"Nornir" (ca. 1884) by
J.L. Lund, depicting Verðandi with wings.
In Norse mythology, Verðandi (Old Norse, meaning possibly "happening" or "present"[1]), sometimes anglicized as Verdandi or Verthandi, is one of the norns. Along with Urðr (Old Norse "fate"[2]) and Skuld (possibly "debt" or "future"[3]), Verðandi makes up a trio of Norns that are described as deciding the fates (wyrd) of people.
Etymology [edit]
Verðandi is literally the present tense of the Old Norse verb "verða", "to become", and is commonly translated as "in the making" or "that which is happening/becoming"; it is related to the Dutch word worden and the German word werden, both meaning "to become".[citation needed]
Attestation [edit]
"Norns weaving destiny" (1912) by Arthur Rackham.
Völuspá [edit]
She appears in the following verse from the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, along with Urðr 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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In popular culture [edit]
In the anime Steins;Gate, Rintaro Okabe used the term Operation Verdandi to describe the plan to transfer memories into the past, creating a data based time travel instead of physical based time travel. The name references the Verðandi's association with fate.
- ^ Orchard (1997:174).
- ^ Orchard (1997:169).
- ^ Orchard (1997:151).
References [edit]
