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- For the fictional character in Oh My Goddess!, see Belldandy.
In Norse mythology, Verdandi (ON: Verðandi), also known as "Verthandi", is one of the three norns, along with Urd and Skuld. Her name literally is the present tense of be or "to be" and is commonly translated as "in the making" or "that which is happening/becoming", related to the Dutch word worden and the German word werden, both meaning "to become". She is the present moment. As one of the Norns she is a guardian of Yggdrasil, watering it from the sacred well and keeping the deer of the four directions from chewing the branches, as well as a component of man's destiny.
There is some argument over where Verdandi is the youngest or second youngest of the fates. In either case she is typically pictured as beautiful and full of life.
She appears in the following verse from Völuspá, along with Urd and Skuld:
- Þaðan koma meyjar
- margs vitandi
- þrjár, ór þeim sal
- er und þolli stendr;
- Urð hétu eina,
- aðra Verðandi,
- skáru á skíði,
- Skuld ina þriðju;
- þær lög lögðu,
- þær líf kuru
- alda börnum,
- örlög seggja.
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- Thence come maidens
- much knowing
- three from the hall
- which under that tree stands;
- Urd hight the one,
- the second Verdandi,
- on a tablet they graved,
- Skuld the third;
- Laws they established,
- life allotted
- to the sons of men,
- destinies pronounced.
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[edit] Verdandi in popular culture
The Norse Runes
