Geri & Freki – Odin’s Wolves

At the feet of the father of the gods lie two wolves: Geri and Freki – both names mean „the greedy one". In the hall of Valhalla, Odin gives them every piece of meat from his table and lives on wine alone.

The Beasts of the War-God

Odin is surrounded by animals that mirror his nature: the ravens Hugin and Munin („thought" and „memory") bring him news from all the world, the eight-legged steed Sleipnir bears him between the worlds – and the wolves Geri and Freki attend him as lord of the battlefield. For wolf and raven are the beasts that follow the slain; where Odin holds sway, they are never far.

“Geri and Freki the war-glad Father of Hosts feeds; / but on wine alone the weapon-splendid Odin lives forever.”— after Grímnismál 19, Karl Simrock (public domain)

Odin's two wolves

Geri and Freki – "the greedy" and "the ravenous" – are the two wolves always at Odin's side. In Valhalla they sit at the feet of the father of the gods, and Odin gives them all his food, while he himself lives on wine alone.

An image from the Grímnismál

The Eddic poem Grímnismál describes the scene: "Geri and Freki the victory-glad father of hosts feeds; but on wine alone the weapon-famed Odin lives forever." An impressive image of rule and renunciation.

The wolf as companion

The wolf is in the Norse world an ambivalent animal: threatening like the Fenris wolf, but also a faithful companion like Geri and Freki. As Odin's wolves they embody the wild, death-bringing side of the war god – and at the same time his power over them.

Ravens and wolves

Together with the ravens Hugin and Munin, Geri and Freki form Odin's animal retinue. Raven and wolf are the classic "battlefield animals" that follow the fallen – fitting companions of the lord of war and death.

Wolf and Warrior

The wolf is Odin’s beast because Odin is the god of battle and the dead – and it is wolf and raven that follow the slain. In Old Norse as in Old English poetry, „wolf, raven and eagle" form the fixed beasts of battle that precede the fight. Odin’s wildest warriors, the úlfheðnar („wolf-coats"), wore wolf-skins and fought in ecstatic frenzy – wolves in human shape.

So Geri and Freki are more than pets at a throne: they are an emblem of the war-god’s double face, embodying wisdom and havoc at once. Whoever tames them commands the beast within.

Read more with us

Odin · Valhalla · The Einherjar · The Fenris-wolf.

Sources & literature

Grímnismál 19 (Poetic Edda); Snorri, Gylfaginning 38. Rudolf Simek, Dictionary of Northern Mythology.

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