3/30/2023 0 Comments Valknut necklace![]() Nevertheless, it is not uncommon to hear the cruelty of the Norns blamed for some of life’s challenges. This is why the sagas almost always begin with an account of the great deeds of the ancestor of the hero because this is an essential part of the hero’s story.ĭespite being giantesses, the Norns are not described as malevolent. ![]() This is important not only for them individually but also for their descendants, as the position of their string determines the starting point of their descendants. In this way, one’s actions can change the course of one’s life, though not the end of it, and a Viking would strive to plot a strong and gleaming path across the tapestry of destiny. The Norns are described as constantly weaving, changing fate as different strings cross one another. This gives them a second fate as they become destined to fight and die alongside the gods at Ragnarok.īut while the length of a person’s life is predetermined, not everything that will happen in their lives is static. This also links to the idea that the bravest fallen warriors earn a place in Valhalla. They all prepare to battle at Ragnarok, even though they know it is the end. The gods themselves are an example of this. But while they could not control when they died, they could control how they died, and the Vikings believed it was necessary to face death with bravery. The Vikings believed that the moment of their death was predetermined and could not be avoided. He Vikings believed that a Norn visited a person when they were born, and at that moment, decided how long the person would live, the length of their life string. But her name also derives from the word debt and seems to carry connotations of things that one is answerable for, and which are inescapable. The youngest sister is called Skuld, which means “that which shall be”. Her name also means birthing, perhaps suggesting a link between being born and the start of one’s fate. The middle sister is Verdandi, and her name means “coming into being”, and therefore things of the present. ![]() In surviving sources, the word Urd is used interchangeably for fate and death, suggesting that the two were considered one and the same by the Vikings. The eldest sister is named Urd, whose name means “what once was”. It is not clear what this meant, but maybe the power of the gods was diminished as they took control of greater destiny.Įach of the sisters is individually named. When they moved from Jotunheim to the Well of Udr, they put an end to the golden age of the gods. The word Norn derives from the Old Norse word for twine and is probably a reference to their weaving.Īccording to one story, the three main Norns are giantesses, or the fates of the giants. It is probably these three Norns that write the greater fate of all living things, while their lesser sisters deal with individual fates. They are sometimes described as weaving fate on a loom and, at other times, writing it into the bark of Yggdrasil with the runes. It is also here that the sisters create fate. They take water from the well to nourish the tree and prevent it from rotting. These sisters live beside the Well of Udr, the Well of Fate that sits at the base of Yggdrasil, the world tree. In addition to these, there are three principal Norns. Each is probably responsible for overseeing the fates of their race. The sources say there are Norns of the Aesir, Vanir, Elves, Dwarves, and Mankind. There are many Norns, and they seem to be divine spirits linked with the different races that inhabit the nine worlds of the Norse cosmos. What we know about these female divinities is pieced together from fragmented references in the surviving texts. While ancient Greek religion had the fates known as the Moirai, Norse religion has the Norns. Let’s take a closer look at ideas of fate and destiny within Norse culture during the Viking age. The Ragnarok prophecy tells the story of the death of all the gods, which is inevitable and cannot be averted, even by Odin himself. They believed that the moment of every person’s death was preordained from the moment of their birth and that even the gods are subject to the laws of fate. Questions of destiny and pre-determined fate loom large in Viking culture. Check out the full post on our blog, or read some of the highlights below. ![]() Have you been keeping up with the VKNG blog? Our latest post is about Viking attitudes toward fate and destiny. Vkng-jewelry, what did the Vikings think of fate and destiny?
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