The Female Spirits of Nordic Mythology

The Female Spirits of Nordic Mythology

Throughout history we have heard about the past, present and future, the destinies that move the world we know. But in Nordic mythology it was known in a different way or, rather, represented in a different way.

They were called Norns: three female spirits in charge of weaving destiny. It is said that they were the descendants of the giant Norvi, so the three were sisters. Since they were in charge of destiny, it was totally impossible for the gods to influence their decisions.

The Norns

Their names were well known everywhere. The first of them, Urðr, represented the past "what has happened", Verðandi was the present "what happens now" and Skuld "what will happen or must happen" representing the future, although Skuld was sometimes also represented as a valkiria.

According to the Eddas, within the Norns there were other minors associated with different individuals, but Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld were the main ones.

Yggdrasil

But where did the Norns live? Being the weavers of destiny, we can intuit in which mythical place these beings lived: under the roots of the Yggdrasil (the tree of life or tree of the world) as it is usually known. Mythology tells us that from this place they watered this tree and it was there where they woven the tapestries of destiny. Each person in the world represented one of the threads and the length of this was the duration of that person's life.

Thus, even the Nordic gods each had their own tapestry of destiny, woven by the Norns. The spirits of fate were very suspicious of their work and did not let the gods themselves see the tapestry they created.

Thus, according to the history of the Norns, even the gods had their own written destiny to which they could not escape no matter how hard they tried.

Although not much is known about the Norns, their history, though brief, is fascinating and curious, which leads to further research.