The silent god. Son of Odin who avenges his father at Ragnarok by tearing Fenrir apart.
Vidar (Old Norse Víðarr) is called the silent god and is the son of Odin and the giantess Grid. He is described in Gylfaginning 29 as nearly as strong as Thor, and the gods count him among those who will survive Ragnarok. His most significant mythological act is the vengeance on Fenrir: at Ragnarok Fenrir swallows Odin, and Vidar drives his sword into the wolf's palate (Völuspá 54) or steps with his thick shoe into the wolf's lower jaw and tears it apart (Gylfaginning 51, Vafþrúðnismál 53). The shoe is said to be made of leather scraps collected throughout all ages.
Vidar is one of the most sparsely documented deities in the Eddic material. His silence is interpreted by Snorri as a virtue rather than a deficit. Grímnismál 17 mentions that Vidar dwells in Víði, a place of tall grass and brushwood. After Ragnarok he inhabits the renewed world together with his brother Vali (Vafþrúðnismál 51). Scholarship has debated whether Vidar represents a cosmic ordering force that survives the powers of chaos, or whether his role is motivated solely by the narrative need to provide Odin with an avenger.
Sources in the Eddas
- Völuspá 54
- The seeress describes Vidar's vengeance on Fenrir: he steps forward and drives his sword into the wolf's palate.
- Vafþrúðnismál 51-53
- Vidar and Vali survive Ragnarok; Vidar avenges Odin by tearing apart Fenrir's jaws.
- Grímnismál 17
- Vidar's dwelling Víði is described as a place of brushwood and tall grass, where he waits ready to avenge his father.
Interpretive traditions
A What we know
Vidar is Odin's son and is called the silent one. He avenges his father at Ragnarok by tearing apart Fenrir. This is attested in Völuspá 54 and Vafþrúðnismál 53.
B What we think we know
Whether Vidar's silence has a cultic or ritual background, or whether it is solely a literary characteristic, is debated among scholars.
C What we do not know
It is unknown whether Vidar had dedicated cult sites or whether his figure was preserved solely within the mythological narrative tradition.