
Is Freedom only a Will-o'-the-wisp
To cheat a poet's eye?
Be it phantom or fact, it's a noble cause
In which to sing and to die!
Apology by Joyce Kilmer written for Eleanor Rogers Cox.
Outside of the Hidden Village - 489
Fenrisúlfr slouched on his haunches as the giant black wolf surveyed the destruction he had caused, the mangled bodies of the timber wolves and their enslaved coyotes and vixens grotesquely sprawled across the blood-stained field. Hanging his head in shame, he was sure that he could never face Judith again after what he had done. If he simply left and tried to make a new future for himself in this strange land, could he be free of his predestined fate of bringing about Ragnarök? Could he hide from Judith or would she hunt him down? Surely Death would inform her of what he had done, and she would realize how dangerous he truly was. "No, I can't go back," Fenrisúlfr muttered to himself as he rose onto all fours and started walking into the nearby woods.
The huge wolf hadn't gone far when he picked up the scent of another animal. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the trees before him, and soon he spotted a light-gray and dark, almost black, striped tail belonging to an animal trying to hide in the branches of a nearby oak. "Please... please, don't kill me," the raccoon whimpered while she pressed herself closer to the tree's trunk as if it could offer her protection from the predator.
"Why would I do that?" he asked as he approached the tree.
"I saw what you did to the raiders. Please, I was just watching so I could warn the others when they left their camp."
"Are you a scout?" Fenrisúlfr asked.
The raccoon nodded, there were tears running down her cheeks and she trembled in fear.
"So is there another army nearby?" he demanded.
The raccoon shook her head before she answered, "No, we are in hiding."
"Well, you don't have to hide anymore. Go back and tell the others that the raiders are all dead."
"I will," she answered in a fearful whimper before she began to climb down the tree.
"Wait!" The wolf snapped, and the raccoon stopped, falling to her knees and bowing to him. Remembering how the other Norse gods had interacted with mortals, he stood up straight to tower over the raccoon before continuing. "Tell the others that these lands are now under my protection. Spread the word of what happened today, how these raiders died for invading my lands."
"Yes, milord."
"Tell them that the wolf god, Hróðvitnir, has a claim over this land and that all who dwell here are under my protection."
"Yes, oh mighty god," she whispered in fear.
"Have them come and bury the dead on that hill over there."
"As you command."
"All but the heads of the raiders; those are to be affixed to stout poles, driven into a circle atop the summit as a warning to others who would dare raid these lands."
"Their heads?"
"Yes, let them rot in the sun for all to see my wrath against any who would prey upon those under protection in my lands."
"Then are you going to stay and live amongst us?"
Fenrisúlfr had not considered this.
"If so, will you demand sacrifices?" the raccoon continued while she groveled before him.
"Sacrifices?" he asked in shock.
"Will you demand that we bring you sacrifices of flesh and blood to placate your hunger? I have heard the old tales of how the gods in the far southern lands command that the hearts of animals be burned upon their stone altars."
The large wolf cocked his head in surprise, and then he realized that the mortal humans did sacrifice other mortals in an attempt to curry the favor of the Asgardian gods. They would hang live captives from stout ropes, looped through holes cut in their ankles, from the branches of oak trees as an offering to Odin. For some reason, they thought that the painful death of another would please the one-eyed god. "No! There will be no sacrifices!" he growled.
"Then…" the raccoon began to ask yet another question.
"Look, just do what I asked you and tell the others what I have told you," he sighed in frustration.
"But you are great and mighty, surely you will have to eat and our provisions are few," the raccoon pointed out.
With another sigh, Fenrisúlfr concentrated, feeling the painful cracking of bones and shifting of muscles as he stood upon his two hindpaws. Now, he towered above the trees. Below him, he heard the fearful cries of the raccoon. Still, he willed his body to shift once more, feeling dizzy as he shrunk back down to his normal size. Groaning, he shook himself and wiped his paws across his muzzle, standing at the same height he had been when he was first transformed by Judith. "Oh, my!" the raccoon exclaimed.
"What?" the wolf asked, but when he tried to cross his arms, he realized something was wrong. Looking down, he was shocked to see two furry mounds protruding from his chest. "Wait, this isn't right!" he muttered and moved his right paw to feel between his legs. Panicking, he felt what was missing.
"You're a female?" the raccoon asked in an awed voice. "But you were a male when…"
"I'm supposed to be a male," the now she-wolf growled out. "Look, this shapeshifting is new to me." Concentrating, he tried to will himself back into his male form.
"You're still female," the raccoon commented. "At least from the waist up; below your waist, you are definitely now male."
"Just go on and tell the others that it is now safe and to do what I commanded," Fenrisúlfr growled in frustration as he gave her a shooing motion with his paws. After she left, he stood there concentrating in an effort to change his body once again before he collapsed exhausted onto the soft leaves below him. Curled up against a tree, he rested his tail under his chin and slowly began to grow drowsy.
"Come here, Pup," a firm, yet friendly, voice commanded him. With his tail happily wagging, he ran across the longhouse floor and stared up at the tall, bearded warrior who stood there grinning at him. Then, the warrior reached down and scratched him between his ears.
"Where are we going, Týr ?" the wolf cub excitedly asked the god.
"Fishing."
"Fishing? I've never gone fishing before!"
The tall god gave a merry chuckle before he picked up a bow and a quiver of arrows. Soon the god of warriors and the very young wolf god were standing on the banks of a shady stream. He watched while Týr selected an arrow and tied a stout line to the shaft. "Here, Pup, hold this between your teeth, and don't let go."
It took several tries before Týr finally speared a fairly good-sized trout with an arrow. "You got one!" Fenrisúlfr cried out in excitement as he wagged his tail.
"The line, you let go of the line!" Týr cried out as he frantically lunged at the line before it disappeared into the water.
"Sorry, I'll get it back!"
"Wait, Pup!"
It was too late, for the wolf pup had already leaped into the water and was now splashing around after the quickly disappearing fish. There was laughter from the riverbank before he heard a splash. Týr snatched the now-soaked puppy in his embrace and held him against his chest. Happily, the puppy licked the Asgardian's face.
"Hey, stop!" a feminine voice objected and the wolf tasted not the course bearded face of a god, but soft fur. He awoke and was surprised to find Judith leaning over him and that he had transformed back to normal. The soft afternoon sun shone down upon her fur giving it a beautiful golden hue as if she was the goddess of love and not of time. At first, the vixen slightly pushed him back in protest, but he found himself pulling her closer and his licks became more passionate and urgent. She didn't resist him when he pulled her down onto the soft leaves next to him.
It was dusk by the time she led him by his paw while they wove their way through the labyrinth of briars and into the village. Upon seeing the others, he pulled his tail in front of his waist to hide his nakedness from the villagers. Standing in the middle of the village, near the ancient monolith carving, stood Waah-i-ald conversing with an elderly otter and the raccoon he had spoken with earlier. The fox glared at the wolf and snapped, "Do you realize what you have done? Saving the village from the raiders was one thing, but you just had to go and establish a new religion!"
"I didn't..." Fenrisúlfr began to protest but he knew better.
"What were you thinking? You were giving out orders as if you were going to stay here and commands as if you were to be worshiped," Waah-i-ald continued to chide the wolf as he stepped closer to the couple and then suddenly he stopped and sniffed the air. "NO! NO! YOU TWO GO TO MY HUT NOW!" the fox growled in anger.
Some of the villagers grinned and giggled when the wolf and vixen raced past them toward the hut, for they too had caught the scent.
Entering the small waddle hut, Fenrisúlfr grabbed up a blanket and wrapped it around his waist. Judith stood there running her paws through the fur between her ears with her tail tucked between her legs.
Momentarily the door flap was thrown aside and the fox charged in, he stepped up to the much larger wolf and tried to shove him in anger but the wolf was too strong. "You took advantage of my daughter!" Waah-i-ald snarled.
"Father!" Judith called out as she stepped closer to the two males. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions and Fenny did not take advantage of me."
"At least tell me you were careful!" the older fox snapped.
"Ahhh..." was all the wolf could mutter.
"I'm a fox and he is a wolf, so it's not like he could get me pregnant," Judith whined.
"Tell that to your grandparents, he was a fox and she was a bunny! Besides, YOU are not just a fox and HE is not just a wolf! YOU are a goddess and HE is a god, so who knows if the laws of nature apply to you two?" Waah-i-ald snapped.
"Daddy, it was just..." she began to protest.
"GODS ABOVE," the fox yelled. "I should have stopped Death from taking you away when you were so young!" He turned and pointed at the wolf, "Just what are you thinking, you know that you are fated to die during Ragnarök. Stop toying with her heart, she is naïve in the ways of love."
Fenrisúlfr lowered his head as he fought his growing anger before answering, "I didn't ask to be freed, I didn't ask to be dragged around time, and I certainly didn't plan to fall in love with your daughter."
"You love me?" Judith gasped.
"No! No! He has to go back, Judith, he is fated to start Ragnarök and there is nothing you can do to stop that," the fox huffed.
"Why not? I am the goddess of time," Judith snapped while white lightning swirled around her. "Who can stop me?" she boasted before she grabbed the shocked wolf's paw and they both disappeared into the time storm she had angrily created.
"Even you, dear one, cannot change a fixed point in time without breaking reality," Waah-i-ald sadly sighed with a shake of his head as he now stood alone in the hut. He frowned when he glanced over at a white coffee cup with the green image of a siren printed upon it, the cup was once the humble vessel others called the Holy Grail. "Trust me, I know, for when I had your power I once destroyed everything," he softly added.
"A father must have faith in his daughter," a kindly voice said from the doorway.
The fox frowned at the elderly she-coyote and shook his head. There are some things that you will never understand," he replied. She answered by giving him a look of pity before she turned to leave. "Shelia, wait!" he urgently called out, he knew that there was something very important that he wanted to ask her but he suddenly forgot what it was.
"Yes, dear one?" she asked.
"Nevermind," he answered.
Hróðvitnir is one of Fenrisúlfr's other names, it means 'fame-wolf' in old Norse.
It is doubtful if the ancient Norse ever bow-fished, there is evidence that they fished with hook and line, spears (harpoons), and nets.
Poet Eleanor Rogers Cox was a key figure in organizing a poets' rally in Central Park, New York, to show support for the Irish rebels in Dublin.
Waah-i-ald is correct in cautioning his daughter, for many gods and goddesses have had some strange births. One of the weirdest stories has to do with why Athena was born from the head of Zeus.