Vidar

Vidar is the son of Odin in Norse mythology. He keeps to himself and trains for Ragnarok. He is almost as strong as his brother, Thor, but this is also necessary, because according to the prophecy of Völven, Vidar will avenge his father's death at Ragnarok. He must put his foot in the mouth of the wolf Fenrir, break its jaw and then plunge a sword into the wolf.

To do this, he has a giant leather boot, made from all the scraps that shoemakers throw away. i.e. all the end pieces and carvings at the heel and toe. He always wears this boot and it therefore gives him a limp. While wearing it, Fenrir cannot bite his foot off, and Vidar survives the battle with the monster and becomes one of the surviving Aesir of Ragnarok, building the new world.

Characteristics

Vidar is described as soft-spoken (also called "Vidar the Silent") and very strong. Snorri Sturlusson describes Vidar as the strongest god after Thor. Snorri also tells us that his most distinguishing feature was his thick shoes, made from scrap leather collected from shoemakers, through which no weapon could penetrate.

In Ragnarök, he avenges his father's death by using his shoes to enter Fenrir's mouth and pry its jaws apart until the wolf dies. Odin and his horse, Sleipnir, were devoured by Fenrir. He and his half-brother Vali take over the tasks Odin had performed in the old world, which were destroyed in the fire that Surtr the fire giant unleashes on him at the end of Ragnarok.

It is true that in the Grimnir song (Edda in verse) he is described as the ruler of the 'forest land', but beyond that he is a tough, dominating and vengeful god. Vidar's primary task was revenge, in Ragnarök he avenges the death of his father Odin. In this respect, he is also close to Vali, whose main task was to avenge Balder's death. Both were born of Odin's extramarital affair. Vidar's mother was the giantess Grid.