*This was originally compiled and posted by Sorn during his long tenure as Ritari. It has been reposted here in an effort to collect all our resources on our new site.
The handout for our discussion of the norns, September 2012
Three From the Hall Beneath the Tree?
While the norns do not appear as characters in the sagas, they are mentioned a number of times in poetry. Some verses that may be helpful to understanding them include the following:
Hallfreðar saga vandræðaskalds (The Saga of Hallfred Troublesome-poet) 6
Hallfred Ottarson, following his conversion, composes a number of verses, including this one:
Icelandic
Sa er með Sygna ræsi siðr að blot eru kviðjuð. Verðum flest að forðast fornhaldin skop norna. Lata allir ytar Oðins orð fyrir roða. Nu em ek neyddr fra Freyju niðjum Krist að biðja.
Whaley translation
It’s the creed of the sovereign
of Sogn, to ban sacrifices.
We must renounce many
a long-held decree of norns.
All mankind casts Odin’s words
to the winds. Now I am forced
to forsake Freyja’s kin
and pray to Christ.
(Some manuscripts have “fra Njarðar” instead of “fra Freyju,” which may be more accurate because of the alliteration; some translators prefer “Freyr’s kin” to “Freyja’s kin.)
That the nornir and their decrees are mentioned along with representatives of the Æsir (Oðin) and Vanir (Freyja) may indicate that to the poet the “skop norna” were as essential to his former religion as the gods.
Hamðismal
Old Norse 29
Ekki hygg ek okkr vera ulfa dæmi, at vit mynim sjalfir of sakask sem grey norna, þa er graðug eru i auðn of alin.
Orchard 29 translation
I think it’s not for us, the wolves’ example, to fight among each other, like the norns’ curs, reared ravenous, away in the wilderness.
Old Norse 30
Vel hofum vit vegit, stondum a val Gotna, ofan eggmoðum, sem ernir a kvisti; goðs hofum tirar fengit, þott skylim nu eða í gær deyja; kveld lifir maðr ekki eftir kvið norna.
Larrington 30 translation
We have fought well, we stand on Goth corpses, weary from the sword-edge like eagles on a branch; we have won great glory whether we die now or yesterday, no man outlasts the evening after the norns have given their verdict.
Of note in the first stanza is that the poet describes wolves as the dogs of the norns. Typically, when they are associated with female figures, wolves are seen with giant women and trolls, suggesting that the poet conceived the norns as being related to the Jotnar, possibly even the thurse-maidens mentioned in Voluspa 8. Norns are occasionally used to form kennings in skaldic poetry, such as in “skjaldar nornar,” norn of the shield, or axe; a parallel kenning exists in “trollkona hlifa,” troll woman of armor, or, again, axe.
The second stanza contains a sentiment that is perhaps the most frequent use of the norns in poetry. The actions of the norns have created events beyond the control of characters in the poem, and these events lead those characters to difficult decisions, ones in which honor and death (for the protagonists or others) are usually intermingled.
Fafnismal 12-13
Old Norse
Sigurðr kvað:
Bellows translation
Sigurth spake:
Old Norse
Segðu mer, Fafnir, alls þik froðan kveða ok vel margt vita, hverjar ro þær nornir, er nauðgonglar ro ok kjosa mæðr fra mogum.
Bellows translation
Tell me then, Fafnir, for wise thou art famed, And much thou knowest now: Who are the Norns who are helpful in need, And the babe from the mother bring?
Old Norse
Fafnir kvað:
Bellows translation
Fafnir spake:
Old Norse
Sundrbornar mjok segi ek nornir vera, eigu-t þær ætt saman; sumar eru askunngar, sumar alfkunngar, sumar dætr Dvalins.
Bellows translation
Of many births the Norns must be, Nor one in race they were; Some to gods, others to elves are kin, And Dvalin’s daughters some.
The phrase “kjosa mæðr fra mogum” is sometimes read as meaning that the norns decide during a difficult childbirth whether the mother or the child will survive. Nasstrom compares the norns mentioned in Fafnismal to three Saami deities: Sarakka, Juksakka, and Uksakka, the daughters of Maderakka (“Midwife”); these deities live under the ground and are summoned to help during childbirth (115). Bek-Pederson elaborates, saying that the daughters receive animal sacrifice during the birth and then after the birth are honored with a “Sarraka porridge” eaten by the mother and the mother’s married friends; three pegs, one white, one black, and one with rings, are placed first in the porridge and then, after the porridge is eaten, under the home. The pegs are left for three nights and then checked. If the black one is gone, the mother or her child will die, but if the white one is gone, then they will both live (nothing is said of what happens if the ringed peg is gone) (39). This is likely related to the custom practiced until the mid 1900s following childbirth in parts of Norway and the Faroe Islands of preparing a nornegraut, or norn porridge, which was offered to the norns as a sort of thanks offering. The nornegraut is the only evidence that the norns may have received any kind of worship; there is not otherwise attested any cult activity associated with them. The porridge with its different colored pegs reminds Pederson of Saxo’s account of the meal Kraka prepares for Ericus and Rollerus, a stew that is half black and half white, in Book 5 of Gesta Danorum (69), while it reminds me of the two groups of women who are seen in Thiðranda Thattr ok Thorhalls.
The idea of different norns being of different ancestry and perhaps as a consequence being associated with good and others with evil in one’s life is elaborated by Snorri in Gylfaginning 15:
“Then spoke Gangleri: ‘If norns determine the fates of men, they allot terribly unfairly, when some have a good and prosperous life, and some have little success or glory, some a long life, some short.’ High said: ‘Good norns, ones of noble parentage, shape good lives, but as for those people that become the victims of misfortune, it is evil norns that are responsible.’”
An inscription from a stave church in Norway dated to ca. 1180 reads (normalized) “Þorir reist runar þessar þann Olausmessaptan, er han for her um. Bæði gerðu nornir vel ok illa; mikla mœði skopuðu þær mer.” Bek-Pederson translates it: “Thorir carved these runes on the eve of Olav’s mass when he came by here. The nornir did both good and evil; for me they have created much suffering” (34). The inscription does not attach good and evil to separate groups of norns the way Snorri does, but it does show a continued belief after the conversion in the norns as wights responsible for both good and ill in life.
Helgakviða Hundingsbana I 2-4
Old Norse
Nott varð i bæ, nornir komu, þær er oðlingi aldr of skopu; þann baðu fylki frægstan verða ok buðlunga beztan þykkja.
Larrington translation
Night fell on the place, the norns came, those who were to shape fate for the prince; they said the prince should be most famous and that he’d be thought the best of warriors.
Old Norse
Sneru þær af afli orlogþatto, þa er borgir braut i Braluni; þær of greiddu gullin simu ok und manasal miðjan festu.
Larrington translation
They twisted very stongly the strand of fate, as the fortifications were broken in Bralund; they prepared the golden thread and fastened it in the middle of the moon’s hall.
Old Norse
Þær austr ok vestr enda falu, þar atti lofðungr land a milli; bra nift Nera a norðrvega einni festi, ey bað hon hal
Larrington translation
East and west they secured its ends, the prince should have all the land between; the kinswoman of Neri to the north threw one fastening; she said she’d hold it for ever.
While there are a number of instances where weaving or other textile work are compared to Wyrd, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I is the only instance in which norns are shown working with textiles (though some seek to interpret the women in Darraðarljoð as norns, they are clearly identified within the poem as valkyries). Both Larrington and Davidson interpret these verses as showing the norns engaged in weaving. Bek-Pederson, however, argues that the verbs and number of strands used are more appropriate for plying or twining, the process by which strands are twisted around each other to create a thread that can be used for other purposes, and speculates that the poem may create an image of three strands plied into one thread (129). This image may be related to the three roots of Yggdrasil or any of the other occurrences of the number three in the mythology.
Worth noting is that the orlogthatto, “orlog threads,” the norns manipulate are not connected to the length of Helgi’s life, as is commonly conceived of when discussing “threads of life” and fate. Rather, it is a representation in physical space of the land Helgi will come to dominate in his life.
Voluspa 19-20
Old Norse (Hauksbok in parentheses)
Ask veit ek standa, heit Yggdrasill, har baðmr, ausi hvita auri; þaðan koma doggvar, þærs idala falla, stendr æ yfir grænn Urðarbrunni.
Larrington translation
I know that an ash-tree stands called Yggdrasill a high tree, soaked with shining loam from there come the dews which fall in the valley, ever green, it stands over the well of fate.
Old Norse (Hauksbok in parentheses)
Þaðan koma meyjar margs vitandi þrjar or þeim sæ, (þrjar or þeim sal) er und þolli stendr; Urð hetu eina, aðra Verðandi, - skaro a skiði, - Skuld ina þriðju; þær log logðu, þær lif kuru alda bornum, orlog seggja. (orlog at segia)
Larrington translation (My translation)
From there come three girls, knowing a great deal, from the lake (three from that hall) which stands under the tree; Fated one is called, Becoming another- they carved on wooden slips- Must-be the third; they set down laws, they chose lives, for the sons of men the fates of men. (orlog to speak)
Urðarbrunnar, the well/spring of Urðr, is mentioned in numerous poems; one important other appearance is in Havamal 111 immediately before the Loddfafnir verses. The seat of the thulr in the verse is located at Urðarbrunnar and may be near the hall of the High One. According to Snorri in Gylfaginning 15, one of the roots of Yggdrasil is above Urðarbrunnar: “The third root of the ash extends to heaven, and beneath that root is a well which is very holy, called Weird’s well. There the gods have their court.” Nasstrom speculates that there may be a connection between Urðarbrunnar and wells and lakes that received sacrifices, such as the ones described by Tacitus in relation to the cult of Nerthus and by Adam of Bremen in relation to the temple at Uppsala (119). The soaking of the tree with hvita aurr may reflect a ritual such as giving milk and honey to a vardtrad, or warden tree.
Though these verses do not specify that the three maidens are norns, Snorri identifies them as such in Gylfaginning 15. They parallel the three thurse maidens in stanza 8 (perhaps are identical to them) and the three Æsir in stanza 17. While the norns usually appear as a collective rather than as distinct individuals, this is the only instance of the norns being identified as three in number, though three norns are implied in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I. Numbering the norns as three may be influenced by the three Greek Moirai or Roman Parcae (leading many to view Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld as a northern reflection of Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos and likely strengthening the tendency to view the norns as weavers and/or spinners) or it may be related to the Matronae stones, which depict three female figures. Fafnir gives three groups of norns in Fafnismal, and the fact that he says “sumar” (some) are of each group implies that the poet conceived of more than three norns total. According to Simek, Barlaams saga ok Josaphats mentions nine norns who are daughters of Thor (237).
The dwelling place of the maidens is given as a lake in the Codex Regius version of the poem and as a hall in the Hauksbok version. Nasstrom and Bek-Pederson are both of the opinion that there is not necessarily contradiction here, pointing to other watery halls belonging to female wights, including Frigga’s Fensalir (Fen Halls), Saga’s Sokkvabekkr (Sunken Benches), Iðunn’s Brunakkr (Well Field), and the hall where Beowulf fights Grendel’s mother. Orchard relates their dwelling under the roots of a tree to the threatened and realized punishments of other women, including Gerd in Skirnismal, Hrimgerd in Helgakviða Hjorvarðssonar, and Brynhild in the Flateyjarbok version of Helreið Brynhildar.
The figures in these verses do not spin or weave while setting out the lives and fates of men; rather, they “skaro a skiði,” “scores did carve/cut,” perhaps like the carving referred to in Sigrdrifumal or Skirnismal.
While the names Urðr and Skuld appear in a few other sources, Verðandi is unique to Voluspa (and Gylfaginning, which uses Voluspa as its source). The name Verðandi is the present participle of the verb “verða,” “to happen, take place” and thus means something like “Happening” or “Becoming”; those who seek to link the norns to periods of time translate it as words like “Present” or “Is.” Because the name doesn’t appear elsewhere, it is generally thought that Verðandi is a relatively recent name, perhaps invented by the poet to create a triple figure.
Skuld’s name means “Debt” or “Obligation,” and is related to modern “shall” and “should.” Those who prefer a temporal interpretation of the norns often render her name something like “Future” or “Shall Be.” Skuld appears later in Voluspa as a valkyrie, and Snorri says she is both norn and valkyrie in Gylfaginning 36: “These are called valkyries . . . Gunn and Rota and the youngest norn, called Skuld, always ride to choose who shall be slain and to govern the killings.”
The name Urðr seems to be older than the other names and appears more widely in the literature. It is cognate with Old English Wyrd and appears to have the same meaning, usually glossed as “fate,” though the pre-conversion concept of Wyrd was likely somewhat different than modern ideas about predestination. The temporal interpretation is usually something like “Past” or “Was.” Urðr probably derives from Indo-European *wert, “to twist” and is related to Latin vertere, “turning.” This leads many to speculate on a link between Urðr and spinning thread, though Bek-Pederson cautions that the verbs verða and spinna developed independently of each other for many years; “to spin” originally meant “to draw out” (as in a spider spinning its web), a meaning preserved in words like spindly, and the first recorded use of the word spin to mean “revolve” occurs in 1667 (80).
Frequently in poetry, there is a relationship between norns and legal speech. Orð (“word”) and Urðr may be related to each other; even if they are not, they are still often used together as an alliterative pair in verse. Hallfred Vandræðaskald and others speak of the norn’s decrees (skop, “what has been determined,” interestingly related to both Old English “scop” or poet and modern “shape”) as well as kviðr norna, “words/verdict of the norns” and domr norna, “norn’s judgement.” This may be why the Hauksbok version of Voluspa has the norns speaking orlog. That a great deal of importance was attached to the spoken word is well-attested to, from recitations of poetry to speech at sumble to the utterances of volur, and the idea of Wyrd being represented as speech in some fashion is entirely in keeping with the pre-conversion Germanic worldview.
References:
Bek-Pederson, K. (2011) The Norns in Old Norse Mythology.
Davidson, H.R. Ellis. (1998) Roles of the Northern Goddess.
Gundarsson, K. et al. (2006) Our Troth 2nd Edition Volume 1: History and Lore.
Lindow, J. (2002) Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs.
Nasstrom, B. (2003) Freyja, the Great Goddess of the North.
The Poetic Edda. (1936) Translated with commentary by Henry Bellows.
—. (1996) Translated with commentary by Carolyne Larrington.
—. (2011). Translated with commentary by Andy Orchard.
The Poetic Edda: Volume II: Mythological Poems. (1997) Edited with translation, introduction, and commentary by Ursula Dronke.
Sagas of Warrior Poets. (2002) Edited with translation, introduction, and commentary by Diana Whaley et al.
Saxo Grammaticus. (2008) The History of the Danes, Books I-IX. Translated by Peter Fisher, edited with commentary by Hilda Ellis Davidson.
Simek, R. (1993) Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall.
Snorri Sturluson. (1987) Edda. Translated by Anthony Faulkes.
Tacitus. (1970) The Agricola and The Germania. Translated by H. Mattingly and S.A. Handford.
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