Fenrir Greyback's Wands

Wandlore

Fenrir Greyback's Wands

My thoughts on Fenrir Greyback's First Wand

*Wood: Spindletree

*Core: Dragon heartstring

*Length: Ten inches

*Flexibility: Rigid

              Backstory:

     Fenrir Greyback's first wand was bought second hand, but it chose the eleven-year-old wizard as its new owner--it seemed eager to adapt. It was very old, carved of European spindletree wood, a very dense, creamy white hardwood, often used to make spinning-wheel spindles. The tree bears pretty, poisonous berries--thirty berries is a fatal dose for an adult. The wood itself can sicken the carpenter who works with it too long. Spindletree leaves attract aphids and their predators, including hoverflies and lacewings. These juicy insects tempt bowtruckles to live in the trees. Legend is, the spindletree for this wand foretold the coming of the plague, by flowering early in 1348 or '49. 

     Young Greyback's wand was ten inches long, a good length for a starter wand. It was hard, rigid, and durable, as it needed to be for the rough, headstrong boy who was to be its new master. The core was of dragon heartstring, which produces a powerful magic, easily turned to the dark arts, if that suits its master. It suited Fenrir. The wand had a gnarled appearance. It was stained a dark, charcoal grey and had small, diagonal slash-marks carved into its hilt.

     Fenrir, unfortunately, had a dark, troubled nature even in his youth. He was a sadistic boy who like to torture insects and small animals. He bullied other children, but was weak-natured, a coward at heart. He was, however, a strong athlete and a fast runner. Perhaps his darker traits might have been softened by good mentoring, but he was bitten by a werewolf. His bitterness and his growing bloodlust fed his evil tendencies. He was not an incompetent wizard, by any means; neither was he brilliant. His wand got its fair share of exercise, but Fenrir was much more interested in sports, girls, and other out-of-school activities than he was in schoolwork. 

My thoughts on Fenrir Greyback's Last Wand

     After the loss of his first wand, Fenrir Greyback sought out the infamous "Bardawulf Wand," a dark piece of craftsmanship that he had coveted for many years. The wand was six centuries old. It was created by Anguß the Wand Wright of Lorn, in 1350, for a dark wizard named Hemming Bardawulf, rumored to be a werewolf. Bardawulf, a cruel gang leader who revered Atilla the Hun, called his own cult "The Huns." Hemming, of course, was "king." Among other indecent avocations, he dug up recently buried corpses, regardless of possible plague infection, and sold them to the village potion maker. Bardawulf himself seemed immune from plague.

      The Bardawulf wand was carved from a gnarled limb taken from an ancient yew tree that stands in a churchyard in the village of Fortingall in Perthshire, at the very heart of Scotland. The yew stands near a memorial, the "Cairn of the Dead" (used in the 14th century for burying victims of the plague away from the church graveyard). The yew wand bears an incription in runes, "Thy Hun King," homage to its original owner (dark-seeming runes, several of them, alone, symbolizing pain, suffering, or destruction). 

      The wand core was a long strand of werewolf hair, and I doubt any wandmaker living today would use such a core! The ivory handle was inset with the fangs of a wolf. It had a small wolf's head, said to have been carved by Lucas Cranach the Elder; if so, that was done a century-and-a-half after the wandwright touched it. The handle was inset with a unique large opal resembling the grayish-green eye of a wolf. This cursed stone is said to take on a weird glow under a blood moon.

      The wand had had several owners and had finally fallen into the hands of an artifact collector. It was said to be cursed. It may be that it simply wouldn't perform for anyone but its original owner. Be that as it may, it must have met Bardawulf's equal in the hands of Greyback--it leaped at his touch, clearly coming to life in his evil hands. The wand was capable of powerful dark magic. Oddly enough, Greyback rarely used it. He seemed to prefer capturing his victims by hand and tormenting them with sadistic words instead of curses; or worse, he would brutally mangle their bodies as he feasted on their tender flesh. In his wolf form, he has no use for a wand. His bloodthirsty history is well known. His masterpiece of a wand is rarely seen.

*Yew: 

*Core: Werewolf Hair (usually produces 

      powerful dark magic)

*Length: 14 inches (twice the magical

       number seven)

*Handle/hilt: Elephant tusk

*Inlay: Wolf fangs

*Carving: Wolf's head

*Inscription: "Thy Hun King"

Rune Symbolism: 

    Th (giant) danger, suffering

    y (Jera, “year”) harvest, reward    

    -----

    H (hail) destruction, chaos.

    u (aurochs) strength of will

    n (need) need, unfulfilled desire.

    -----

    K (ulcer) mortality, pain

    i (ice) unknown; perhaps icy heart?

    ng - fertilization, beginnings, the

        actualization of potential

(Harry Potter Fan Fiction. I first published this on Azkaban Escapees, a Facebook group).