According to the Scandinavian pagan tradition, the norns are goddesses who control the destinies of people, gods and the whole world. Similar images can be found in the ancient beliefs of most European peoples, including Slavic ones. This article will focus on Urd, Verdandi and Skuld - the main goddesses of fate among the ancient Scandinavians.
It should be noted that there is a fairly reasonable version that the three above-mentioned goddesses are responsible only for the processes taking place in the world as a whole, without touching each individual person. They can change the fate of the gods and the Universe, but they are not distracted by mere mortals. When a child is born, his own norn determines his fate, with the help of fortune-telling on the runes. In accordance with the rune layout, she begins to spin the thread of his life and accompanies him until his death. That is, in addition to the three main ones, there are many more norns, each of which follows a person whose life path it determines.
As for the supreme norn goddesses, they seem to be the most ancient creatures in Scandinavian mythology. in their hands are the fate of all the gods, not excluding Odin himself. The word 'nornir' itself may have the meaning of 'confidentially'. Its exact origin has not been established, and there is no consensus among researchers on this matter.
Norn goddesses take to portray three women: an elderly, middle-aged and a young girl. Urd (” Urd ”) is the oldest of this trinity, a possible translation of her name, as well as her field of activity - the past. Verdandi (” Verdandi ”) - becoming, flourishing, present. This is a middle-aged woman, personifying, apparently, an even, well-established course of life between birth and death. And finally, Skuld (” Skuld ”). This is a young girl, whose name roughly translates as “probable future” and “sense of duty.”
The youngest of the norn, Skuld, may be related to the activities of the Valkyries, female warriors who collect the souls of warriors who have fallen in battle. This theory, in my opinion, is quite controversial, since there is a version that the Valkyries are the daughters of Odin. Thus, a contradiction arises in the origin of Skuld. She cannot at the same time be the weaver of the fate of one of the gods and, at the same time, be his daughter.
All three norn dwell in a beautiful palace on the banks of the Urdar - the source of fate. Every day they water the roots of the world tree, Yggdrasil, with water from it, prolonging the existence of all nine worlds that make up the universe. The Scandinavian runes owe their appearance, most likely, to the norns who carved them. God Odin was able to decipher the runes, find practical use for them and, in the end, provide mortals.
Whether Urd, Skuld and Verdandi are in any kind of relationship with each other is not exactly established. According to the traditional version, all three goddesses arose from the source of Urdar, so it would be logical to consider them as sisters.
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The Scandinavian norns are one of the most interesting and controversial characters in the pagan northern pantheon, the nature and activities of which are still hotly debated in specialist circles.