The name-word "Urð" is related (maybe even a cognate of) "Ur" which means
'before/origin of' and is often us as a prefix in the same instances where
one may use the Greek prefix 'Proto'.
I've found that complete grokking of the term requires the study of other
'U-' prefixes like 'Un' and 'Um'. 'Un' is used to make the word 'Undir'
which is the translated as 'Under' in English. 'Um' means
'around/about/throughout' and has an osmotic quality of permeating a concept
completely. 'Um' is used within the word 'Umbla' (i.e. Auðumbla) which means
'blossoming into creation' or something like that (the prefix 'Auð-' like
the English prefix 'Ad-' means 'to promote/to encourage/to nourish/to rear'
so the Primal Cow Auðumbla is named 'Encourager/Nourishor of Creation').
Therefore, to say that the word 'Urð' means 'past' is inadequate. I prefer
to translate it as 'the origin' or simply 'before'.

"Verdandi" is more literal and means 'happening right now'. It's more
immediate than the word 'Present' has in our 'present' English speaking
society. (interestingly, the word Verða means "happening/occuring" while
Verð means "worth/price/value" - this is interesting because of the
following...)

Zoega and Gordon translate "Skuld" to mean 'Debt'. Precisely how the Norn
'Skuld' represents 'Debt' I can only conjecture. Probably related to how the
future is an emptiness that requires filling. Hey - that sounds pretty good.

-Laz

----- Original Message -----
From: <hattons@...>
To: <norse_course@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 9:43 PM
Subject: [norse_course] Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld Etymology


> I am trying to get a good understanding of the meaning of the names of the
> Norns. Can someone help me with this? I have read they mean:
>
> Urð = Past
> Verðandi = Present
> Skuld = Future
>
> I've also read Urð is cognate to weird, and thus to Verdanði. Authors
have
> argued that Urð means what has happened in the past. I tend to get the
sense
> that it means something along the lines of "the law of fate". That is,
the
> law which determines how the past becomes manifest in the present.
>
> Verðandi seems to me to suggest 'becoming' but also 'happening'. It has
> cognates in Indo-European languages which suggest turning in both the
> physical sense of rotation, and in the sense of day turning into night.
It
> might be said Verðandi means what is currently happening. With a sense of
> 'present conditions'. I draw this from what seems to be the German
cognate
> 'werdend', meaning 'becoming', 'getting (to be)', 'changing into'.
>
> Skulð seems more likely to mean something along the lines of 'debt' with a
> conotation of 'guilt'. I get this from both the Old Norse definition and
the
> German cognate meaning pretty much the same thing.
>
> What do others think about this? I'd really like to get this right
because
> it is central to a larger model of Heathen concepts of fate.
>
> TIA,
>
> Steven
>
>
>
>
> Sumir hafa kv i...
> ...arir spakm li.
>
> - Keth
>
> Homepage: http://www.hi.is/~haukurth/norse/
>
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