Norns
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the Norns from Norse mythology. See Norn language for the language once spoken in Scotland, and Norns (Creatures) for the computer game species.
The Norns (Old Norse: norn, plural: nornir) of Norse mythology are three dísir by the names of Urd (the past), Verdandi (the being) and Skuld (what is to come). (Skuld was also the name of a Valkyrie.)
[edit] Overview
The Norns live beneath the roots of Yggdrasil, the world tree at the center of the cosmos (although some accounts have it that they dwell above the arch of the Bifrost Bridge), where they weave the tapestry of fates. Each person's life is a string in their loom, and the length of the string is the length of the person's life.
Thus everything is preordained in the Norse belief system: even the gods have their own threads, though the Norns do not let the gods see those. This clear subjection of the gods to a power outside their control and the implication that they, too, will have an End are major themes of the literature surrounding Norse mythology.
The three weaving crones who control destiny exist at a deep mythic level, though probably not as old as the art of weaving itself. The counterparts of the Norns among the Greeks were the Moirae, known to the Romans as the Parcae.
[edit] Modern popular culture
Depictions of Norns appear infrequently in modern popular culture, often largely unrelated to their historical inspiration. See main article for more information.
 | Norse mythology |
|---|---|
| List of Norse gods | Æsir | Vanir | Giants | Elves | Dwarves | Valkyries | Einherjar | Norns | Odin | Thor | Freyr | Freyja | Loki | Balder | Tyr | Yggdrasil | Ginnungagap | Ragnarök | |
| Sources: Poetic Edda | Prose Edda | The Sagas | Volsung Cycle | Tyrfing Cycle | Rune stones | Old Norse language | Orthography | Later influence | |
| Society: Viking Age | Skald | Kenning | Blót | Seid | Numbers | |
| The nine worlds of Norse mythology | People, places and things |
ca:Les tres Nornes cs:Norny da:Norner de:Nornen el:Νορν es:Nornas eo:Nornoj fr:Nornes hr:Norne is:Urður, Verðandi og Skuld it:Norne lv:Nornas lt:Nornos nl:Norn (mythologie) ja:ノルン no:Norne nn:Norner pl:Norny pt:Nornas ru:Норны sh:Norne sv:Nornor zh:諾倫三女神
