The Norns, 'Wyrd,' and Fate

[@Tina06019]

"After Sigurdur has given [the dragon] his mortal wound, he starts asking him [the dragon] trivia questions, as one does after one has murdered someone..." (another good laugh)

[@valeriy8502]

Such deadpan 😄

[@rolfskytte]

The last thing you said about not locking knowledge in an ivory tower really is something I love. That is how it's supposed to be. All experts, professors and doctors should have a youtube channel, just about ;)

[@Alaplaya9]

Probably right after we get rid off the notion of copyright and all the patents in existence are free to look up for anyone - but wait, we live in an age where it is technically illegal to download that funny cat picture because of digital copyright.

[@rolfskytte]

Alaplaya9 oh yes there is something fishy about copyright.

[@ladyalfhildrforestofvioletmist]

I know, right? As a Ravenclaw I love the idea that knowledge is meant to be shared and acquired at any time, and I'd love to follow more professorly youtube channels :)

[@opwards]

i agree. Infact i say that to people all the time. Should someone ask me for help with something i know how to do or with anything really i always say " knowledge not passed on is dead knowledge." Which i believe true. Hoarding such knowledge on anything and taking it with you upon death kills the power of that knowledge. As the all father is always on the hunt for knowledge so should we be willing in spreading and growing the knowledge of others.

[@DAEDRICDUKE1]

@@dreamweaver1080 what?

[@slutteebitc]

I miss these videos. Straightforward but simple.

[@BeingJenniRae]

I love that you had the words on the screen while reading them out loud. It's definitely helpful to read along while hearing it. Interesting anecdote about the potential of a piano falling through the ceiling. Might not be too far-fetched. I live in Boulder, and a dog fell through the ceiling of my office this week. XD. He was fine, by the way. Thanks for another great video.

[@Yotun-of-the-WWW]

The three ladies have names that I a Dutchman can understand. Urdr stands for the past. The dutch word "Oer" is related to the ancient past. Verdandi stands for becoming, for the now. the dutch "worden" is becoming. and Skuld is nearly the dutch "Schuld" what stands for both Guilt and Debt. As the future is a debt we have to our children.

[@ManiacMVK]

"worden" is becoming? Thats interesting, because your neighboring tribe, the Saxons called Odin "Woden" and it is a typical saxon tradition to give yourself a name of what you, or your children should be in the future. So, if you are a coward, you will give your son a name like "Markmuth" like Mark is brave. Understood?

[@Yotun-of-the-WWW]

"Worden" is becoming and is also close to the word "Woorden" for words. Maybe words are what we give things to make them become what we want them to become. I could be wrong though. I am no lingual expert.

[@deathmetalhead55]

In German "to become" is also "werden", and "dept" is also "Schuld". I think it´s fairly possible :)

[@paulmanson253]

Erik Stoop That was terrific. Appreciate it. Makes me wonder what the original Doric dialect meaning for the Fates and the Furies actually meant in the reference to that actual culture and language. I say Doric because the Greek of the Spartans was Doric not Attic(Athenian) Greek. In English we tend to be positional and ignore the original meaning of the word. There is an old story of a Norse observing a small bird flying into and out of the rafters of a longhouse,saying that is a metaphor for a man's life and fate,flying out into the darkness the equivalent of death. We come in and we leave,life is brief. They were brave men,but must have made for unbelievably difficult neighbours. Warriors or gangsters ? Take your pick on the perception.

[@paulmanson253]

Tarja Nevalainen There is a phrase in the old Scots tongue,sort of . He let ( him) dree his wierd. As in,let him find his fate. I thought wierd would be directly Celtic, but the Lowlands of Scotland had many interactions with different language sources. The similarity of the word I find too strong to ignore. Thanks for your comment.

[@DaneJarl]

I like your agenda. I appreciate your videos a lot. At the Natural History Museum of Utah we currently have a 'Vikings' exhibit from the Swedish National Museum (perhaps you've seen its sister exhibit in Denver!). Our museum decided to hire some reenactors to portray norse people from 1000 years ago for the general public and I've leaned heavily upon your videos to ensure that they are as historically accurate as possible. So a hearty thanks for that.

[@williambilson1555]

Dane Crowton I went to that exhibit in Utah, it was great!

[@DaneJarl]

That's what we love to hear! Thanks so much for visiting.

[@boganery]

You yourself are drengr dr jackson. Thank you for sharing your wisdom. A cheerful norn for you to sir.

[@GoFbassist]

I could watch and listen to you talk all day

[@the_bread_wolf]

I have to say, I really appreciate this channel. It's always a good day when I see you pop up in my subscriptions.. Thank you so much for providing all the information you do, and for all your work making these videos.

[@darlebalfoort8705]

I'm impressed by your quotation of an important American poet.

[@Glassandcandy]

My Therapist: “Beardless Dr. Crawford isn’t real, he can’t hurt you” Beardless Dr. Crawford: “Hi I’m old Norse specialist Dr. Jackson Crawford 👱‍♂️”

[@zaU-v8y]

I really appreciate your dedication to educate those of us unable to access the ivory tower! Thanks for the knowledge, I will definitely buy your books.

[@GentleFritz]

I always enjoy and appreciate your videos. Thank you for your summary at the end of your beliefs on passing on knowledge. Thank you for being a bridge for some of us who walk a different path to meet your mind and touch historical depths that would be difficult with out you.

[@VikingTokyo]

I love that you included an image of the actual text. Very cool.

[@turnerjensen2620]

Just bought both books, thank you for your work

[@billybilodeau1991]

Thanks for your effects to educate us about Old Norse mythology, language and related topics. I've downloaded your translation of the "Poetic Edda", on my Kindle app, and love reading it. It's nice to not have to translate a translation. I will be buying your newest translation at my earliest convenience. I hope you keep up the good work.

[@rebeccaketner6248]

Fantastic explanation of the intrinsic cultural values of 'reckless courage', appreciate this very much!

[@MissKellyBean]

Yet another great lecture! I have been on the lookout for sources that help distinguish the Norns from the Moirai, and this helped greatly. I have seen several (modern) artists depicting the Norns as holding a rope (tying the knots of ones life, and cutting the cord of ones life, etc), and a few that indicate weaving, but I don't ever think I have seen one that used the imagery of carving. I think that would be wonderful, and can imagine several ways that it could be depicted. As always...the myths ignite the imagination...thank you for another informative (and as always, funny! ) video.

[@Seraph120]

Informative, Valuable. Your work is aprechiated greately

[@lokiiago_x0x]

This was excellent--thank you so much!

[@exsistentialis]

Hi, Doctor Jackson Crawford. I usually watch your videos, and seeing some of them a doubt arose. Have you ever read Eric Wódening's book "We are our deeds"? I don't actually know if you are also interested in todays Germanic Heathenry reconstruction, but I would like to know if you think that mæġen (OE)/megin (ON) should have been one of the main concepts in Germanic tribes worldview, to the point that when tribal peoples exchanged gifts, a king gave luck blessings, or the individual/tribe did honored stuff they could thought as earning more mæġen/megin, and then having more personal power, in some way.

[@ifitrocks]

Great video! One of my favorite Norse subjects.

[@cassiusdicianni8322]

I find it hard to reconcile the concept of a fixed death-day with that of vengeance for the killing of a relative, which is so very common in many sagas. If someone successfully kills your father, for example, it means he was going to die that day no matter what, so what is the point of taking vengeance upon the killer? Even if the killer had done nothing, your father would still be dead.

[@robincrowflies]

You have a wonderfully dry sense of humor.

[@Tina06019]

"....and everything goes your way, and you fail UP, then you have a good Norn who is watching over you" THAT made me laugh. We all know people who have failed UP, and this concept explains that phenomenon as well as any other!

[@coreyschmidt8833]

Thank you Dr. Crawford for these excellent informative videos. I have your translation of the Poetic Edda, and will be purchasing your newest book soon, as well as supporting you on Patron. You seem to truly have a genuine heart of a teacher.

[@xanderduffy6461]

A geek moment - I love how he asks us to note the comparison with the Old Norse word 'fate' Orlog with the Dutch oorlog 'war' by using the latin abbreviaton 'cf' for confer. Old Norse-Latin-Dutch - I love languages

[@MD-zi9if]

Nice presentation. Thanks

[@creatureris]

Excellent, as always. Thank you

[@spontanapa]

That comment in the end about knowledge got my sub and like.

[@dungeoneering1974]

I've watched this video a few times, recently because I was wondering about the Norns for a story I'm writing/illustrating. This is the first time I noticed "Berkeley, being basically KZbin the city where there is always someone insulting random strangers". Having visited Berkeley many times (it's not too far from where I live) I can verify that this is absolutely true!

[@uncacahuetepelado2179]

Thank your so much for your work!!!

[@andromeda7147]

your videos are truly a gift to the world :) though i just finished reading a different translation of the poetic edda, i got both of your books, and am looking forward to see how different the translation comes across!

[@morticiaaddams3613]

I love your videos!

[@colinp2238]

Thank you Dr Crawford for another first class video. Have you done a translation of the Prose Edda or is it a future project. I have found an outlet in the UK for your work that does not involve Amazon and will gladly pass the information on to anyone in the UK. I recommend your translation of the Poetic Edda to people that I see that are looking for a modern translation that is easyto follow. Please tell me the roots of the English word doom that also means fate? It is used more in the north where we have more influence in our language from the viking or Norse tribes than the Anglo-Saxon and Norman south.

[@colinp2238]

Thanks for that. I really have no idea as to how the Swedish language relates to the Old Norse but it sounds that it is a possibility. I will follow that line more closely.

[@Aurgelmir87]

About the word Örlog, it has the meaning of war in modern Swedish as well, it's not just in Dutch. More specifically "örlog" is used to denote naval warfare in particular, a "warship" for example is a "örlogsfartyg" and a "naval base" is a "örlogsbas".

[@0000000Lara]

thanks

[@fredrikkarlsson8990]

It used to have this meaning in modern Norwegian until recently as well. During my Bachelor's thesis I researched a lot of Norwegian newspapers from 1914-1915. "Orlogsfartøy" or "Orlogsfartøye" (Archaic and muddied language at the time) I haven't heard the word used today.

[@kadabrium]

another smh thing about this word is that people just can't decide whether to put the umlauts

[@wenqiweiabcd]

Could be borrowed from or at least influenced by the Dutch or Low German cognates too, if the word in Old Norse didn't have this particular meaning

[@nattrafik]

Probably borrowed from Dutch oorlog. When Sweden broke the union with Denmark and suddenly was in need of a navy mainly Dutch shipbuilders was hired.

[@richarddelotto2375]

Robinson Jeffers... wow. Wish you had been one of MY professors, back-a-long.

[@JL-hi9xz]

Thank you for your videos! Very interesting and informative! I recomend the book about Beowulf that Bo Gräslund at Uppsala university wrote a couple years ago were he argues that the poem is in fact created in a scandinavian context

[@theanonymousmrgrape5911]

I learned recently that the regular English word weird is actually an etymological descendant of wyrd, which explains the homophone. Just goes to show how much meaning can change even when sound doesn’t change terribly much.

[@garychynne1377]

thank yew dr. crawford

[@sareeb3324]

Thank you for your videos.

[@dagmarmayenberger414]

Thank you very much!

[@hacc220able]

Love your books

[@HughBLongAuthor]

Any advice for a layman looking to start a study of Old Norse? Any recommended texts?

[@LL-wx6rp]

The word W Y R D has been one oddly intriguing word, in need of translation for years, until this chance occurrence. Have you heard of the three WYRD sisters, that met their fated death day of persecution, by hanging, upon (YYY) a triune row of rooted standing trees. Each tree took a letter y form. Incited an ominous eerie vibe.

[@gweiloxiu9862]

Wyrd bið ful aræd. Nietzsche for as much as he tried to not be Germanic in his philosophy, none the less manifests some core Germanic principles. "My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it-all idealism is mendacity in the face of what is necessary-but love it."

[@huehuecoyotl2]

That is also very much Stoic philosophy, the idea of aligning yourself with fate, with what is, and enjoying it.

[@carlinberg]

Funny how áskunngar sounds/looks a lot like askunngen in Swedish. I couldn't find a translation of kunngar, is it related to kunnr (kin) or a different word?

[@darlebalfoort8705]

I do recommend reading his books as well.

[@milenam.8124]

Hi, I'm brazilian and I'm trying to understand this video. Can anyone help me? In the first 15 seconds he quotes a Robinson Jeffers quote, can someone write it down for me? (It is very difficult to listen because of the accent and I am learning English). Thank youuu

[@BenVivas]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like comfort in submission to inevitable doom is like a Dark Age version of Nietszche’s philosophy or Nihilism in Warrior context. All wars and deaths will lead to a single inescapable fate of mutually assured destruction where in the end, all comes to nothing. Also, big fan of your channel haha.

[@livedandletdie]

It's rather that, we're all going to die, we don't know when, or where, or why, or how, so why live in fear. Live honorably, and uphold thine honor. To live cowardly is to shy away from faith, to be a dog, a doormat, someone to be trampled over, a weak and sick individual. It's not that people shouldn't be afraid of dying, it's not something to look forward to, but it's inevitable that one will die so, to live in fear of death, is viewed as being weak, as it hinders you from growing as a person.

[@johanung]

In swedish we still use “Örlog” in the word “örlogsfartyg”, meaning ship of war.

[@soulof6742]

For some Reason this makes me think about King Arthur and Merlin.

[@claywest4609]

Great thanks!

[@betsyeverson859]

Could the Norse "weaving" of the nornir be the woven like knot designs that they would carve on the wood? I always thought that theirs and celtic knots looked woven.

[@Troy_KC-2-PH]

LMAO @ "Berkeley being KZbin the city..." 🤣🤣🤣

[@rsfaeges5298]

ONE'S DAY of DEATH & it's implications for behavior: that is VERY clear & VERY interesting. AND there are VERY interesting parallels with the Calvinist doctrine of Predestination & it's implications for behavior.

[@arthurp.8499]

Watching your videos just makes me realize I pronounce ON vowels in a violently swedish way and I really need to work on that lol

[@opwards]

Thank you for posting this. This concept of fate or Wyrd is something i find myself pondering often. As the books i like to read are historical fiction based around the viking age peoples and the anglo saxons this concept has captured my thoughts. Bernard Cornwell whom in my opinion is the best ive found in this category always makes mention of a phrase in old english. This phrase is (please forgive me as im likely to spell this incorrectly) "Wyrd bio ful araed" translated to be "Fate is inexorable". I always wondered if that would have been a common saying or something similar in scandinavian structure as their pagan religions were so very similar. Im sure translations are things your asked to do all the time but if you should find the time would you be able to translate this into old norse? It would be something i would be very keen to read/hear. Perhaps incorporate it into a tattoo art piece i am planning for myself. Kind regards sir.

[@nikolaspersson1052]

In Swedish "örlog" is still used as something relating to the navy. Örlogsfartyg = Naval vessel

[@Dennell_Mount_and_Blade]

Someone else mentioned Swedes once hired Dutch ship builders ( which we were very good at for centuries), "Oorlogsvaartuig" is the dutch version of that word and means the same. But I'm no expert and was not present at the time, so I don't know who first came up with those terms :)

[@semerridnikongo2328]

Interesting...

[@imadomyrdin]

thank you.

[@BDCF4130]

Interesting, sort of like a Nordic version of Pascal's Wager (with respect to what you said about the incentive to be courageous).

[@Zorbo_the_Grandiloquent]

Hmmm. Your mention of the golden threads brought to mind the Greek fates, weaving golden threads.

[@Arrian1111]

Richard Wagner's Norns (Ring Cycle) certainly weave and cast - he seemed to conflate them with the Moirai.

[@LetstalkwithJohnny]

Have you translated the codex runicus

[@quasi8180]

I find the norns intruiging Im reading magnus chase and the norns are mentioned they seem soo mysterious. Are they similar to greek fates.

[@user-bl3fo7dz3o]

Could the notion of norns watching over individuals sort of been related to ancestor worship? This would explain why there could be norns for different races, because obviously different races have different ancestors.

[@deedadee2]

Video quality is always improving

[@johnfoelster507]

This is something that you may not have the background to know the answer to, Dr. Crawford, but to what extent do you think Shakespeare's "Wyrd/Weird" Sisters are a very late reflection or evolution of the Medieval Norns? That's before you get into the debate over how much of the Macbeth witches is Shakespeare and how much is Thomas Middleton. (You can make a good case that in addition to Hecate and the witches' songs, every line that they have that isn't direct dialogue with Macbeth or Banquo is a Middleton interpolation, so their characterization as "witches" instead of beings describing persons fates is an overlay by the latter author.) You can make a good case that Shakespeare read the Gesta Danorum in Latin as well, so if there are any Norn appearances in that work...

[@bine3987]

Thanks

[@BrianColborne1]

Very interesting, skuld in afrikaans(which derives from dutch) means "what you owe" someone...

[@user-bl3fo7dz3o]

Hei, nog ‘n Afrikaner wat Jackson Crawford kyk!

[@mariodatguy4988]

Ja dat dacht ik ook

[@selahstrong1027]

The variation in the concept of the Norns from three Norns to innumerable Norns is similar to the variation in the concept of the three Gina’s in Sanskrit

[@silhouetta37]

Mightn’t the ‘miserable norn’ concept mean that the norns happened to be miserable on the day of one’s birth, and grumpily carved all kinds of mischief into one’s fate?

[@richtomlinson7090]

I think about these things often, because I believe in a predetermined universe. I don't know what the future holds and I don't claim to know.

[@kyreshlcsw2229]

I work in a jail and there a lot ositru/arian brother hood guys. Some of them have beautiful Thors hammers tattooed on their chest. I was told about snory snorison and odin as they have a lot of time to read. Anyway they encouraged me to grow my hair out and explore my tribal identity. Isn't that interesting?

[@Nerdy_Ant_Pops]

what's the difference between Hell & Velhela ( I don't know how it's spelled

[@Andrew.A.]

While watching this video I began to fry eggs, and one had two yolks. Is there really any connotation between double yolks and death in norse mythology or is this a modern construction?

[@johnathanpessetti295]

Perhaps the anthropomorphic vision of norms painted by mythology is actually an allegory for a force rather than a being embodied like that of a humanoid being.

[@opwards]

A norn question if i may. We know that ones fate is set from the day of ones birth and the "threads of ones life" are set. We know that people sought to seek the approval of the gods or at least to keep them in favour by keeping them entertained as the gods ever loved mischief. My question being is it not contradictory to strive to please the gods to grant favour upon you, extend your life, save the life of another, ect but also believe so strongly in the concept of fate and the norns? We know from the storys of odin how he wished he had not been shown his own fate and that even the gods themselves are not exempt from the fate of the norns. So is there evidence anywhere that shows the gods can influence or change what the norns set in place for us here on midgard, "the greater and lesser children of heimdall"?

[@jademoon88]

I have learned a lot from this video as well as the the reply underneath. I am interested to know how this all applied to women Generally they dont go to Valhalla? where do they go? They dont usually fight so how can they have a good death? Perhaps it does not matter.

[@kyreshlcsw2229]

practicing my skaldic poetry; I died on my death day with my love, and battle dagger my sword beside her.(close?)

[@MaximusOfTheMeadow]

Actually I do speak Dutch, One interesting might be how you use the word Oorlog/War, namely that you "feed" it The act of doing a War is called Oorlog voeren - War Feeding One says: wij/ik zijn in Oorlog - we/I are at war (we/I are in War) Or: wij/ik voeren Oorlog - we/i are at war (we/I feeding War) One important not is that: voeren can just as well mean to Lead or Direct someone in a autorotative way

[@samuelterry6354]

This is a bit similar to the Turkish concept of kismet.

[@billybilodeau1991]

I think I have a happy Norn, that is usually drunk but has brief bouts with sobriety.

[@Tina06019]

Hahahaha

[@opwards]

hahaha i think so too.

[@sf5477]

I noticed that Verdandi looks very similar to the French word for Friday vendredi. Is there any connection?

[@t.r.everstone7]

Not really. It means "day of Venus." And Friday is Frigg's day, which makes sense since Venus and Frigg were equated to each other often.

[@sf5477]

@@t.r.everstone7 Thank you

[@MrCrowsight]

nothing escapes fate .

[@johnh2055]

Perhaps, and I may be wrong, it's not so much a fated day and time as it is a fated event.

[@urtekumlehn]

Hello, my firstname Urte is extremely rare in Germany and I have learned many years back, that Urte comes from Urd. Would you agree to this? The way we pronounce Urte in German sounds to me as having derived from the way you pronounce Urdr here in the video. Thanks, I am looking forward to your expert opinion.

[@KRoshi-tu1qo]

Apparently Urte is derived from Greek Dorothea, also Dorthe.

[@livedandletdie]

The good old days.

[@diegosanchezmartinez8695]

Then it's believed that everyone has a personal Norn?

[@jcortese3300]

Is "meyjar" cognate with "mulier?"

[@olaf6987]

Don't think so, maybe from P.I.E i don't know. Meyjar is cognate with maiden I believe. From proto-germanic Magwi (girl) Maguz (boy)

[@arcanemuses]

Dr. Crawford, I have a question. Could Urðr (Urd/Wyrd) be related to orð (word)? The reason I ask this is because the past resides in words. The written or spoken word preserves history, what has happened. Orð also means promise. A promise of what is to come? Thank you for considering my question. I enjoyed your Poetic Edda on Audible.

[@valeriy8502]

Gods forbid the cranks take over and spread misinformation! Thank you for the work you do, it is so reassuring that there is some truth out there in the vast internet land. There's a lot to sort through when looking for answers, so many opinions and agendas, and a reasonable approach like this is a relief.

[@frankschmidt2303]

Lev för dagen. För Nornorna väver tråden för ditt öde. 🇸🇪

[@user-rg7uz8of9r]

ily

[@Babesinthewood97]

I used to live on the Norns way, literally. Nornornas väg

[@anthonyhargis6855]

So, in a manner of speaking, the Norse believed themselves "immortal," unable to die before their death day.That certainly explains much. LOL

[@blacksunshine7122]

My fights and battles are internal lol

[@semperludens9241]

Your dutch pronunciation was actually not that bad. Too much 'U' sound on the double O. It sounds more like OHR-LOCH, with the guttural G of course that you did quite well. That guttural G is very difficult for most foreigners.

[@zacharyeskelson6229]

The closed caption makes this worse.