Norns
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The norns (Old Norse: norn, plural: nornir) are a kind of dísir,[1] numerous female beings who rule the fates of the various races of Norse mythology (see: The Fates). An English tradition talks of the Weird Sisters, (sometimes Wyrd Sisters or Three Weird Sisters), where Wyrd is the English form of Urðr, one of the named norns, whose name means itself "fate".
According to Snorri Sturluson's interpretation of the Völuspá, the three most important norns, Urðr (Wyrd), Verðandi and Skuld come out from a hall standing at the Well of Urðr (well of fate) and they draw water from the well and take sand that lies around it, which they pour over the ash Yggdrasill so that its branches will not rot.[2] These norns are described as three powerful maiden giantesses (Jotuns) whose arrival from Jötunheimr ended the golden age of the gods.[2] They may be the same as the maidens of Mögþrasir who are described in Vafþrúðnismál (see below).[2] Beside these three norns, there are many other norns who arrive when a person is born in order to determine his or her future.[2] There were both malevolent and benevolent norns, and the former caused all the malevolent and tragic events in the world while the latter were a kind of protective goddesses.[2]
The belief in the norns as bringers of both gain and loss would last beyond Christianization, as testifies the rune inscription N 351 M from the Borgund stave church:
- Þórir carved these runes on the eve of Olaus-mass, when he travelled past here. The norns did both good and evil, great toil ... they created for me.[3]
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[edit] Etymology
While the name Urðr (Wyrd, Weird) means "fate" or simply "future", Verðandi is derived from the Old Norse verb verða which means "to become" and Skuld is related to the verb "shall".[2] There is no foundation in Norse mythology for the notion that the three main norns each represent the past, the present and the future; rather, all three represent the future.[2] Moreoever, the idea that there are three main norns may be due to a late influence from Greek and Roman mythology, where there are also spinning fate goddesses (Moirae and Parcae).[2] The origin of the name norn is not certain, but it may derive from a word meaning "to twine" and which would refer to their twining the thread of fate.[2]
[edit] Relation to other Germanic female deities
There is no clear distinction between norns, fylgjas, hamingjas and valkyries, nor with the generic term dísir. Moreover, artistic licence permitted such terms to be used for mortal women in Old Norse poetry, or to quote Snorri Sturluson's Skáldskaparmál on the various names used for women:
- Woman is also metaphorically called by the names of the Asynjur or the Valkyrs or Norns or women of supernatural kind.[4]
[edit] Main sources
There is a number of surviving Old Norse sources that relate to the norns. The most important sources are the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda. The latter contains pagan poetry where the norns are frequently referred to, while the former contains, in addition to pagan poetry, retellings, descriptions and commentaries by the 12th and 13th century Icelandic chieftain and scholar Snorri Sturluson.
[edit] Prose Edda
In the part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda which is called Gylfaginning, Gylfi, the king of Sweden, has arrived at Valhalla calling himself Gangleri. There, he receives an education in Norse mythology from what is Odin in the shape of three men. They explain to Gylfi that there are three main norns, but also many others of various races, æsir, elves and dwarves:
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- A hall stands there, fair, under the ash by the well, and out of that hall come three maids, who are called thus: Urdr, Verdandi, Skuld; these maids determine the period of men's lives: we call them Norns; but there are many norns: those who come to each child that is born, to appoint his life; these are of the race of the gods, but the second are of the Elf-people, and the third are of the kindred of the dwarves, as it is said here:
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- Most sundered in birth
- I say the Norns are;
- They claim no common kin:
- Some are of Æsir-kin,
- some are of Elf-kind,
- Some are Dvalinn's daughters."
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- Then said Gangleri: "If the Norns determine the weirds of men, then they apportion exceeding unevenly, seeing that some have a pleasant and luxurious life, but others have little worldly goods or fame; some have long life, others short." Hárr said: "Good norns and of honorable race appoint good life; but those men that suffer evil fortunes are governed by evil norns."[5]
The three main norns take water out of the well of Urd and water Yggdrasil:
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- It is further said that these Norns who dwell by the Well of Urdr take water of the well every day, and with it that clay which lies about the well, and sprinkle it over the Ash, to the end that its limbs shall not wither nor rot; for that water is so holy that all things which come there into the well become as white as the film which lies within the egg-shell,--as is here said:
- I know an Ash standing
- called Yggdrasill,
- A high tree sprinkled
- with snow-white clay;
- Thence come the dews
- in the dale that fall--
- It stands ever green
- above Urdr's Well.
- That dew which falls from it onto the earth is called by men honey-dew, and thereon are bees nourished. Two fowls are fed in Urdr's Well: they are called Swans, and from those fowls has come the race of birds which is so called."[5]
- It is further said that these Norns who dwell by the Well of Urdr take water of the well every day, and with it that clay which lies about the well, and sprinkle it over the Ash, to the end that its limbs shall not wither nor rot; for that water is so holy that all things which come there into the well become as white as the film which lies within the egg-shell,--as is here said:
Snorri furthermore informs the reader that the youngest norn, Skuld, is in effect also a valkyrie, taking part in the selection of warriors from the slain:
[edit] The Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is valuable in representing older material in poetry from which Snorri tapped information in the Prose Edda. Like, Gylfaginning, the Poetic Edda mentions the existence of many lesser norns beside the three main norns. Moreover, it also agrees with Gylfaginning by telling that they were of several races and that the dwarven norns were the daughters of Dvalin. It also suggests that the three main norns were giantesses (female Jotuns).[6]
Fáfnismál contains a discussion between the hero Sigurd and the dragon Fafnir who is dying from a mortal wound from Sigurd. The hero asks Fafnir of many things, among them the nature of the norns. Fafnir explains that they are many and from several races:
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It appears from Völuspá and Vafþrúðnismál that the three main norns were not originally goddesses but giantesses (Jotuns), and that their arrival ended the early days of bliss for the gods, but that they come for the good of mankind.
Völuspá relates that three giantesses of huge might are reported to have arrived to the gods from Jotunheim:
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Vafþrúðnismál probably refers to the norns when it talks of maiden giantesses who arrive to protect the people of earth as protective spirits (hamingjas)[2][10]:
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The Völuspá contains the names of the three main norns referring to them as maidens like Vafþrúðnismál probably does:
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The norns visited each newly born child to allot his or her future, and in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, the hero Helgi Hundingsbane has just been born and norns arrive at the homestead:
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In Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, Helgi Hundingsbane blames the norns for the fact that he had to kill Sigrún's father Högni and brother Bragi in order to wed her:
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Like Snorri Sturluson stated in Gylfaginning, people's fate depended on the benevolence or the malevolence of particular norns. In Reginsmál, the water dwelling dwarf Andvari blames his plight on an evil norn, presumably one of the daughters of Dvalin:
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Another instance of Norns being blamed for an undesirable situation appears in Sigurðarkviða in skamma, where the valkyrie Brynhild blames malevolent norns for her long yearning for the embrace of Sigurd:
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Brynhild's solution was to have Gunnarr and his brothers, the lords of the Burgundians, kill Sigurd and afterwards to commit suicide in order to join Sigurd in the afterlife. Her brother Atli (Attila the Hun) avenged her death by killing the lords of the Burgundians, but since he was married to their sister Guðrún, Atli would soon be killed by her. In Guðrúnarkviða II, the Norns actively enter the series of events by informing Atli in a dream that his wife would kill him. The description of the dream begins with this stanza:
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After having killed both her husband Atli and their sons, Guðrún blames the Norns for her misfortunes, as in Guðrúnarhvöt, where Guðrún talks of trying to escaping the wrath of the norns by trying to kill herself:
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Guðrúnarhvöt deals with how Guðrún incited her sons to avenge the cruel death of their sister Svanhild. In Hamðismál, her sons' expedition to the Gothic king Ermanaric to exact vengeance is fateful. Knowing that he is about to die at the hands of the Goths, her son Sörli talks of the cruelty of the norns:
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Since the norns were beings of ultimate power who were working in the dark, it should be no surprise that they could be referred to in charms, as they are by Sigrdrífa in Sigrdrífumál:
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[edit] Legendary sagas
Some of the legendary sagas also contain references to the norns. The Hervarar saga contains a poem named Hlöðskviða, where the Gothic king Angantyr defeats a Hunnish invasion led by his Hunnish half-brother Hlöðr. Knowing that his sister, the shieldmaiden Hervor, is one of the casualties, Angantyr looks at his dead brother and laments the cruelty of the norns:
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In younger legendary sagas, such as Norna-Gests þáttr and Hrólfs saga kraka, the norns appear to have been synonymous with völvas (witches, female shamans). In Norna-Gests þáttr, where they arrive at the birth of the hero to shape his destiny, the norns are not described as weaving the web of fate, instead Norna appears plainly as a synonym of vala (völva).
One of the last legendary sagas to be written down, the Hrólfs saga kraka talks of the norns simply as evil witches. When the evil half-elven princess Skuld assembles her army to attack Hrólfr Kraki, it contains in addition to undead warriors, elves and norns.
[edit] References
- ^ The article Dis in Nordisk familjebok (1907).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j The article Nornor in Nordisk familjebok (1913).
- ^ Translation of rune inscription N 351 M provided by Rundata.
- ^ Skáldskaparmál in translation by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (1916), at Northvegr.
- ^ a b c Gylfaginning in translation by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (1916), at Sacred Texts.
- ^ See commentary by Bellows
- ^ Fáfnismál Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ a b c Fafnismol in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
- ^ a b Völuspá Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ See also Bellows' commentary.
- ^ Vafþrúðnismál Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ The lay of Vafthrúdnir in translation by Benjamin Thorpe (1866), at Northvegr.
- ^ Helgakviða Hundingsbana I Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ The First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
- ^ Völsungakviða in forna Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ a b Typographical error for Norns, cf. the text in Old Norse.
- ^ The Second Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
- ^ Reginsmál Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ The Ballad of Regin in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
- ^ Sigurðarkviða in skamma Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ The Short Lay of Sigurth in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
- ^ Guðrúnarkviða in forna at «Norrøne Tekster og Kvad», Norway.
- ^ Bellows' translation.
- ^ Guðrúnarhvöt Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ Guthrun's Inciting in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
- ^ Hamðismál Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ The Ballad of Hamther in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
- ^ Sigrdrífumál Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ The Ballad of The Victory-Bringer in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
- ^ Hlöðskviða Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.
- ^ The Saga of Hervor & King Heidrek the Wise in translation by Peter Tunstall (2003), at Northvegr.
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