The Wolf at the End of the World is a short story created by lurking troper StarmeadowSystem (who currently goes by Smiley100P on this site) and posted on Archive of our Own here
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The story is her take on Fenrir, the wolf in Norse Mythology. The in-site description is as follows: "The Norse wolf Fenrir had no intentions of fulfilling his part in Ragnarok until the Aesir came to him with a rope that seemed extremely suspicious."
The work was released on September 26th, 2023.
The Wolf at the End of the World contains examples of:
- Arc Number: Nine. Fenrir spends 90 years on earth and saves at least 9 people each year. The Aesir's "challenges" take place over the course of 9 years. Fenrir spends 9 minutes trying to break free from Gleipnir, and 900 years, 9 days, and 9 months trapped on the moon.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: you're never going to guess
- Bittersweet Ending: Fenrir dies, But he's both able to secure his revenge on Odin and Surtr and reintroduce life to a small part of the world. He ends up dying content with himself.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Vidarr kills Fenrir, like in the original myth. However, Fenrir manages to be on the providing end of this as well, catching Surtr off-guard and devouring his head.
- Et Tu, Brute?: He could easily see the Aesir betraying him, but not Tyr. This is what motivates him to rip off his arm.
- End of the World as We Know It: Ragnarök is a thing that happens in the story, which mostly focuses on Fenrir's role and motivations in it.
- Face–Heel Turn: This explicitly happens to Fenrir. After being bounded and gagged with a sword for 900 years and being met with Surtr, he decides based on the information Surtr gives him that he should fufill his role in Ragnarök.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: More explicitly than in the original myth, Fenrir does this. Notably, he devours a part of the world only to regain his strength to face Odin.
- War God: Tyr is stated to be this in-story. Odin may also count, as he summoned the Einherjar to fight Fenrir during Ragnarök like in the original myth.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Fenrir, who participates in his role in Ragnarök with the express purpose to ensure the world's rebirth.
- You Cannot Fight Fate: Fenrir knows full well that Vidarr will kill him during the events of Ragnarök, and is fine with accepting this when he decided to fulfill his role within it. Downplayed, as instead of being stabbed in the throat, he was stabbed in the back with a venom-coated sword. He still dies, just not as quickly. Regardless, Fenrir expresses pride at slightly twisting fate.
