Urðr (Old Norse: fate[1]) is one of theNorns inNorse mythology.[1] Along withVerðandi (possibly "happening" or "present"[2]) andSkuld (possibly "debt" or "future"[3]), Urðr makes up atrio of Norns that are described as deciding the fates of people. Urðr is attested in stanza 20 of thePoetic Edda poemVöluspá and theProse Edda bookGylfaginning.
Urðr is together with the other Norns located at the wellUrðarbrunnr beneath the world ash treeYggdrasil ofAsgard. They spin threads of life, cut marks in the pole figures and measure people's destinies, which shows the fate of all human beings and gods. Norns are always present when a child is born and decide its fate. The three Norns represent the past (Urðr), future (Skuld) and present (Verðandi).[4][5]
Urðr is commonly written asUrd orUrth. In some English translations, her name is glossed with theOld English form ofurðr;Wyrd.
In the Poetic Edda,Yggdrasil is said to stand "always over Urd's well", or the well of fate. Urd's well is located inAsgard.[6] Urd appears in theVölva's prophecyVöluspá:
Benjamin Thorpe translation:
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.[7]Henry Adams Bellows translation:
Thence come the maidens mighty in wisdom,
Three from the dwelling down 'neath the tree;
Urth is one named, Verthandi the next, —
On the wood they scored, — and Skuld the third.
Laws they made there, and life allotted
To the sons of men, and set their fates.[8]
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