A particularly popular drinking vessel during the early Middle Ages in Scandinavia, it enjoyed mentions in both the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda. Although Viking Age horn fragments are rarely recovered in archaeological excavations, the number of surviving metal horn fittings suggests that their use was much more widespread than actual horn finds indicate.
In Germanic mythology, Fenrir, son of the malicious god Loki and the giantess Angrboda and one of the tormentors of the world, fights against the existing order and ultimately embodies the annihilation of the world. The gods recognize his danger, chain him to a rock with a ruse and sink him deep into the depths of the earth. The wolf is chained for a long time, until finally, in the twilight of the gods, he breaks his chains and devours Odin. Odin's son, Widar, kills Fenrir, but it is too late, the Father of the Gods falls and, with him, the order of the world.