Verðandi
![](http://178.128.105.246/host-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Nornir_by_Lund.jpg/220px-Nornir_by_Lund.jpg)
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]![](http://178.128.105.246/host-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Nornsweaving.jpg/220px-Nornsweaving.jpg)
Völuspá
[edit]She appears in the following verse from the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, along with Urðr and Skuld:
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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