vargr

In Norse mythology, a vargr (often anglicised as warg or varg) is a wolf and in particular refers to the wolf Fenrir and his sons Sköll and Hati. Based on this, J. R. R. Tolkien in his fiction used the Old English form warg (other O.E. forms being wearg and wearh) to refer to a wolf-like creature of a particularly evil kind.

In Old Norse, vargr is a term for "wolf" (ulfr). The Proto-Germanic *wargaz meant "strangler" (see modern German würgen), and hence "evildoer, criminal, outcast." Varg is still the modern Swedish word for "wolf." Also cognate is Old English warg "large bear". In Dutch wolverines are sometimes called Warg, although the name Veelvraat is more commonly used.

In line 1514 of Beowulf, Grendel's mother is described as a grund-wyrgen or "warg of the depths."