Fenring

3:21 The Fenring is a black-furred, werewolf-like predator of the Mountain biome in Valheim that walks upright, hunts only at night and closes distance with a two-clawed leap. It can summon nearby wolves with a howl, and it is vulnerable to fire, which makes burning arrows or even a torch an effective counter. Its name comes from Fenrir, the monstrous wolf of Norse myth, and it has two relatives in the biome's dungeons: the Ulv, which runs on all fours, and the Cultist, a red-hooded werewolf that throws fire. Their lairs hold the hair and claws of the Fenris armor. The biome's other creatures are on Mountain Creatures (Fenring, Valheim Wiki).

Quick facts

Fenring attacks and weaknesses

0:09 The Fenring has two attacks. Its claw, sometimes animated as a lunging bite, sweeps a 90-degree arc three meters long for 85 slash damage whenever the player is within two and a half meters. Its jump is a pounce that lands with both claws for 95 slash, used every eight seconds from five to nine meters away, which means a player standing close disables it (Fenring, Valheim Wiki). Jiroc the Viking's tests show normal damage from blunt, slash, pierce, frost and lightning, half damage from poison and extra damage from fire. He also corrects a common belief: Fenrings are not weak to spirit, but unlike wolves they are not immune either, so a silver weapon's spirit damage lands in full. A parried Fenring recovers almost at once, so the opening after a parry is short (Aggressive creature strategies, Valheim Wiki).

Where Fenrings spawn

7:55 Fenrings spawn only after dark, in the middle of Mountain zones, at most two per zone, and despawn at dawn; they never carry stars (Creature level, Valheim Wiki). Samo's advice is to stay off the Mountain at night unless hunting starred wolves, and to jump onto a boulder when a leap or a pack becomes too much. Night spawns can also crash a fight with Moder, and once Geirrhafa's silver chest has been returned to Hildir, the raid "You get the chills..." brings Geirrhafa, Cultists and Fenrings to the player's base in any biome (Events, Valheim Wiki; Raids and Events). Sleeping through the night avoids them altogether (Rested, Comfort and Sleeping).

How to kill a Fenring

3:32 Players usually meet Fenrings in the iron gear of the Swamp, and the simplest counter is fire: fire arrows, a torch's burning damage or a campfire to fight beside. In melee, a player who stays close keeps the leap from firing and can block or parry the claw, striking at once because the stagger is brief. A howling Fenring can pull in nearby wolves, so it should die first (Aggressive creature strategies; Combat; Bows, Crossbows and Arrows).

Source: Fenring, Trophies and Bait, Valheim Wiki.

The Frost Caves and the wolf cult

1:40 Fenrings share their look with the inhabitants of the Frost Caves, the Mountain's dungeons. Their entrances come in two forms, a rounded mouth and a pointed one shaped like a wolf's snout with icicles for teeth, and are easiest to spot from the side of a slope. Inside, ice walls hide passages and cave murals show a wolf-worshipping cult; the wiki reads the murals and the wolf-head altar as a sign that the Cultists, the Ulvs and perhaps the Fenrings were once Vikings devoted to Fenrir (Frost Caves, Valheim Wiki). All cave creatures are one-time spawns.

16:29 The Ulv is the cave wolf, a werewolf that trots on four legs and often lies asleep in groups of two or three. It is a glass cannon, with 50 health against an 80-slash bite and a 70-slash downward swipe, and it is weak to poison but takes only a quarter of fire damage, so the Fenring's counter fails here. A sneak arrow usually kills one outright. Half of all Ulvs leave a wolf fang and one in ten a tail-shaped Ulv Trophy; the one-star Ulvs of the Howling Cavern have 100 health (Ulv, Valheim Wiki).

5:22 Behind the blood-stained wooden doors that seal the worked-stone lairs stand the Cultists, werewolves in ragged red hoods who keep the cult's altars. A Cultist has 200 health and every attack burns. Its fireclaw, on a two-second cooldown, deals 35 slash plus 40 fire, a two-handed version strikes twice, and from two to six meters it looses a narrow gout of flame worth 50 fire that no shield stops and that reaches through walls. Fire cannot hurt a Cultist at all, while poison hurts it more than usual (Cultist, Valheim Wiki).

16:55 Samo ambushes Cultists with melee or a bow, uses the Draugr Fang's poison, dodges through doorways to break their line and drinks Barley Wine for fire resistance (Mead and Potions). Each kill yields a Red Jute or two, used for curtains and carpets, and a one-in-ten chance of the Cultist Trophy that every Fenris Hood requires.

Fenris armor and Flesh Rippers

0:01 The Fenris set is the Mountain's light armor. Each of its three pieces adds 3 per cent movement speed, 9 per cent in all, the coat resists frost, and the full set grants Fenris Blessing: resistance to fire and +15 to the Fists skill (Fenris Set, Valheim Wiki; Armor and Capes).

0:37 The Fenris Hair it needs lies on pedestals, altars and wall hangings in the Frost Caves, and SnazzyGames shoots down the tassels hung from banners. The pieces are made at a level-two Workbench:

Upgrading all three to quality 4 takes 150 Fenris Hair, 72 Wolf Pelts and 68 Leather Scraps in total and raises the set to 48 armor (Fenris Set, Valheim Wiki). The pelts come from the Wolf; the leather scraps from the caves' bats or from boar.

8:10 The Flesh Rippers complete the look: a fist weapon forged from 10 Fenris Hair, 6 Fenris Claws and 10 silver, with 60 slash damage and a kick as its secondary attack. Fenris Claws are never dropped by creatures; they lie only on the caves' pedestals and also build standing braziers (Flesh Rippers, Valheim Wiki; Weapons and Shields).

History

Fenrings have hunted the Mountain since the early-access launch of February 2021. Their cave kin came with the Frost Caves on Mar 1, 2022, the surviving part of a canceled "Cult of the Wolf" update, which added the Ulv, the Cultist, the bat, Red Jute, Fenris Hair and Claws, the Fenris set and the Flesh Rippers (Version history, Valheim Wiki; Frost Caves Update). Patch 0.212.9 of December 2022 switched the Tetra bait from the Ulv Trophy to the Fenring Trophy, and 0.217.22 of October 2023 stopped starred Cultists dropping several trophies. Hildir's Request Update (August 2023) added the Howling Cavern and its one-star Ulvs, and the Call to Arms Update (September 2025) gave the Fenring Trophy a second use in the Wolf Sight trinket. The Valheim 1.0 Release of Sep 9, 2026 listed no change to any of them (Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate).

Frequently asked questions

Do Fenrings spawn during the day? No. They spawn only at night in the Mountain, at most two per zone, and despawn at dawn.

What is a Fenring weak to? Fire. It takes half damage from poison and normal damage from every other type, including spirit.

Where do you get Fenris Hair? In Frost Caves, from pedestals, altars and hanging tassels; the wiki lists no creature that drops it, so killing Fenrings will not provide it.

What is the Fenring Trophy used for? It crafts the Wolf Sight trinket and, with fishing bait, Cold Fishing Bait for Pike and Tetra.

Can you tame a Fenring? No. The tameable animals are boars, wolves, lox, asksvin and moose, plus hens that hatch tame (Farming and Taming).

Sources

• Fenring, Valheim Wiki (weirdgloop)
• Ulv and Cultist, Valheim Wiki
• Frost Caves, Valheim Wiki
• Fenris Set, Fenris Hair, Fenris Claw and Flesh Rippers, Valheim Wiki
• Trophies, Bait and Creature level, Valheim Wiki
• Aggressive creature strategies and Version history, Valheim Wiki
• Fenring, Valheim Wiki (Fandom)
• Valheim 1.0 Has Arrived!, Iron Gate Studio, Sep 9, 2026
• Complete Guide to Valheims Mountains Biome!, SnazzyGames (video)
• Fenring Weaknesses & Resistances, Jiroc the Viking (video)
• 30+ Need to Know Valheim Tips for the Mountains!, Samo (video)
• NEW! Complete Guide to FROST CAVES & FENRIS Armor, Jiroc the Viking (video)
• Fenris Armor Set Crafting Guide, SnazzyGames (video)