Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen

The Binding Of The Wolf

This piece was commissioned by Nordhordland Brass Seminar in 1990 and written for a youth band.

The title referes to a story from norse mythology.
'The Binding of the Wolf' is not a programmatic piece of music, but I felt that there was a kind of coherence between the music and the dramatic story:

'... The wolf Fenrir was one of the demonic offspring of Loki, and as he grew up in Asgard among the gods, he became so huge and fierce that only Tyr was willing to feed him. It was decided that he must be bound, and Odin in his wisdom caused the cunning dwarfs to forge a chain which could not be broken.
It was made from the invisible and yet potent powers of the world, such as the roots of a mountain, the noise of a moving cat, the breath of a fish.
When completed, this chain seemed to be no more than a silken cord, but the wolf refused to let it be laid upon him unless one of the gods would put a hand between his jaws as a pledge that it was harmless.
Only Tyr was prepared to do this, and when the wolf found that the chain was unbreakable, the gods rejoiced, but Tyr lost his hand.
The binding of the wolf may be seen as a means of protecting the world of men, as well as that of the gods, from destruction.
The story of the god losing his hand appears to be one of the fundamental myths of nothern Europe...'