In Norse mythology

Norse mythology

Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...

, Garmr or Garm (Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 "rag") is a dog associated with Ragnarök

Ragnarök

In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...

, and described as a blood-stained watchdog that guarded Hel's gate.

Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda

Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...

poem Grímnismál

Grímnismál

Grímnismál is one of the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda. It is preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript and the AM 748 I 4to fragment. It is spoken through the voice of Grímnir, one of the many guises of the god Odin, who is tortured by King Geirröth...

mentions Garmr:

The best of trees | must Yggdrasil

Yggdrasil

In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...

 be,

Skíðblaðnir

Skíðblaðnir

In Norse mythology, Skíðblaðnir is the best of ships. Skíðblaðnir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and in the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, both written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson...

 best of boats;

Of all the gods | is Óðinn

Odin

Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....

 the greatest,

And Sleipnir

Sleipnir

In Norse mythology, Sleipnir is an eight-legged horse. Sleipnir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson...

 the best of steeds;

Bifröst

Bifröst

In Norse mythology, Bifrost or Bilröst is a burning rainbow bridge that reaches between Midgard and Asgard, the realm of the gods...

 of bridges, | Bragi

Bragi

Bragi is the skaldic god of poetry in Norse mythology.-Etymology:Bragi is generally associated with bragr, the Norse word for poetry. The name of the god may have been derived from bragr, or the term bragr may have been formed to describe 'what Bragi does'...

 of skalds,

Hábrók

Hábrók

In Norse mythology, Hábrók is, according to Grímnismál, and quoted by Snorri Sturluson in Gylfaginning, as the "best of hawks" in a list containing various other names which represent the best of things. However, nothing more is known of this creature. The name is translated as "High Pants" which...

 of hawks, | and Garm of hounds.

One of the refrains of Völuspá

Völuspá

Völuspá is the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end related by a völva addressing Odin...

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

Now Garm howls loud | before Gnipahellir

Gnipahellir

In Norse mythology, Gnipahellir is an overhanging cave where Garmr, the hound, is chained until the onset of Ragnarök....

,

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.

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

Baldrs draumar

Baldrs draumar

Baldrs draumar or Vegtamskviða is an Eddic poem, contained in the manuscript AM 748 I 4to. It relates information on the myth of Baldr's death in a way consistent with Gylfaginning....

describes a journey which Odin makes to Hel

Hel (realm)

In Norse mythology, Hel, the location, shares a name with Hel, a female figure associated with the location. In late Icelandic sources, varying descriptions of Hel are given and various figures are described as being buried with items that will facilitate their journey to Hel after their death...

. 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

Niflhel

Niflhel is the name of a location in Norse mythology which appears in the eddic poems Vafþrúðnismál and Baldrs draumar, and also in Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning...

 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.

Although unnamed, this dog is normally assumed to be Garmr. Alternatively, Garmr is sometimes assumed to be identical to Fenrir. In either case it is often suggested that Snorri invented the battle between Garmr and Týr, since it is not mentioned in the surviving poetry. Garmr is sometimes seen as a hellhound

Hellhound

A hellhound is a supernatural dog, found in folklore. A wide variety of ominous or hellish supernatural dogs occur in mythologies around the world, similar to the ubiquitous dragon...

, comparable to Cerberus

Cerberus

Cerberus , or Kerberos, in Greek and Roman mythology, is a multi-headed hound which guards the gates of the Underworld, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping...

.

Prose Edda

The Prose Edda

Prose Edda

The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Nordic mythology...

book Gylfaginning

Gylfaginning

Gylfaginning, or the Tricking of Gylfi , is the first part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda after Prologue. The Gylfaginning deals with the creation and destruction of the world of the Norse gods, and many other aspects of Norse mythology...

assigns him a role in Ragnarök

Ragnarök

In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...

:

Then shall the dog Garmr be loosed, which is bound before Gnipahellir

Gnipahellir

In Norse mythology, Gnipahellir is an overhanging cave where Garmr, the hound, is chained until the onset of Ragnarök....

: he is the greatest monster; he shall do battle with Týr, and each become the other's slayer.