Even the gods are subject to them. At the foot of the world tree, three women determine what was, what is and what will be.
Above all the doings of the gods, in the North there stands a power that not even Odin can bend: fate. It is embodied by the Norns, three women who dwell at the Well of Urd beneath the world ash Yggdrasil.
The Völuspá names them Urd, Verdandi and Skuld. Their names are often read as ‘that which has become’, ‘that which is becoming’ and ‘that which shall become’ – past, present and future. They draw water from the well and pour it over the roots of the tree so that it does not wither.
“Thence come the maidens, mighty in wisdom, three from the lake that lies beneath the tree.”Völuspá, translation after Henry Adams Bellows (public domain)
What is special about the Norse belief in fate is its relentlessness: the gods too are mortal, and their end – Ragnarök – has long since been woven. This idea gives the whole mythology its grave, almost tragic undertone.
Besides the three great ones, the sources know of further Norns who appear at the birth of every child and allot its lot – good as well as bad. In the North, fate was nothing distant but something that accompanied every person from the very first breath.
Read more about Yggdrasil and its wells in our post on the world tree.