NORN

hag

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(pl. -ir), f.

1) one of (three) Fates (Urðr, Verðandi, Skuld, who dwelt at the well ‘Urðar-brunnr’ and ruled the fate of the world);

2) one of various female beings presiding over human fortunes.

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f., pl. Nornir:—the weird sisters of the old mythology; nornir heita þær er nauð skapa, Edda 113; þessar meyjar skapa mönnum aldr, þær köllu vér nornir, 11, Sdm. 17: sundr-bornar mjök hygg ek at nornir sé, eigut þær ætt saman, Fm. The three heavenly Norns, Urðr, Verðandi, Skuld, dwelt at the well Urðar-brunn, ruled the fate of the world, but three Norns were also present at the birth of every man and cast the weird of his life; nótt var í bæ, nornir kómu, þaer er öðlingi aldr um skópu, Hkv. 1. 2; cp. the Norna Gest Þ., Fb. i. 358; góðar nornir skapa góðan aldr, en þeir menn er fyrir úsköpum verða, þá valda því íllar nornir, Edda 11; rétt skiptu því nornir, the Norns ruled it righteously, Orkn. 18; norna dómr, the doom of the Norns, the weird, Fm. 11; íllr er dómr norna, Fas. i, 508 (in a verse); njóta norna dóms, to fill one’s days, die, Ýt.; norn erumk grirnm, the weird is cruel to me, Eg. (in a verse); norna sköp = norna dómr, fár gengr of sköp norna, a saying, Km. 24: in popular superstition severe hereditary illnesses are called norna sköp, Fél. x. s. v.: norna grey, the Norns’ hounds = wolves, Hm. 30; norna-stóll, a Norn’s chair, Sól. 51 (a dubious passage): in Akv. 16—láta nornir gráta nái, to let the Norns bewail the dead—norn seems to be = fylgju-kona, q. v., as also perh. in Gh. 13: in mod. usage in a bad sense, a hag, witch, álfar ok nornir, ok annat íllþýði, Fas. i. 37; hún er mesta norn, she is a great Norn, of an angry, bad woman; arkaðú á fætr, öldruð norn, Úlf. 1. 73; galdra-norn, a witch: poët., nistis-norn, auð-norn, hlað-norn, = the Norn of these jewels = a woman, Lex. Poët.