Just WHAT is a norn?

[patch99329]

Okay. I'll start from the beginning.

I asked a friend of mine for a rune reading and now I'm a little freaked out.
She did lovely indepth readings for everyone else (which is why I wanted her to do me one!) but for me, she only told me what runes I got and that was it, she didn't want me to know anything. She also said:

'Well Emma, I believe you are not meant to know your near future for the moment... The Norns are watching you...'

This brings me to the question I would like to ask you. Sorry for sounding so stupid.
But what on earth is a norn? Is it bad?

Thanks in advance biggrin
Emma.  

[TheDisreputableDog]

I've got Wiki:Norn, but I couldn't explain the significance to you.

Why didn't you ask her at the time, or what she was getting at?  

[Celtic of the Fae]

TheDisreputableDog

I've got Wiki:Norn, but I couldn't explain the significance to you.

Why didn't you ask her at the time, or what she was getting at?

Actually.. that pretty much explains WHAT the norns are.. I've heard of
them, but nothing more than knowing that they control the fates of various
beings... the Norns are also known as The Fates in European mythology
which is how I have heard them called most often... They are shared by
multiple mythologies.. such as Norse (Norns), Greek (Moire), Roman (Parcae)  

[TeaDidikai]

Dark Angel Kio

the Norns are also known as The Fates in European mythology

1) Northern Europe is still Europe.

2) Norns != Fates.

Please note that Urd, Verdandi and Skuld are the beings of What has happened, what Is Happening and what Should Happen.

Not those who set predestination.  

[patch99329]

TheDisreputableDog

I've got Wiki:Norn, but I couldn't explain the significance to you.

Why didn't you ask her at the time, or what she was getting at?

I have smile But she wont be back from her holiday until the 19th.

Thanks for the link!
And thanks everyone else for the input ^_^  

[TeaDidikai]

Myself, her response sounds cheesy. The Norns watch everyone- gods and mortals alike.  

[Ulfrikr inn Hrafn]

Heilsan Allir,

Try this:

http://www.aetaustralia.org/articles/ardswyrd.htm

Ver thu heil  

[Kalyani Srijoi]

Sounds like nonsense to me. Yes, the Norns are watching you, assuming the exist, but what does that have to do with anything?

She probably just did it to make things more exciting. It happens. The Norns, as stated before, share some vague similarities with the Moirae of Greek mythology, but only in that they are females with ties to past, present, and future. The Fates rule the universe (or maybe they don't - it was apparently a subject of contention among the ancient greeks) by determining the fate of each man and woman.

The three most important Norns are Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld. Urd means 'that which has occured.' Verdandi is apparently just the the present form of the verb 'to be,' while Skuld, as you may have guessed, is the etymological ancestor of the word 'should.'

Norns arrive at births to allot a child his or her future:

HELGAKVITHA HUNDINGSBANA I

Twas night in the dwelling, | and Norns there came,
Who shaped the life | of the lofty one;
They bade him most famed | of fighters all
And best of princes | ever to be.

Mightily wove they | the web of fate,
While Bralund's towns | were trembling all;
And there the golden | threads they wove,
And in the moon's hall | fast they made them

If you read the Eddas, you may hear angry Norsemen blaming Norns for their crappy lives as well as stories of men given grand destinies by the Norns. Of course, it's likely that Norns are also in charge of alloting the boring fates, so mentioning them after a rune reading really means very little.  

[Kalyani Srijoi]

Ulfrikr inn Hrafn

Heilsan Allir,

Try this:

http://www.aetaustralia.org/articles/ardswyrd.htm

Ver thu heil

Wow.

That's a really pretty translation, you know.