Verðandi
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 participle 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".[4] "Werdend" is not a commonly used German word in modern times, but intutitively means the things that "are becoming", as -nd is the gerund form.
Attestation
[edit ]
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.
- 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.
Notes
[edit ]- ^ Orchard (1997:174).
- ^ Orchard (1997:169).
- ^ Orchard (1997:151).
- ^ Lindow, John (2001). "Norns (Norse mythology)". Credo. Handbook of Norse Mythology (World Mythology).
References
[edit ]- Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-34520-2
This article relating to a Norse myth or legend is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
