WOLVES

Pictures by safi kok

Wolf

A beautiful red wolf. There are fewer than 25 red wolves left in the wild 

Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) Sanetti Plateau, Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

Pictures by Westend61

This "chasing of the sun/moon" is essential for Norse cosmology. It is an etiological myth that tries to explain the movement of sun and moon; the wolves Skalli and Hati, like their counterparts in other myths, are responsible for the movement of sun and moon; without them, day and night would not exist, and consequently they create the cycles of the seasons. It shows the role of wolves in cosmology.

As I said above, Freki is also a name applied to the monstrous wolf Fenrir in the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá. Fenrir, together with Hel and the World Serpent, is a child of Loki and giantess Angrboða.

In the Prose Edda, additional information is given about Fenrir (Freki), including that, due to the god's knowledge of prophecies foretelling great trouble from Fenrir and his rapid growth, the gods bound him and as a result Fenrir bit off the right hand of the god Týr.

Wolves were seen as both being negative and positive to the Norse people. On one hand, they can represent chaos and destruction (e.g. Fenrir, Skoll, and Hati), while on the other hand, they can also represent bravery, loyalty, protection, and wisdom.