Spinning the Threads of Time - The Norn
The Norns were female beings in Norse mythology who ruled the destiny of gods and men. They roughly corresponded to other controllers of humans’ destiny, such as the Fates, elsewhere in European mythology. (More on this later!)
In Snorri Sturluson’s interpretation of the Völuspá, Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld, the three most important of the Norns, come out from a hall standing at the Well of Urðr. They draw water from the well and take sand that lies around it, which they pour over Yggdrasill so that its branches will not rot. These three Norns are described as powerful maiden giantesses (Jotuns) whose arrival from Jötunheimr ended the golden age of the gods.
Between themselves, the Norns weave ‘fate’ or ‘ørlǫg’ (from ór ‘beyond’ and lǫg ‘law’; literally ‘beyond law’). According to Voluspa 20, the three Norns ‘set up the laws’, and ‘decided on the lives of the children of time’. ørlǫglausa or ‘ørlǫg-less’ occurs in Voluspa 17 in reference to driftwood which is given breath, warmth and spirit by three gods, to create the first humans, Ask (“Ash”) and Embla (possibly “Elm”).
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