Garmr

"Hel" (1889) by Johannes Gehrts.

In Norse mythology, Garmr or Garm (Old Norse "rag"^[1]) is a dog associated with both Hel and Ragnarök, and described as a blood-stained watchdog that guards Hel's gate.

Attestations

Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál mentions Garmr:

The best of trees | must Yggdrasil be,

Skíðblaðnir best of boats;

Of all the gods | is Óðinn the greatest,

And Sleipnir the best of steeds;

Bifröst of bridges, | Bragi of skalds,

Hábrók of hawks, | and Garm of hounds.^[2]

One of the refrains of Völuspá uses Garmr's howling to herald the coming of Ragnarök:

Now Garm howls loud | before Gnipahellir,

The fetters will burst, | and the wolf run free;

Much do I know, | and more can see

Of the fate of the gods, | the mighty in fight.^[3]

After the first occurrence of this refrain the Fimbulvetr is related; the second occurrence is succeeded by the invasion of Jötnar (giants) in the world of gods; after the last occurrence, the rise of a new and better world is described.

Baldrs draumar describes a journey which Odin makes to Hel. Along the way he meets a dog.

Then Óðinn rose, | the enchanter old,

And the saddle he laid | on Sleipnir's back;

Thence rode he down | to Niflhel deep,

And the hound he met | that came from hell.

Bloody he was | on his breast before,

At the father of magic | he howled from afar;

Forward rode Óðinn, | the earth resounded

Till the house so high | of Hel he reached.^[4]

Although unnamed, this dog is normally assumed to be Garmr.^[5] Alternatively, Garmr is sometimes assumed to be identical to Fenrir. Garmr is sometimes seen as a hellhound, comparable to Cerberus.

Prose Edda

The Prose Edda book Gylfaginning assigns him a role in Ragnarök:

Then shall the dog Garmr be loosed, which is bound before Gnipahellir: he is the greatest monster; he shall do battle with Týr, and each become the other's slayer.^[6]

Etymology

Bruce Lincoln brings together Garmr and the Greek mythological dog Cerberus, relating both names to a Proto-Indo-European root *ger- "to growl" (perhaps with the suffixes -*m/*b and -*r).^[7] However, as Ogden (2013)^[8] notes, this analysis actually requires Cerberus and Garmr to be derived from two different Indo-European roots (*ger- and *gher- respectively), and in this opinion does not establish a relationship between the two names. However, the two roots are similar enough that a connection can still be argued.

Notes

1. Orchard (1997:52).
2. Bellows (1923.)
3. Bellows (1923).
4. Bellows (1923).
5. Lincoln (1991:97)
6. Brodeur (1916).
7. Lincoln, Bruce (1991). Death, war, and sacrifice: studies in ideology and practice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-226-48199-9.
8. Ogden, Daniel (2013). Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 105. ISBN 0199557322.

References

• Bellows, Henry Adams (trans.). 1923. The Poetic Edda. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
• Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (trans.). 1916. Snorri Sturluson: The Prose Edda. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
• Lincoln, Bruce (1991). Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology and Practice. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-48199-9.
• Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-34520-2
• Simek, Rudolf. 1996. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. First published by Alfred Kröner Verlag in 1984. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-513-1.