The magical liquid stops the decaying process for a short time. The Norns try to stop or slow this process by pouring mud and water from the Well of Urd over its branches. However, in Germanic mythology, the Greek and Roman concept of the Fates spinning an individual length of yarn for each mortal life does not appear.Īccording to Norse mythology, nothing lasts forever, and even the great Yggdrasill has been said to decay one day. It would seem more than possible that the Norns were also originally conceived as spinners. For instance, in Shakespeare's tragic play Macbeth, the Three Sisters on "the blasted heath" were obviously inspired by the Norns and other mythological fate goddesses. The Anglo-Saxons referred to Urd by the name of Wyrd, and in England there was maintained a belief in the tremendous powers of the three sisters long after the arrival of Christianity. It was believed that the Norns decided the destinies of gods, giants, and dwarfs, and were responsible for the fates of every individual human being.
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