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The Nornir: Understanding Wyrd

6-7 minutes

by Galina Krasskova

Ideologically and ethically, nothing is more important to Northern Tradition consciousness than wyrd. Wyrd
encompasses the sum total of one’s individual actions and choices, as well as whatever destiny may have
been predetermined by the Nornir for that individual. In many ways, wyrd may be likened to Fate, but it is far
more interactive. Essentially, wyrd is causality and consequence. It is the sum total of every action a person
has ever taken interacting with that of their ancestors and their communities at large, as well as whatever
destiny may have been predetermined by the Nornir for that individual. Wyrd is a web of choices that
constantly shifts and changes - one's own choices, the choices of others, the choices of one's community,
and even the choices of one's ancestors impacting each person's current evolution and awareness.

Even the Gods must bow to the power of Their own wyrd. In our cosmology, they are not omnipotent; They
are bound just like mankind by its power and pattern. Wyrd is not static; rather it is ever shifting and
changing in direct response to the actions a person decides to take. One’s personal wyrd is called orlog, and
a person’s relationship with his or her wyrd and hamingja is absolutely reciprocal. Usually, wyrd is seen as a
vast web with multiple layers connecting everyone and everything. Wyrd was such a fundamental force in
pre-Christian Northern European thought that belief in its power persisted even after Christianization. Wyrd
is particularly fascinating when explored in the context of theodicy. To Northern Tradition thought, good and
evil are not created by the Gods; rather they are the direct result of wyrd, which is, in turn, the direct result of
one’s personal choices.

Wyrd can actually be inherited from one’s ancestors and passed on to one’s descendants, for good or for ill.
It is both luck and obligation. A person has some ability to better his or her personal wyrd through right and
honorable action; conversely, wyrd can be worsened through the opposite: unlawful or dishonorable action,
breaking one’s word, showing disrespect for the Gods or ancestors. Luck flows directly from one’s wyrd and
is considered part of the soul-matrix. One’s soul-luck, comprised of ancestral luck and one’s own personal
power, is called hamingja.

Wyrd is ordered by three mighty women, the Nornir (Fates). The eldest is Urd, who governs the laying of the
threads of wyrd in the well of memory. The middle is Verdandi, whose name means becoming, and the
youngest is Skuld, whose name means obligation. She is occasionally said to be one of the Valkyries as
well, because it is Her hand that cuts a person’s thread and determines the extent of their “obligation”.
(Some modern Heathens believe that Frigga actually spins the threads of wyrd that are then parceled out by
Urda, but this is not attested to in primary sources and is not a universal belief.)

In the Voluspa, it is clearly states that the Nornir craft and decree the laws of mankind. They "set or mark
fate" and speak orlog. The very etymology of the root word that underlies but Urda and orlog, ur, marks it as
something primordial and ancient, something of essential import, fundamental to all that is. In the setting of
orlog, the Nornir lay the foundational bricks in the road of spiritual evolution. They create a place where the
echoes of the past meet echoes of the future. All that was, is, and shall ever be is contained within the
waters of Urdabrunnr. More importantly, since our own fate is laid down in this place, it is the nexus of
connection to our ancestral path, the connection of our deeds and choices to those who came before and
will come after. It is possible to see the workings of wyrd as the waters of a well: cast a stone, ripples form. If
five people each cast a stone at the exact same time, those ripples overlap. The fish swimming below the
surface create eddies that may also affect the smooth surface of the pond. Even the wind may affect the
water. The more immediate someone's involvement with an individual may be, the more of an effect it has
on that individual's wyrd. The pool of water represents the world, and the concentric rings indicate the
distance and influence of every person one meets.

Urda and the Well are the embodiment of memory, which nourishes mankind as the Well nourishes the roots
of the Tree, and restores to us an awareness not only of the foundations of our world, but of the proper order
of things. All the awareness and knowledge of our ancestors is contained in the Well, and this has the power
to connect us, as nothing else can, to the Dead upon whose shoulders we stand. But just as actions have
consequences, so do choices have cost: that which will become. As memory and order are contained within
the sphere of Urda, so the price of knowledge, decision, and sacrifice are contained within the realm of
Skuld. An analysis of the name Skuld reveals that it deontes necessary action - even constraint and
obligation. Therefore, it could be said that memory and action carry with them obligation.

Wyrd and orlog are not abstract concepts, but are contained in the very fiber of our bodies, minds, and
spirits - encoded in our metaphysical DNA, just as our height and our hair color are encoded in our physical
DNA. As such, evolution is the sphere of Verdandi. All three names of the Nornir bear connotations of
evolution of time as a repetitive and circular process. In other words, time flows in on itself and from itself,
bound by the fabric of memory. It is not in any way linear; it is only our perceptions that make it seem so.
The Nornir are thus "out of time", not bound by the constraints of that evolution. As the water of the Well
provides nutrition and healing to the Tree - literally to the structure and support of our world - it may be
surmised that memory provides nourishment to our spirits. We are defined by what we remember, and it is
the constantly shifting, interrelating layers of memory that nourish our spirits.