Chronicles of Copenhagen, Part 2

I was reading through my old Xanga website and I found this little blurb I posted about a really funny story from my Nordic Mythology class I took in Denmark. The funny thing is, I was just thinking about this particular anecdote not too long ago. I'll copy and paste the entry in its entirety for your edification.

February 9, 2006

Okay so I'm studying for my Nordic Mythology class and I found this story that strikes me as really funny. I don't know, maybe it's just my slightly screwy sense of humor, but I found this really funny. It's a Norse myth called "The Binding of the Wolf". (By the way, anything in parantheses is my explanation of characters and places and anything else the average person wouldn't know)

The Binding of the Wolf

The most terrible creature in Asgard (heaven, home of the gods) was the wolf Fenrir, who was brought up in Asgard, but grew so huge and fierce that in the end only Tyr dared to feed him. He was so menacing that they knew he must be bound, but every fetter which they laid on him was easily snapped. Finally, guided by the wisdom of Odin (the head god), the dwarfs forged a chain for him, made from the secret and impalpable things of the world--the roots of a mountain, the noise of a moving cat, and the breath of a fish. It seemed no more than a silken cord, yet no force could break it. The wolf thought it harmless, but he would not allow it to be laid upon him unless one of the gods placed a hand between his jaws as a hostage. Tyr alone was prepared to do this, and so the wolf was bound, the chain held, and the gods laughed -- all but Tyr, who lost his hand.

Isn't that funny? Okay, I know, I know, I'm weird. My sense of humor is slightly off to find that funny, but I do.

Well, I still think it's funny. :) I do have a slightly eccentric sense of humor, hence my appreciation for offbeat things like this and the character Aaron in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus and movies like Snatch.