The Norns

The Norns (Old Norse: norn [ˈnorn], plural: nornir [ˈnornez̠]) are deities in Norse mythology responsible for shaping human destinies.

In the Völuspá as recorded by Snorri Sturluson, the three primordial Norns—Urðr (Wyrd), Verðandi, and Skuld—draw water from their sacred well to nourish the tree at the centre of the cosmos, protecting it from decay. These three Norns are described as powerful, virgin giantesses (Jotuns) whose arrival from Jötunheimr marks the end of the gods' golden age. In the Vafþrúðnismál, they are also referred to as the maidens of Mögþrasir.

Beyond the three Norns who care for Yggdrasil, pre-Christian Scandinavians spoke of Norns who visited newborn children to determine their futures. These Norns could be either malevolent or benevolent: the former brought tragic events into the world, while the latter were kind and protective.

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Etymology
The origin of the name norn is uncertain; it may derive from a word meaning "to entwine," referring to the weaving of fate's threads. Bek-Pedersen suggests it could also be linked to the Swedish dialect term norna (nyrna), a verb meaning "to secretly communicate," aligning with the idea of Norns as shadowy figures who reveal fate's secrets only when it unfolds.

The name Urðr (Old English: Wyrd, Weird) means "fate." While Wyrd and Urðr are etymologically related, they may not share the exact semantic quality of "fate" over time. Urðr and Verðandi both derive from the Old Norse verb verða ("to become"). Urðr is linked to the past ("that which was or happened"), while Verðandi relates to the present ("that which is happening"). Skuld, derived from skulu ("shall/must"), signifies "that which will be or must happen." While their names have often been associated with past, present, and future, scholars question whether this truly implies a temporal distinction, as the words themselves do not inherently denote chronological time in Old Norse.

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Relationship to Other Germanic Female Deities
There is no clear distinction between Norns, Fylgjas, Hamingjas, Valkyries, or the broader term dísir. Old Norse poetry often uses these terms interchangeably for mortal women. For example, in Snorri Sturluson’s Skáldskaparmál:

A woman is also metaphorically named after the Asynjur, the Valkyries, the Norns, or other supernatural women.

Bek-Pedersen discusses these ambiguous distinctions in Norns in Old Norse Mythology.

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Sources
Several Old Norse texts reference the Norns. Key sources include the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. The Poetic Edda contains pagan poetry frequently mentioning the Norns, while the Prose Edda combines pagan verses with narrations, descriptions, and commentary from the Icelandic chieftain and scholar Snorri Sturluson (12th–13th century).

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Skaldic Poetry
One skaldic mention of the Norns is in Hvinir’s poem Ynglingatal 24, found in Ynglingasaga 47. Here, King Halfdan is laid to rest by his men in Borró. The phrase norna dómr ("judgment of the Norns") appears, often implying death for its subject—in this case, Halfdan. This connection associates the Norns with death. Bek-Pedersen notes that this phrasing introduces a quasi-legal aspect to the Norns’ role, a motif common in skaldic and Eddic sources. It suggests that the Norns' judgment—the ultimate and inescapable decision—is tied to death.

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Ok til Þings
Þriðja jǫfri
Hvedðrungs mær
ór heimi bauð
pás Halfdan,
sás Holtum bjó,
norna dóms
of notit hafði.
Ok buðlung
á Borrói
sigrhafendr
síðan fólu.

Translation:
And to an assembly
Hveðrung's maiden
summoned the third king
out of the world,
when Halfdan,
dwelling in Holt,
had received
the judgment of the Norns;
and in Borró,
victorious men
later laid
the king to rest.

The Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is valuable as it presents older material in poetic form, which Snorri Sturluson used as a source for the Prose Edda. Like Gylfaginning, the Poetic Edda mentions the existence of many lesser Norns in addition to the three principal Norns. It also agrees with Gylfaginning in stating that they belonged to different races and that dwarvish Norns were the daughters of Dvalin. Furthermore, it suggests that the three principal Norns were giantesses (female Jotuns).

The Fáfnismál contains a dialogue between the hero Sigurd and the dragon Fafnir, who is dying from a mortal wound inflicted by Sigurd. The hero questions Fafnir about many topics, including the nature of the Norns. Fafnir explains that there are many Norns and that they belong to different races:

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Sigurd's Question and Fafnir's Answer

Sigurðr kvað:
"Segðu mér, Fáfnir,
alls þik fróðan kveða
ok vel margt vita,
hverjar ro þær nornir,
er nauðgönglar ro
ok kjósa mæðr frá mögum."

Fáfnir kvað:
"Sundrbornar mjök
segi ek nornir vera,
eigu-t þær ætt saman;
sumar eru áskunngar,
sumar alfkunngar,
sumar dætr Dvalins."

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Translation

Sigurd:
"Tell me, Fafnir,
as you are said to be wise
and know many things,
who are the Norns
that assist in hardship
and bring the child from the mother?"

Fafnir:
"Of many births
must the Norns be,
yet not of one race;
some are of divine kin,
others of elvish lineage,
and some are daughters of Dvalin."

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From Völuspá and Vafþrúðnismál, it is evident that the three principal Norns were originally not goddesses but giants (Jotuns) and that their arrival marked the end of the gods' early days of bliss. However, they came for the benefit of humanity.

The Völuspá states that three mighty giants came to the gods from Jotunheim:

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Völuspá Verse

Tefldu í túni,
teitir váru,
var þeim vettergis
vant ór gulli,
uns þrjár kvámu
þursa meyjar
ámáttkar mjök
ór Jötunheimum.

Translation
In their dwellings, in peace,
they played at tables,
and wanted for nothing
of gold in those days,
until there came
three giant maidens,
mighty in strength,
out of Jotunheim.

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The Vafþrúðnismál likely refers to the Norns when it mentions giant maidens who come as guardian spirits (hamingjas) to protect people on Earth:

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Vafþrúðnismál Verse

"Þríar þjóðár
falla þorp yfir
meyja Mögþrasis;
hamingjur einar
þær er í heimi eru,
þó þær með jötnum alask."

Translation
Over the homes of people
descend three
of Mögthrasir’s maidens,
the only hamingjas
that exist in the world,
though raised among giants.

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The Völuspá includes the names of the three principal Norns and describes them as maidens, as does Vafþrúðnismál:

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Völuspá on the Norns

*Þaðan koma meyjar
margs vitandi
þrjár ór þeim sæ,
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.*

Translation
From there come maidens,
great in wisdom,
three from the lake
that lies beneath the tree.
Urth is one named,
Verthandi the next,
and Skuld the third;
on wood they carved,
they laid down laws,
they determined the lives
of the sons of men,
and shaped their fates.

 

Guðrúnarkviða II
Brynhild’s solution was to compel Gunnarr and his brothers, the Burgundian princes, to kill Sigurd. She then committed suicide to join Sigurd in the afterlife. Her brother Atli (Attila the Hun) avenged her death by killing the Burgundian princes, but as he was married to their sister Guðrún, she soon killed him in retaliation. In Guðrúnarkviða II, the Norns actively intervene by revealing in a dream to Atli that his wife would kill him. The description of the dream begins with the following verse:

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Old Norse Text

"Svá mik nýliga
nornir vekja," -
vílsinnis spá
vildi, at ek réða, -
"hugða ek þik, Guðrún
Gjúka dóttir,
læblöndnum hjör
leggja mik í gögnum."

Translation

"Now out of my sleep
the Norns have woken me
with visions of dread—
to you, I shall tell them.
I thought, Guðrún,
daughter of Gjuki,
you pierced my body
with a poisoned blade."

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Guðrúnarhvöt
After killing both her husband Atli and her sons, Guðrún blamed the Norns for her misfortune. In Guðrúnarhvöt, she speaks of her desire to escape the wrath of the Norns by attempting to take her own life:

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Old Norse Text

"Gekk ek til strandar,
gröm vark nornum,
vilda ek hrinda
stríð grið þeira;
hófu mik, né drekkðu,
hávar bárur,
því ek land of sték,
at lifa skyldak."

Translation

"To the sea I went,
my heart filled with rage
for the Norns, whose wrath
I sought to escape.
Yet the high waves
lifted but drowned me not,
until to the shore I came,
for I was fated to live."

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Hamðismál
Guðrúnarhvöt recounts how Guðrún incited her sons to avenge the cruel death of their sister Svanhild. In Hamðismál, her sons’ expedition to the Gothic King Ermanaric is fated to end in tragedy. Sörli, aware he will die at the hands of the Goths, speaks of the cruelty of the Norns:

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Old Norse Text

"Ekki hygg ek okkr
vera ulfa dæmi,
at vit mynim sjalfir of sakask
sem grau norna,
þá er gráðug eru
í auðn of alin.
Vel höfum vit vegit,
stöndum á val Gotna,
ofan eggmóðum,
sem ernir á kvisti;
góðs höfum tírar fengit,
þótt skylim nú eða í gær deyja;
kveld lifir maðr ekki
eftir kvið norna."
Þar fell Sörli
at salar gafli,
enn Hamðir hné
bei húsbaki.

Translation

"Not for us,
like wolves, is it fitting
to quarrel among ourselves,
like the hunting dogs of the Norns,
raised grim in the wilderness,
feeding on greed.

We have fought well,
we stand over the fallen Goths,
felled by our blades,
like eagles on a branch.
Great is our glory,
whether we die today or tomorrow;
no man lives the night
after the decree of the Norns."

There Sörli fell
by the gable of the hall,
and Hamðir sank
at the house’s back.

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Sigrdrífumál
As beings of immense power who work in secrecy, the Norns are unsurprisingly mentioned in magical incantations, as seen in Sigrdrífumál:

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Old Norse Text

"Á gleri ok á gulli
ok á gumna heillum,
í víni ok í virtri
ok vilisessi,
á Gugnis oddi
ok á Grana brjósti,
á nornar nagli
ok á nefi uglu."

Translation

"On glass and on gold,
and on men’s charms,
on wine and on ale,
and on beloved seats,
on Gungnir’s tip,
and on Grani’s breast,
on the nails of the Norns,
and the owl’s beak."

 

The Prose Edda

In the section of the Prose Edda called Gylfaginning by Snorri Sturluson, Gylfi, the king of Sweden, arrives in Valhalla and calls himself Gangleri. There, he is taught about Norse mythology by Odin in the guise of three men. They explain to Gylfi that while there are three principal Norns, there are also many others from different races: Æsir, elves, and dwarves.

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Norns and Their Origins

A hall stands there, beautiful, under the ash tree by the well, and from this hall come three maidens called Urdr, Verdandi, and Skuld. These maidens determine the lifespan of men, and we call them Norns. But there are many Norns: those who visit every child born to shape its fate. These Norns belong to the race of gods, while others come from the elves, and others still from the dwarves, as it is said:

"Most divided at birth
I say are the Norns;
they claim no common kinship:
some are of the Æsir’s race,
some of the elves’ kin,
some are Dvalin’s daughters."

Gangleri asks, "If the Norns decide the fates of men, why are they so unequal? Some live pleasant and luxurious lives, while others have little worldly wealth or fame. Some live long lives, and others short ones."

Hárr replies, "Good Norns of honourable lineage shape good lives, but those who suffer misfortune are ruled by evil Norns."

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The Role of the Principal Norns

The three main Norns draw water daily from the Well of Urdr to nourish Yggdrasil:

"It is further said that these Norns who dwell by the Well of Urdr take water from the well every day and sprinkle it with the clay around the well onto the ash tree, so its branches do not wither or rot. This water is so sacred that everything which enters the well becomes as white as the film within an eggshell, as it is said here:"

"I know of an ash tree
called Yggdrasil,
a mighty tree, sprinkled
with snow-white clay.
From it comes the dew
that falls into the valleys.
It stands evergreen
above Urdr’s Well."

The dew that drips from Yggdrasil onto the earth is called "honeydew" by men and nourishes the bees. Two swans also feed from the Well of Urdr, and from these birds, the race of swans descends.

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Skuld as a Valkyrie

Snorri also informs the reader that the youngest Norn, Skuld, is a Valkyrie who participates in choosing fallen warriors:

"These are called Valkyries: Odin sends them to every battle. They determine which men shall die and grant victory. Gudr and Róta, and the youngest Norn, named Skuld, always ride to choose the slain and decide the fights."

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The Norns in Legendary Sagas

Some legendary sagas also reference the Norns. In the Hervarar Saga, a poem called Hlöðskviða recounts how the Gothic king Angantýr defeats a Hunnic invasion led by his half-brother, Hlöðr. Angantýr laments the cruelty of the Norns as he gazes upon his dead brother, knowing his shield-maiden sister Hervör is also among the fallen:

"Bölvat er okkr, bróðir,
bani em ek þinn orðinn;
þat mun æ uppi;
illr er dómr norna."

Translation

"We are cursed, brother,
I have become your killer!
This will never be forgotten;
the doom of the Norns is cruel."

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The Norns as Synonyms for Völvas

In later sagas like Norna-Gests þáttr and Hrólfs saga kraka, the Norns appear as a synonym for völvas (seers or witches). In Norna-Gests þáttr, they appear at the hero’s birth to shape his fate, but they are not described as weavers of destiny. The term Norn seems interchangeable with vala (völva).

In one of the last recorded sagas, Hrólfs saga kraka, the Norns are portrayed as malevolent witches. When the half-elven princess Skuld gathers her army to attack Hrólfr Kraki, it includes undead warriors, elves, and Norns.

 

Runic Inscription N 351 M
The belief in the Norns as bringers of fortune and misfortune persisted beyond Christianisation, as evidenced by the runic inscription N 351 M from the stave church at Borgund:

"Þórir carved these runes on the eve of Olaus' Mass as he passed here. The Norns did good and evil, great struggles... they created for me."

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Franks Casket
Three women carved on the right panel of the Franks Casket, an Anglo-Saxon whalebone chest from the 8th century, have been identified by some scholars as the three Norns.

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Theories

Matres and Matrones
The Germanic Matres and Matrones, female deities depicted almost exclusively in groups of three on votive objects and altars in northwestern Europe between the 1st and 5th centuries CE, have been associated with the later Germanic dísir, Valkyries, and Norns, suggesting a possible lineage.

Three Norns
There are theories that challenge the notion that the three principal Norns are exclusively associated with the past, present, and future in Norse mythology. Instead, all three represent fate as it flows through time. Other theories propose that the concept of three main Norns might be influenced by Greek and Roman mythology, where spinning goddesses of fate (the Moirai and Parcae) also appear.

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In Popular Culture

• Anime: The Norns are central figures in the popular anime Oh My Goddess! Verðandi (called Belldandy due to Japanese transliteration) is the female protagonist, with her elder sister Urðr (Urd) and younger sister Skuld playing important supporting roles.
• Music: Amon Amarth’s death-metal album Fate of Norns includes the title track Fate of Norns and was released in 2004.
• Literature:
  • Jack and Annie encounter the Norns during one of their missions in Magic Tree House.
  • In Philip K. Dick’s Galactic Pot-Healer, the Norns appear as beings who keep a book in which the future is already written.
  • In Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, the Norns are portrayed as three women (one tall, one medium, and one dwarf-like). They assist Shadow during his vigil for Wednesday (Odin) by the ash tree, revive Shadow’s dead wife Laura using water from Urdr’s well, and foretell the death of Mr. Town, an agent of Mr. World.
• Comics: The Norns appear in Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s comic series The Wicked + The Divine (2014–2018).
• Video Games:
  • In God of War (2018), the eighth installment of the God of War series, which explores Norse mythology, Nornir Chests are scattered throughout the realm of Midgard. Each chest can be opened by finding and quickly striking three hidden rune seals with Kratos’ Leviathan Axe, rewarding players with items that enhance Kratos’ health and rage.
  • In Guild Wars 2, an MMO, there is a race of Viking-inspired people called the Norn. Their lore and naming draw heavily from Viking mythology and culture.