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{{distinguish|text=the sword known as [[Gram (mythology)|Gram or Gramr]]}}
{{Short description|Wolf or dog described as a guardian of Hel's gate}}
[[File:Hel (1889) by Johannes Gehrts.jpg|thumb|right|"Hel" (1889) by Johannes Gehrts.]]
In [[Norse mythology]], '''Garmr''' or '''Garm''' ([[Old Norse]]: {{lang|non|Garmr}} {{IPA|non|ˈɡɑrmz̠|}}) is a wolf or dog associated with both [[Hel (being)|Hel]] and [[Ragnarök]], and described as a blood-stained guardian of [[Hel (location)|Hel's]] gate.

==Name==
The etymology of the name ''Garmr'' remains uncertain. [[Bruce Lincoln]] brings together Garmr and the [[Greek mythology|Greek mythological]] dog [[Cerberus]], relating both names to a Proto-Indo-European root ''*ger-'' "to growl" (perhaps with the suffixes ''-*m/*b'' and ''-*r'').{{sfn|Lincoln|1991|p=289}} However, Daniel Ogden notes that this analysis actually requires ''Cerberus'' and ''Garmr'' to be derived from two ''different'' Indo-European roots (*''ger-'' and *''gher-'' respectively), and in this opinion does not establish a relationship between the two names.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|p=105}}

He also appears in [[Low Saxon]] folklore as the [[hellhound|helhond]] or kardoes in [[Twente]], Eastern [[Netherlands]] as the companion of [[Tamfana]] or [[Tanfana]]; one of [[Hell]]'s/[[Nerthus]]'s many titles/names. 

It's said that his red glowing eyes have been seen around the [[tankenberg]], in [[Oldenzaal]] and that his howl indicates illness and death. 

Elements within pan-Germanic folklore overlap with the ancient tradition of "'t an bloaz'n" of the "mirreweenterhorn", blowing the [[midwinter horn]], also called a [[Lur]].

It is likely that the eerie sounds of the horn, used to communicate with the spirits of the ancestors, were answered by wolves in the area, and thus the sound became synonymous to winter, illness, death and the veil between life and death being very thin. 

The Lur/midwinterhorn was a ritual [[animistic]] tool, played to call into the "otherworld", thank the ancestors or to announce and guide the passing of family and members of the community.

==Attestations==

===''Poetic Edda''===
The ''[[Poetic Edda]]'' poem ''[[Grímnismál]]'' mentions Garmr:

<blockquote><poem>The best of trees | must [[Yggdrasil]] be,
[[Skíðblaðnir]] best of boats;
Of all the gods | is [[Odin|Óðinn]] the greatest,
And [[Sleipnir]] the best of steeds;
[[Bifröst]] of bridges, | [[Bragi]] of [[skalds]],
[[Hábrók]] of hawks, | and Garm of hounds.<ref name=BELLOWS6>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe06.htm Bellows (1923.)]</ref></poem></blockquote>

One of the refrains of ''[[Völuspá]]'' uses Garmr's howling to herald the coming of Ragnarök:

<blockquote><poem>Now Garm howls loud | before [[Gnipahellir]],
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.<ref name=BELLOWS3>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe03.htm Bellows (1923).]</ref></poem></blockquote>

After the first occurrence of this refrain the [[Fimbulvetr]] is related; the second occurrence is succeeded by the invasion the world of gods by [[jötnar]]; after the last occurrence, the rise of a new and better world is described.

''[[Baldrs draumar]]'' describes a journey which Odin makes to [[Hel (location)|Hel]]. Along the way he meets a dog.

<blockquote><poem>Then Óðinn rose, | the enchanter old,
And the saddle he laid | on Sleipnir's back;
Thence rode he down | to [[Niflhel]] 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 (location)|Hel]] he reached.<ref name=BELLOWS13>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe13.htm Bellows (1923).]</ref></poem></blockquote>

Although unnamed, this dog is sometimes assumed to be Garmr.{{sfn|Lincoln|1991|p=97}} Alternatively, Garmr is sometimes assumed to be identical to [[Fenrir]]. Garmr is sometimes seen as a [[hellhound]], comparable to [[Cerberus]].

===''Prose Edda''===
The ''[[Prose Edda]]'' book ''[[Gylfaginning]]'' assigns him a role in [[Ragnarök]]:
:Then shall the dog Garmr be loosed, which is bound before [[Gnipahellir]]:  he shall do battle with [[Týr]], and each become the other's slayer.<ref name=BRODEUR>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre04.htm Brodeur (1916).]</ref>

== In popular culture ==
Garmr is the namesake and emblem of the protagonist's squadron, Galm Team, in the [[combat flight simulation game]] ''[[Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War]].'' The name "Galm" is a [[Engrish|mistransliteration of "Garmr" into English]] due to the singular liquid phoneme in the [[Japanese language]].

Garmr appears as a boss fight in the 2003 video game ''[[Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand]]'', 2017's ''[[Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice]]'' and 2022's ''[[God of War Ragnarök]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=God of War Ragnarök - PS5 and PS4 Games |url=https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/god-of-war-ragnarok |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=PlayStation |language=en-US}}</ref>

In episode 12 of the anime [[The Most Notorious "Talker" Runs the World's Greatest Clan]], the new group Wild Tempest must fight in the Quartz Valley against Garmr, who is a rank 9 beastly dog. This version of Garmr is intelligent, can speak, has 3 tails, 3 pairs of eyes, and has an open chest.

In the 2026 video game, [[Resident Evil: Requiem]], the giant mutant zombie dogs that pursue Leon S. Kennedy through the ruins of Raccoon City are dubbed the Garmr, which serve as the game's newest variant of the Cerberus zombie dogs of previous titles.

==See also==

* [[Hellhound]]
* [[List of wolves]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Bellows, Henry Adams]] (trans.). 1923. ''The Poetic Edda''. New York: [[The American-Scandinavian Foundation]].
* [[Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur|Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist]] (trans.). 1916. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ls2F5i6_LeYC Snorri Sturluson: The Prose Edda]''. New York: [[The American-Scandinavian Foundation]].
*{{Cite book|last=Lincoln|first=Bruce|title=Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology & Practice|date=1991|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-48199-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Ogden|first=Daniel|title=Drakon: Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Greek and Roman Worlds|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0199557325|location=Oxford}}
*{{Cite book|last=Orchard|first=Andy|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnors0000orch|title=Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend|publisher=Cassell|year=1997|isbn=978-0-304-34520-5|author-link=Andy Orchard|url-access=registration}}
*{{Cite book|last=Simek|first=Rudolf|title=Dictionary of Northern Mythology|publisher=D.S. Brewer|year=1996|isbn=978-0-85991-513-7|author-link=Rudolf Simek}}
{{refend}}
<references responsive="0" />

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline|Garmr}}

[[Category:Animals in Norse mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological dogs]]
[[Category:Norse underworld]]
[[Category:Wolves in Norse mythology]]
[[Category:Cerberus]]