Norn

Modern Icelandic has two compound nouns that distinguish between, on the one hand, örlaganornir, ‘fatenornir’, and, on the other hand, galdranornir, ‘witch-nornir’ (neither term is ever used in Old Norse texts) and töfranornir, ‘sorcery-nornir’ (which occurs once in Old Norse; see Chapter 3, note 32) (Arngrímur Sigurðsson, 1983, pp. 235, 812, 919).

Partly because of the comparatively small number of references, partly because they overlap significantly with certain other kinds of supernatural beings, it makes little sense to look at the nornir as an isolated group of beings. The fact that the nornir do overlap with other categories has led to them often being treated in scholarship as a subsection under a broader heading that includes several types of beings. The focus has rarely been on the nornir as a separate entity with its own function and identity, and this in spite of the fact that they are said to be "perhaps the best known group of female beings linked to fate"

Nornir Skaldic references to the nornir often associate them with transitional situations, typically with violent death or with battle, but different sources nonetheless emphasise different aspects of their nature. In a lausavísa [occasional stanza] by the saga character Kveldúlfr in Egils saga Skallagrímssonar 24,2 supposedly composed in 880 or 890 (ÍF, Vol. 2, p. lii), Kveldúlfr laments the loss of his son Þórólfr, who has died in battle:

What is stressed in this verse is a strong sense of personal tragedy on the part of the father who has lost his son. However, it is equally important to note that Kveldúlfr says that: ‘[the/a] norn is grim to me’, whereas nothing is said about her being grim to Þórólfr — although she seems to have been present at the place where Þórólfr was killed, not where Kveldúlfr is, which apparently suggests a concept nearer to that of valkyrjur, who select the worthy warriors. There is, in fact, also a strong sense that Þórólfr has been chosen by Óðinn, presumably as a worthy warrior, thus lending a heroic slant to the otherwise tragic event. Kveldúlfr may therefore be expressing a certain amount of pride alongside his sorrow and frustrated desire for revenge.

Kveldúlfr employs the term norn in the singular, but whether he believes there to be only one norn (warranting the translation ‘the norn’) or whether he is singling out one from a larger group (giving the translation ‘a norn’) is unclear and it is not possible from this verse alone to determine which would be the more correct translation.

A noteworthy detail is the occurrence of a/the norn and Óðinn together and the notion that both are involved in the death of Þórólfr. The two figures are clearly thought of as closely connected here. Still, it is possible to detect a division whereby Óðinn, in selecting Þórólfr, is responsible for his death whereas the norn is responsible for the grief experienced by the father of the dead warrior. If this is correct, then it can be said that Óðinn has caused the death while the norn has caused the emotional turmoil